4/15/14
We’ve had Lacy for over a month and a half now and love her more every day. She’s still a lovely Butterball shape, but we’re working at losing a bit of weight. Mom says she thinks she spotted Lacy’s waist yesterday.
Lacy is endearingly sweet and trying hard to do what we ask, even if seems scary, she will try. The first couple of weeks we didn’t realize how scared and timid she actually is because my daughter’s dog, Logan, who was staying with us, reassured her and made her less anxious. But when he went home we finally saw that she was even more scared and upset than we thought. When she’s anxious she lies down as faraway from us as she can get but still be able to see us if she wants to. She’ll turn her head away, and is very still and quiet. It’s taking time but we love working with her and see progress everyday. For a while we had to reintroduce ourselves to her every morning before she warmed up to us again. We don’t need to do that anymore!
I take her outside and throw tennis balls for her two or three times a day and we take short and long walks with her. We’re following the suggestions from the book you sent with her, Love Has No Age Limit. We’re learning so many things we’d never even heard of or thought about before. We’ve put off going to the Dog Spa for her make-over, we’re gradually taking her on walks with more people and dogs around. We haven’t taken her to the dog park yet, I think our next adventure might be a playdate with dog friends here.
We don’t force her to do anything. We stop. And try again later, or come up with different non-threatening ways to go about it. We did finally get her to our vet for a well-patient checkup. Goldens are our vet’s favorite dogs. He told us he couldn’t believe we were so fortunate to have found such a great dog.
So that’s how Lacy’s days are going. Lacy’s nights are full of snuggles and popcorn. Our cat, Kate, is becoming Lacy’s friend. They play a lot—day and night. I love this photo of Kate showing Lacy how she’s going to whack her on the nose if she feels like it. Lacy finds Kate riveting.
When I leave home for a while she doesn’t acknowledge me when I return. She doesn’t race up to greet me. She lays there and watches. We’re used to dogs that think we are never coming back and are filled with joy to see us again, whether it’s been 5 minutes or 5 hours. My goal is to get her to that place.
We are immensely grateful you let us adopt Lacy, a dog who truly needs us as much as we need her. Thank you so much!
3/10/14
We are all well and happy here! Our granddog went home on Saturday and things changed a bit. Lacy seemed to lose her confidence when she didn't have a leader. However we just took it easy and gave her some time. We did the same on Sunday and today we're all on the same page. Our cat has even decided to rejoin the family. Lacy loves fetching the ball and can fetch it unless it goes over the fence. She is sooo fast. Thanks for sending us such a delightful little girl. More at another time.
3/4/14
We are happily settling in and getting acquainted. Lacy is a welcome guest and is on her best behavior. Our trip home was uneventful and she seemed pleased with the accommodations.She is sleeping in my room and is very quiet and a good sleeper, but gets up with me and we begin our day together. Sue's grand dog is visiting today and Lacy is the fastest retriever. Poor Logan, he is no longer the first to get the ball. However Sue is clever and she manages to keep both dogs happy. Thanks for making this family very happy!
3/2/14
We’re thrilled— Lacy already has our hearts. One look from her and we turn into mush. She’s absolutely perfect, and worth the dismally long, 4 month search we went through to get to her. There are so many reasons we’re impressed with your group, but we’ll go into to that later. I’m sending a picture from last evening and I’lll write you again in a few days. Thank you forever.
