The Rambunctious Nature of a Puppy

What do you mean...fix my ears?!

We haven't mentioned Lucy in a post in a while.She has grown quite a bit...she's sweet, cute, smart, goofy, and oh so much trouble right now. I know it won't last, but this is probably the most frustrating part of having a puppy...the digging, the jumping, the disobedient, obstinate nature that can test practically anyone's patience. Nothing is safe from the "monster" that is puppy attitude. We have been lucky so far she has been very good about controlling the urge to attack the chickens, so far she only chases them down and pounces on them, then she lets them go. I'm sure it stresses them out a bit, but it is better than death. 
She loves to help me with things like redecorating the yard, playing hide and seek with the kids shoes and toys, but the hardest thing for me to get over besides the chickens is her need to "help" me in the garden and with my plants that I have been carefully been nurturing. She thinks that it is rather amusing to dig out and "transplant" my garden plants and decorative plants. She has taken a particular interest in my asparagus plants and my potted plant with the hens and chicks. We randomly find a hen here and a chick there.
I have told Matt that she can smell what I touch and she is purposefully grabbing my plants to annoy me...sometimes I actually believe it. Did I mention the digging? She has created her own little lair under the chicken coop...I can only bet that she is lying under there plotting out her devious plans.She also has an interesting relationship with the baby. Most days she doesn't bother with him, but sometimes she feels the need to put him in his place, like licking him until he begins to cry, or my favorite she knocks him over and sits on him. My guess is they will figure out their relationship over time, I just wish she wasn't so rough on him because he really does love her.

Peeking out of her lair

So her cuteness...her ears have a life of their own on top of her head and flap around wildly sometimes they sit on top and look like a cap brim. She loves to play with balls and run with the kids. She always sits at attention astutely watching the chickens until she just can't stand it and has to give chase to one or two. She has a defeated look when she gets caught and sulks away. She loves to try and jump up and enjoy a lap and a scratch especially if that lap is occupied by the baby. She and the cat have bonded and they are often playing and sitting together in the yard. Maurice kind of put up with Lucy in the beginning, now he looks for her companionship. They sleep on each a chair if we leave them open. I suspect that eventually they will be sharing a chair.

So yes Lucy has been trouble...Yes, she has tried my patience, even beyond the measure of my children(that is saying a lot)...Yes the transition has been more difficult than I have thought or hoped, but she is wonderful and she and I are adjusting. I'm hopeful that time will turn her into a reliable, hardworking part of our homestead and family. On a happy note she has definitely kept the raccoon at bay; and we really haven't had any problems with the food being taken, or the chickens being attacked since she has become part of our family.