I Love Lucy

We came back from California with a puppy.

I know. Me. The cat person. But I can't help it. I love my puppy. She's a cute little 4 1/2 month old beagle/chihuahua that we rescued from the animal shelter in LA. I just saw her picture on the internet, and had to go get her.

She's so adorable... she has all these facial expressions and a head tilt whenever she's curious or learning something.

She's learned quite a lot since coming here from California:

Worms are not sticks.

Sometimes in Canada, the grass is cold and crunchy in the morning. Weird.

Cats are not always interested in playing with me.

Here's what I've learned:

A short leash is safer.

It turns out, that if I keep a short leash on Lucy, she stays out of a lot of trouble. She doesn't wander into the paths of cars or the kids' bikes, or eat things off the ground that she shouldn't.

I don't hold the leash taut short, but loosely short, so that she walks beside me. I don't let her lead. She's not in charge. I am. When she gets scared of the trash truck, I can walk in front, and she trusts that I am not leading her into danger. When she's approached by another dog, I can judge whether the situation is safe for her or not.

If I were to keep her off leash all the time, she'd get into loads of trouble. She'd be in the bushes chasing rabbits, in neighbor's trash cans, in backyards, in the street with cars coming. A leash is designed to establish boundaries, while allowing the wearer to still have freedom of being outdoors. I do allow her to explore, follow her nose, but on the leash I can steer her away from harm. I let her off leash at the beach, and we walk in a certain direction, but never, never do I leave her alone!

"If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days." 1 Kings 3:14