Duchess

Lucy had a busy day today. She got to come to work with me this morning and then she took Emily to the dog park (North Acres) for the first time. I didn't think Lucy was tired enough, so I took her to Magnuson to meet up with her sister, Duchess. They hadn't met before, so it was quite fun to see what Duchess is like. Her owner is Mike Moore, who works in Mukilteo with me.

As many of you know, Lucy is a ball hound. She lives for fetching balls. She will fetch balls from fields, lakes, streams, or other dogs' mouths. She can also sense when someone has a ball. She's not too concerned about other dogs and likes to play a little, but not too much. She's become quite the swimmer and is learning to bring balls back- sometimes two at a time. Anytime a ball is thrown in the water, she thinks it's for her and she goes running and swimming and usually brings it back to the person who threw it so they can throw it again. Luckily, most dog owners at dog parks are fairly reasonable and Lucy hasn't caused too many problems- who could get mad at such a cute dog?? Lucy is also great about dropping her balls as well as following me or Steve when we walk.

It was a kick to meet Duchess and see a completely different personality. Duchess would rather play with other dogs than chase balls. The only reason she runs with balls is to get other dogs to chase her. She tends to get off in her own world when playing with other dogs, so she had to be grabbed a few times when she was getting left behind. The best Duchess moment from today was when Lucy was swimming back in with a ball and Duchess would sit in the water and then crouch down. When Lucy got close, she pounced on Lucy and took the ball. Lucy then had to try and get the ball from Duchess by chasing her around. It looked as though Lucy just wanted the ball and didn't really want to play. They were a kick to watch. I'm hoping Duchess and Lucy can get together more often. Here are some pictures from their afternoon together.