Friday Business

I have two very important things to blog about today... So, I guess I had better get started! Times a wastin, right?

Here's a cause that we can all get behind: The Coalition to Unchain Dogs. I cried when I saw this beautiful brindle boxer, Tiger chained. And I cried tears of relief when he was un-chained. He probably ran for days, and days! Without further ado, meet Tiger!:



Lucy, Duke and I were thrilled to be the recipients of an award. We received the Pawsome Blogger Award from our friend Basset Mama... We love visiting with her and her two little basset sweethearts! As many of you know, my first puppy love was brought on by a sweet little basset hound named Nicky! So, it's always a happy visit for us!



In order to accept this award, I must pass it along to 8 blogs that bring me fun, love, laughs and furiendship.

1. Maggie Mae Says
2. The Antics of Two French Bulldogs
3. How Sam Sees It
4. Oh, Corbin
5. From Sophie's View
6. Browndog CBR
7. Downunder Daisy
8. Gardening With Wyatt

I wanted badly to bring the children to work with me today, but it's 16 degrees here (even less if you factor in the windchill), and we had to switch vehicles, and unload a truck. So, I figured it was in their best interest to stay home today and snuggle up with each other and keep warm! I gave them strict orders to keep each other warm today as I handed each of them a biscuit! I'm sure that Lucy's taking my orders seriously, she always does, especially if the orders have anything to do with striking some odd pose at her brother's expense! Hopefully, their Daddy and I will be home early tonight!

Snuggle Weather Is Here!

Cool temperatures have arrived in Pittsburgh, and while Lucy is more than happy to go outside to do her business, she's pretty eager to get back in the house where it's warm. The cooler it gets outside, the more snuggly my little boxer becomes. I'm probably going to be shopping for a coat for my little girl if I want her to leave the warmth of the house once the snow hits the ground!

Yesterday, on the job, Lucy found the heater underneath my desk and curled right up resting her head on the knee. And on Tuesday, she pulled her blanket in direct stream of the heater and took a nap.

In general, in our house, other than the bed, furniture is off limits. However there is one exception: my favorite over-stuffed chair which has found a home in my reading/ironing room. This chair was always a favorite of my basset hounds, and anytime that he was "MIA", I could usually find him curled up in this particular chair. And on many occasions, he and I would snuggle up in this chair with a good book and a cup of tea for a read on a cold winter afternoon.

Up until a week ago, Lucy hadn't paid much attention to the chair. There were a couple of times that I caught her jumping into the chair, but she usually didn't stay! But on Sunday afternoon after tearing around the yard for a couple of hours, she was definitely in need of a good warm place to snuggle up and recharge. This is where I found my little boxer sound asleep and snoring like a champ! (Is it a coincidence that there is a heat vent right above this chair? I kinda doubt it!)

Cozying up on top of her humans is definitely becoming a favorite activity of Lucy's. I wasn't at all surprised to wake this morning and realize that the reason that I couldn't breath was that I had a 60 pound boxer on top of me. I guess it makes perfect sense that I felt so warm and cozy...

And it's not at all uncommon to find Lucy where there's a big fluffy blanket, and her human's feet. Sunday night, she plopped right down on top of her Daddy's feet and the blanket and made herself comfy. I'm sure she's also figured out that where her Daddy is, there is also likely to be something good to eat, especially when there's a football game on the tv.

Rescue!

I can't go anywhere without meeting a dog.

I'm not picky. It can be any kind of dog.

I am a sucker for a wagging tail.

I cannot resist big, beautiful brown eyes.

(There, I've said it. The unstoppable urge to pet, kiss and make friends with all of the canine patrons of every rest stop between Pittsburgh and Charleston, SC is what delayed me arriving in Charleston!)

I've met 10 dogs since I left Pennslvania yesterday morning. I guess when you're on the road and travelling by yourself, more often than not it's pretty safe to assume that a person with a dog, is probably gonna be pretty friendly!

Rest stops are wonderful places to meet dogs and their humans. And of course, they've been in a car for hours, so they're more than agreeable when it comes to meeting a new human when she comes towards them "oohing" and "ahhing".

Yesterday, right after crossing into North Carolina, I pulled off at a rest stop to stretch my legs. As I was walking back to the car, I couldn't help but notice across the road, an absolutely adorable basset hound- nose to the ground, tail wagging! Of course, I had to choke back the tears as the little guy ran towards me, short little legs and big, strong tail wagging wildly. And when he howled, well, it was all I could do to contain myself. His name was Beethoven, and he was a beautiful 3 year old hound dog with a howl that really made me pine for my little Nicky. His owner was more than happy to tell me the entire story of Beethoven, and every other dog that he and his wife had loved in the 30 years of their marriage. Beethoven had a big black heart on his side, which his owner was more than happy to point out to me! I've gotta hand it to the little guy, it was a perfect heart!

As we were chatting, a beautiful beagle caught the attention of Beethoven, and he couldn't be contained. The Human attached to the beagle explained that they had rescued the Beagle about 10 years ago, and estimated her age to be about 13. He said that they didn't know much about her because she was rescued, but that it didn't really matter to him and his wife! She was absolutely beautiful, and I was genuinely happy to hear that despite a rough start in life, she had found an obviously wonderful forever home! I could tell that little beagles human, adored her... No ifs, ands or buts about it.

I eventually said goodbye to Beethoven, the beagle and thier very friendly humans. I could have stayed there all day, but of course, I had a destination that I needed to get to!

This afternoon, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a lady crossing the street with a dog that I was sure was at least part boxer. The dog was beautiful, sharp, bold colors, and a very shiny coat. I couldn't resist, I had to meet the dog and it's human!

By the time I had crossed the street, the dog had been temporarily tethered to a tree outside of a coffee shop, and I approached her cautiously, speaking softly to her. She wagged her tail, and I walked closer. Her owner noticed the interaction and came out of the coffee shop to introduced me to "Grace."

She explained to me that she had found "Grace", injured and abandoned on a busy highway, lying in the median and took her right in, patched her up and proceeded to shower her with love and attention. Grace's human couldn't believe how well she responded to me. She told me that she's not very good with meeting new people, and usually just backs away, but she licked my face and wagged her tail, and we were instant friends. I wasn't mistaken, Grace's human is pretty sure she's part boxer and part lab. Her beautiful brindle coloring gave her boxer lineage away!

In the last couple of days, there have been pictures on the "Friends" page of the boxer mailing list of beautiful rescues that have found forver homes after being fostered by the kind people who open their homes and hearts to these sweet little boxers.

All around me are these wonderful "happy ending" stories about pups that have had the unfortunate luck of ending up in bad homes, but thankfully fate intervenes and these little pups find their way into homes where they are loved and nurtured back to health and given chances at wonderful lives. And while it would seem that it's the dogs that are being rescued, I'm pretty sure in a lot of these situations, the dogs are doing some human rescuing too!

In a perfect world, there wouldn't need to be rescue organizations or foster homes for dogs. But, it's not a perfect world, and I'm sure glad that these organizations exist!

To all of the people who follow this blog, who rescue, foster or have adopted rescue dogs, I applaud the care and concern that you give to these animals that have found themselves in very unfortunate situations. I commend the courage that you exhibit working tirelessly to encourage these animals to trust and love humans. I applaud you for opening your homes and hearts to these rescues.

As for me, I can't wait to rescue a boxer... Or should I say, have another boxer rescue me!

With Loving Thoughts, Dear Boy

I've had an ache in my heart for the last several days. It's horrible. It's worse right now than it has been yet. This morning, I did something that was very difficult for me, even if it was in the best interest of the dog. Our 13 year old German Shepherd has had crippling arthritis for the last several months. Over the last couple of weeks, life has been seemingly more difficult for him, and I was having a very hard time watching him go down hill.

This morning I took our poor boy to see Dr. Mary. And I listened as Dr. Mary told Rob over the phone how much pain Ceasar was in. I watched as they put an IV into his beautiful paw. I held him in my lap, and talked to him telling how much his Daddy & loved him, what a good boy he was and promised to take good care of his Daddy. And I cried as he took his final breath. And our "oh so very wonderful golden boy was gone".

I know that he's off right now looking for his little brother Nicky, and probably a tennis ball.

This was sent to me in an email this morning, and it was way too touching and beautiful not to share:

"It came to me that every time I lost a dog they take a piece of my
heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me
with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components
of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as
they are." (Cheryl Zuccaro)

This post is in honor of the 13 years of faithful companionship that our boy Ceasar has given us. May you have peace, sweet boy!

Ceasar is my fiance, Rob's dog, and they've been faithful companions since Ceasar was a puppy. When Rob was first starting out in business, Ceasar was his co-pilot. (Of course, this was before my time.) Rob took him on furniture runs to the south, to the east, and basically everywhere that he went. They did everything together. Rob often tells stories of Ceasar chasing him on the quad, up hills, down hills, through rivers and streams for hours at a time. For about 8 years, it was Rob & Ceasar.

Then Nicky & I came along! Ceasar didn't know what to think- suddenly he and Rob were not alone in the house, and in time, he accepted both me and my little basset. For the first 2 years of Rob & I's relationship, Ceasar and Nicky would play with one another, but as time wore on and Ceasar aged, he just couldn't match the little bassets energy (and that's not saying much!)

Although Rob was always Ceasar's #1 love, in our first years together, Ceasar was very protective of me. There wasn't a mailman, Fed Ex, or UPS guy that got within 2 feet of me without that beautiful boy butting in the middle.

The first time my parents visited our home, Ceasar planted himself in between my Dad and I when they first came in the door. After a few visits- Ceasar got used to my parents, and I believe that my mom was one of Ceasar's dearest friends. He always seemed to enjoy her visits.

And my all time favorite Ceasar incident... imagine Thanksgiving Eve 2005. Snow and ice on the ground, and a house full of people. (Rob was still very much a bachelor at this point- he had a refrigerator- it just didn't have anything it.) We had purchased a ton of steaks to feed our hungry guests, and I had left them on the counter and gone off to converse with some of our guests. Much to my complete surprise, when I returned to the kitchen- the plate was empty, and the shepherd was licking his lips looking very proud of himself!

We're gonna miss you buddy!

For The Love of a Basset

It has been almost 6 months since my beloved Nicky left my world and went to play with all of the other loved but never forgotten dogs at the rainbow bridge. I doubt that I'll ever stop loving him or missing his sweet little face. I know this, because I still look at his pictures, I still cry, and every once and a while there will be something that I just can't wait to tell the little guy.

This is the story of how I became completely enamored with a basset hound named Nicky.

I have always loved dogs. As a child, there were several kittens in my little country girl world, but there was a problem with me and cats. My mother would be all too happy to dig out several pictures of her little blond child, smiling and walking around carrying some poor innocent kitty by the neck. After a while, I think my parents decided that this probably wasn't a good idea, and all of a sudden there were no more cats. After that, I remember having a Doberman for a short period of time, she was a sweet girl and my brother and I called her Ginger. But, everyone that came to the house was afraid of her, and all of a sudden one day, she was just gone. For my brother's 13th birthday, we picked out a beagle that we named Izzy. I remember the day we brought Miss Izzy home! Boy did we love that dog, she was sweet natured, and loved to play, and she was just so darn adorable. Eventually, Miss Izzy had a litter of pups, and we kept one of those pups. (That wasn't the plan, but my mother and I were in love with a little female, Snickers, and every time my father would talk about finding her a home, my mother and I would cry...and that's how she became a member of our family.)

My twenties involved long hours at work, apartment living, and lots of nights out on the town. None of those things would have been fair to a dog- so I never adopted one although now looking back, I think that having a companion at home probably would have kept me there more!

At the age of 30, Nicky chose me to be his human. And I couldn't have been more thrilled. I hadn't planned for a dog, nor was I even looking for a dog- he and I just fell in love with one another, and it was definitely meant to be. When his owner showed up on my doorstep one Saturday morning and explained to me that this little guy belonged with me, I didn't argue- not one bit!

Of course, I wasn't prepared for a puppy, but I adjusted very quickly to the little guy who just wiggled his way into my heart more and more each day. How could you not smile at the sight of a basset hound puppy, especially one as charming as little Nicky was? Those beautiful long ears that he tripped over because they were too long, those big feet that seemed to give him all kinds of trouble for many, many months...

Any unreadiness was fixed with a quick trip to Petco and several hours spent running frantically around the house picking up everything in sight, unplugging cords, throwing shoes in closets... you know the drill!

The first weeks with the little guy in the house were extremely challenging- and there wasn't much sleeping going on (unless you were a basset hound puppy!) Nicky was extremely hard to housebreak, and wanted to chew everything in sight. (Of course, he was a typical puppy, constantly on the lookout for trouble.)

He hated his kennel and would howl at the top of his little basset hound lungs to be released from his prison. Honestly, it was the worst sound that I've ever heard. I tried so hard to keep him awake all day so that he would sleep through the night and give his human a chance to get some much needed sleep. I would play with him, he would eventually tire and conk out, and I would tickle and tease him mercilessly to awaken him. It never worked! Eventually, I wised up and just started to sleep whenever he did- kind of like having a newborn infant in the house.

From the very beginning, Nicky was a cuddler. He loved to be warm, and as close to his human at all times. When he would decide it was time for a nap, he would find the nearest blanket and figure out a way to get himself underneath the blanket. And when his human gave up on the kennel, and decided it was time to start sleeping with her basset, he was all too quick to curl up right underneath the covers. The little guy slept as close to me as he could for his entire life. If I would move during the night, so would Nicky- and he always had to be under the covers.

Nicky filled my life with constant comic relief, and he was a great friend. He always seemed to know when I was upset, and he always made me feel better. There was no better time in little Nicky's day than the time of day when his Mommy would come through that door- and frankly no better time in my day. The sight of him running towards me, tail wagging was always enough to lift even the worst of days from my shoulders.

As Nicky got older, his ability to find trouble decreased. But every now and again, he would find a way to make his human laugh. I don't think we ever lit that grill a single time that the little guy didn't help us clean it up. And when he appeared in the kitchen one night covered in black spots, I laughed for the next hour.

My trouble making little puppy turned out to be a great dog, bringing smiles to the faces of everyone that met him. I loved that he had an ability to make a scowling stranger turn into a smiling stranger. It always amazed me the way that people would just fall for my little charmer. Everywhere I took him, people fell in love. He always made people smile and laugh.

It was with great sadness back in March when I had to make the toughest decision of my life from 2000 miles away. I'll never forget the distress in my fiance's voice as he told me over the phone that my Nicky had woken up that morning completely paralyzed. The helplessness, and the grief I felt at not being there for him when he needed me most blanketed my soul like nothing ever had.

My little basset had a slipped disk that was pressing on his spine. Surgeons spoke to me and told me that they could operate, that he had a 50/50 chance of walking again- but that the pain would be tremendous. The 50/50 chance- well, it wasn't enough. The chance that he would never walk again, or that he would be in pain was just too much for his human to consider. I couldn't let the dog that had guided me through so many painful times in my life, suffer any more than what he obviously already had.

My Mom & Dad picked him up from the Emergency Center where my fiance had taken him, and they took him home with them to a wonderful resting place underneath a big oak tree where our little Snickers and Izzy were put to rest.

The first thunderstorm we had after Nicky was buried, I wailed thinking of him outside in the rain. For weeks, I couldn't bear to go home because I knew that he wasn't there, and frankly the house just seemed so empty without him. He was a tremendous part of my life. For days, I would return home from work and sit in "his chair" and tell him all about my day.

Nicky was a huge part of my life for 5 years. He made me smile. He made me laugh. He charmed me like you can't believe. He kept me warm when it was cold outside, and kept me company when I was lonely. I will probably always miss him- I know a part of me will always love him, and even though my time with him was very short- he was 5- my time with him was amazing, and I'm sure in many ways, that Nicky taught me a lot about life. I feel very blessed to have had him with me for 5 years.

Wherever you are little guy, your Mama loves you and she misses you every single day!

The Story of Lucy's Humans

Standing in the middle of the dog park last night watching my little boxer play with the bull dog and the ball, I was asked how I met my fiance... That would probably make a great blog post, I thought to myself. And 18 hours later, here I am with the story of how I met Lucy's Daddy!

Rob and I met in September of 2005. I had just moved back to Pennsylvania after having spent 5 years in San Diego, in what had to have been a complete and total lapse of my sanity! (But, I grew up in Western PA- my family was still here!) My little basset, Nicky and I had picked out, and put into escrow a cute little townhouse, rowhouse, or duplex (everyone calls it something different!) in the city of Pittsburgh.

When I moved home, I only brought what I could pack in the Jeep, or what could be shipped via Fed Ex- because in the process of moving to San Diego 5 years earlier- I was the victim of what I'll refer to as "Everything You Own Hijacking". With that in mind, I was very skeptical about once again turning over everything I owned to a truck driver named Bubba who had a piece of grass sticking out from between his teeth. There is something permanently damaging mentally about waiting 3 months for a truck, only to have it arrive and when they open the doors, stuff that you were sure you packed with care, just starts falling out.

Nicky and I had driven from San Diego back to Pennsylvania in what had to have been one of the most scenic drives I've ever been on. I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out, Nicky was only about 9 months old at the time, and I'm sure everyone that heard the plan thought that I had lost my mind intending to drive for a week with a puppy in the car! But, Nicky was a great little travel companion. There were a few insane moments- but for the most part the trip was without incident. As long as I didn't open the moon roof while the vehicle was moving and there was no thunder- everything was just fine. (We hit a horrible wind storm in New Mexico that involved completely black skies at 12 in the afternoon, big weed like things rolling across the highway making it impossible to drive and hail that was larger than my basset.)

Nicky and I drove for 2 days by ourselves. My mom had agreed to fly out to Albequerque, New Mexico to make the remainder of the trip with us. And on the 3rd day, we picked her up at the airport. I'll never forget how long it took my mom to stop laughing when she caught her first glimpse of her little basset grand-dog. For some reason, every time she looked at him- she would giggle. It's a good thing the dog wasn't sensitive.

My Darling Fiance owns a furniture store, and in the process of picking out a dining room table, an attraction bloomed. He didn't ask me out on that first visit to his store, but the 2nd time I returned there, he asked me to go to a Steelers game with him. And that's how it all started. (Of course, over the years, he has told the story many times- and his version of it is quite different. When he tells the tale, I chased him all over the furniture store and begged him to go out with me!)

Our first date involved a very fast moving street bike that scared the living daylights out of me, an inability to find tickets to the proposed Steelers game, and eventually, some very bad pizza! After that first date, I swore to myself that I would never get into another vehicle with him ever again- his driving really freaked me out- and after living in San Diego and driving like my hair was on fire for the past 5 years, that wasn't really saying much! (I always get a good chuckle out of the fact that he gets in the car with me and complains about my driving! Ugh, hello?)

(Thanksgiving 2006- Rob loves his cowboy hats and has a pretty extensive collection of them!)

Not only did I get into another vehicle with him again, but several months later, he and I moved in together and I rented out the house that I had furnished with furniture from his store! (The sweetheart that he is, he took all of the furniture that I had bought from him back and resold it! -- Thanks Baby!)

2 Humans, and 2 dogs (both of which were males, and definitely not used to sharing a house or their humans with anyone else), all of which took some adjusting. Especially when one of those males was a 35 year old bachelor who hadn't lived with another human in years. But somehow we made it all work- obviously because 5 years later- here we are!

(Christmas of 2007)

We've had a lot of fun over the last 5 years- and we've had our challenges too! There were many Thanksgiving & Christmas Dinners (most of which involved some kind of incident that probably should have been followed by therapy- but usually were just glossed over with alcohol), work parties for the employees (again- probably should have been followed by therapy), trips for fun, trips for furniture, drives in fast cars and on way too fast bikes, remodels, changes in work life, family debacles, and the loss of loved ones. When we first started dating, there was only 1 furniture store- then there were 2- then there were 3 and now we're back down to 2, which on most days is 2 too many!

(This picture was taken at our friends Ricky & Karen's wedding last June. Incidentally- today is their one year anniversary! Happy Anniversary Ricky & Karen!! It's my favorite picture of us together!)

Finally, last year, after telling Rob it was the only thing I wanted for my 35th birthday- the big moment that everyone had been waiting for, but never thought they would see- my 38 year old forever bachelor, popped the question after 2 very long months of ring shopping! (I'm sure that there were a lot of people that lost bets on that one- and every bell in hell probably rang- even though I didn't hear them!) We still don't have a date- I hope it doesn't take as long to get married as it did to get engaged- or I'll be going down the aisle with the aid of a walker!

(January 2010; Cancun! This was the first picture we had taken after we got engaged- pathetic I know. My Darling Fiance could take lessons on being gracious about having his picture taking from our boxer!)

A Little Less Excitement, Lucy- PLEASE!

When Lucy came home to live with us, we had concerns about how our senior German Shepherd was going to react to having a puppy around. We both agreed that it would probably take a little bit of time for them to get used to one another, just as it had when the Basset first got involved, and then everything would be fine. I guess what we didn't take into consideration was that Ceasar is much older, and is in a considerable amount of pain, and therefore, not as tolerant of a wild and exuberant puppy- which Lucy is pretty much most of the time!

Lucy is very intent on getting Ceasar to play with her like every other dog she meets, and Ceasar remains adamant that he wants nothing to do with playing with Lucy. Neither one of them is willing to budge, and Monday morning, there was a big blow out at our house.

I fed the dogs as I normally do, Ceasar was outside, and Lucy was in the kitchen with me. I waited for Ceasar to finish eating and then let Lucy out the door after checking to make sure there wasn't so much as a single piece of kibble left in his bowl. As she usually does, Lucy went to the bowl to lick it out, and it all went down hill from there.

I was standing about 10 feet away when I noticed Ceasar approaching Lucy and the empty bowl, and just as I started to move in, everything went south. Ceasar snapped at Lucy, and he put her down. I had to pull him off of her. Lucy was visibly shaken by this attack- typically she just jumps right up and starts yipping at him again. Not this time. I called her into the house with me to inspect her face. She curled right up to me, and when I pulled her away from me, there was blood everywhere.

My little girl got a hell of a battle wound. She had a cut from the corner of her eye (but didn't get the eye!) the whole way down the side of her face! I cleaned her up (with a ton of wiggling and squirming), and watched her little face as the day went on. By 1:00 her face had swollen to the point of looking like she had a small apple under her skin, and the cut was still bleeding pretty heavily.

"Lucy, looks like we're going to see the vet..."

Mary cleaned Lucy right up (with a considerable amount of sass from Lucy) and shot her full of antibiotics. She sent us home with pain pills, antibiotics and a warning for Lucy to try to stay out of trouble for a couple of days. By 5:00 the swelling had gone away almost completely, and Lucy was resting peacefully in the living room. I did notice that she gave Ceasar a wide berth when we were in the yard with him, but that didn't last very long. She's right back to trying to get him to play with her this morning- apparently someones got a short memory or maybe she's just holding hope that he's going to change his mind about playing with her.

All I know is that Lucy certainly enjoys getting her pill twice a day atop a peanut butter cracker...

My little boxer has been doing very well with her housebreaking, and we haven't had an accident in weeks. So, I've been trying to give her a little bit of freedom for short periods during the day... Of course, trouble finds Lucy or does Lucy find trouble? If there is a place in this store to get stuck- Lucy will get stuck. If there is something in this store to knock over- Lucy will knock it over. She absolutely loves to hide under and behind anything and everything- and thinks that her human enjoys the game of hide and seek just as much as she does.

Lucy's favorite pastime when roaming the store free and clear of her leash, is the tags on the furniture. And not just any tags- she likes the rope ones with the large hang tags attached. I swear she has somehow managed to find, and remove each and every one, that she can reach in this store. I guess I will know who to look for if I suddenly start noticing that a bunch of my tags are missing. On a positive note- she doesn't enjoy chewing on the furniture- she only wants those tags...

In her two months of going to the store with her human every day, Lucy has built up quite a fan club. Yesterday, a very good customer walked in the door, and the first question was " Where's Lucy?", not "Where is my furniture?"- our customer just wanted to see Lucy! Everyone in the plaza seems to be tracking Lucy's growth, just yesterday, we were stopped for a Kodak moment while we were out for a walk! Thankfully, Lucy loves people as much as people love Lucy! She makes new friends every where she goes and while she's not completely trained in the "Appropriate Greeting" we are definitely making progress. Most everyone will make her "sit" and she will then volunteer her "paw". Such a Good Little Lucy!

Tomorrow night we're off to night 2 of puppy kindergarten! I wonder what we'll learn tomorrow night, and am hoping that our loose leash walking goes better than it did last week. Somehow when we got in that room with 5 other dogs, all of our loose leash and "heel" training went right out the window. She did well with everything else- but the lure of the other dogs was entirely too much for my little pup- even though I had taken her to the dog park for 45 minutes before class.

Yesterday morning, I was running late getting ready for work. I had Lucy gated in the kitchen (only because there is way too much trouble throughout the house to find Lucy) and I was upstairs. The contractor was in the kitchen using a phone book. When I came downstairs, there was no Lucy, and the door between the kitchen and the "bonus" room, and the door between the garage and the "bonus" room were open. I immediately ran outside and started calling Lucy, not sure what was going to happen. I was so happy to see my little pup come flying around the bush and give me that little look- you know the one- the one where she makes you think she wasn't getting into trouble!

PS: Lucy- your human needs just a short break from all of the excitement... Is there any way it can be toned down- just for a couple of days? "Good Lucy!"