It has been quite a while since my last update, Lucy has moved houses and cities since then (as did we of course) and has seen lots of new things happening in her life.

• Lucy is 57lbs and I'll have to formally recant on my previous assertion that she would reach 120lbs, while I'm certain she will yet gain more weight, so far at least she has the lean structure of the Sheppard not the thickness of the Rotty in her
• Lucy has learned that she is big enough to jump the fence of the new backyard (see Lucy's playground somewhere in this message) and thus is spending a lot of time tied up on a line (which is slightly better than in the house) rather than chase the abundant squirrels next door
• Lucy has been sprayed by a skunk twice already in her short life (and if she gets sprayed again it may remain a short life) and this second time she managed to drag in Oakley for a good splash herself (and then Willow got it a few weeks later, arg!)
• Lucy runs with me for between 30 -> 60 minutes at least once a week (along with her daily walks with Sue and the other two dogs), I'm not 100% sure what the distance and speed is but about 3->5 miles (depending on where we turn around) ... she is well behaved for most of the run, only occasionally wanting to veer off toward ducks or squirrels, the leash is loose on my wrist for 95% of the run.
• Lucy has started to act as if she wants to be in charge with a dominance display as often as we'll allow it
  • Stilling on the couch (not jumping up and lying down, but putting her ass on the couch with her feet on the floor, often in between one of the other dogs and one of Sue or I)
  • Chewing the kids shoes (never Sue or mine)
  • Rubbing up against you trying to push you over
  • Jumping over fences

We are making headway on curtailing the behaviour but it sucks in a way cause much of that dominant is just plain fun to watch and interact with ... oh well

• Lucy remains a very effective hunter, despite our attempts to curb this behaviour as well
  
  • She snatched a squirrel that got just a tad too close right out of a tree, jumped right up into the branch of the tree and grabbed that squirrel with her jaws of death
  • We have lost count of the number of birds that have squawked no more, well over 2 dozen
  • Thankfully the skunks are on the outside of our yard else I'm sure we'd include them on that list
  • No pets or other beasts (yet) but that is certainly the concern and one of the reasons we are trying hard to stop the predatory behaviour (the other is dominance related)
  • One display of in-your-face defecating in the house

We are not making much headway here, she is so attentive that it is hard to get her before she goes postal (she won't listen then), we'll not give up of course.

• Lucy remains respectful of old-timer Willow, occasionally chomping her ear and barking at her to try to induce some play (though Willow never gives in, she plays when she wants to which is about every fourth day for about 25 seconds)
• Lucy has no real respect for Oakley, lots of love but she feels that she is in charge of that relationship (and she is right)
• Lucy loves to use her mouth when interacting with humans, most dogs do but she takes it to the next level. She doesn't usually bite (though if she gets rangy enough during play then she might bite down with more force than anybody is comfortable with), she has never broken skin on anybody, or really hurt anyone in any real way, but she loves to mouth you just the same. I can fit my whole fist in her mouth, she isn't a small dog, and so she can be quite intimidating when she comes up and "bites" you (if you aren't used to it of course), particularly if you aren't all that close to dogs in the first place. This is harder to stop because it is such endearing behaviour (she really doesn't hurt you though you know she could so easily)
• Lucy must again be crated whist we are away from the house else she finds any scrap of paper, particularly any with a hint of blood, and chews it into small bits (even that which is bagged in plastic and put up high out of reach, sigh). No damage to furniture, rugs or the like, just little bits of (often disgusting) paper everywhere (and in her poo for days afterwards) -- Sue is a tattoo artist so bits of bagged, bloody paper towel are not that uncommon
• Lucy still occasionally kneeds her disappearing (because she is chewing, ripping, and even eating it away) blanket, particularly in the morning as she awaits the light (no dogs outside alone in the dark because of an overabundance of skunks and stupid dogs)
• The fence jumping is concerning and causing us some difficulty, other than that she is a wonderful dog, very well behaved, friendly to a fault, and mostly listens well (unless she's on the hunt, then it is hard to get her attention)