Ladies and Gentlemen: We present Lucy

*Disclaimer: The subject of this blog focuses almost entirely on the issues surrounding a new canine in nuestra casa, so if dogs aren't your thing, skipping this installment is recommended. Thank you for your patronage.

-Mgmt

We've heard several times in the last few weeks that it was merely a matter of time. Exactly three weeks ago, Sara came upon an apparently feral puppy while on the way to a hiking trail just a short way outside of our city. However, as countless feral dogs roam freely all over Taiwan, the girls continued on their way. Nearly an hour or more later, leaving the trail, they came upon the puppy again, sitting in the exact same position. The pooch was sitting along the side of a road, surrounded by her own poop, looking as if she had be dropped off of a scooter quite some time ago and was simply waiting for someone to come back for her. Having a bad case of Bleeding Heart Syndrome, Sara naturally stopped to give the dog some always handy vegetarian dog treats. The then unnamed puppy was not a fan of the treats, but soaked up the attention. Since she was clearly not a feral dog, Sara and the girls decided they couldn't in good conscience leave her there. A few short hours after, the puppy was being smothered with affection as well as flea and tick shampoo in our bathtub.

So here we are, another active weekend in the bag, winding down on a Sunday night. I can certainly tell you I didn't have a lot of expectations for our time in Asia, but had someone told me that we'd be playing the role of puppy trainers, I would've scoffed. That's right, I don't use that word frequently, but I feel as if it's appropriate. As much as I love dogs, the thought of all the added responsibility of providing for another living, breathing, and excessively sniffing creature is not one that had crossed my mind. That being said, it has been quite the learning process. I imagine it's on par with suddenly having a baby born without the nine month warning. Overnight we went from very busy but relatively comfortable in our schedules to scrambling to get supplies and any dog training tips the internet had to offer. We're just now getting to the point where things are beginning to settle down.

Among the myriad of exciting new concerns brought home with the puppy were the little friends that accompanied Lucy into 我们的家 (our house): fleas, worms, a fungal infection in her fur, and quite the case of scabies. The latter of which was unbeknownst to us until we finally had enough spare time to get her to vet to figure out why she was spending all of her waking hours scratching incessantly. Four rounds of trips to the vet for shots to fight the infection and scabies later, as well as twice-a-day cocktails of pills hidden in her food (luckily she's the canine equivalent of a undiscriminating vacuum cleaner) and she's nearly 100% healthy. For those of you who haven't dealt with scabies (human or canine) previously, they're nasty little f%@#ers. Upon hearing the diagnosis, we returned home with our itchy pup and scoured the internet for info on dealing with the issue. Just about everything we read said that you have to clean all fabric in the household with boiling water, then wash it. Anything non-washable should be sealed in airtight bags and put away for two weeks in a cool, dark place. In addition, you have to be exceedingly careful about what comes in contact with the infected monster, and treat anything that hasn't been cleaned as a carrier. As a cherry on top, it is required to mop with boiling water at least once a day for two weeks. And so the cleaning frenzy began. Please note that this little smelly poo-nugget of realization was dropped in our laps during our Tuesday break, during which we usually prepare for another round of classes. After much grumbling, resentful mutterings, and many loads of clothing having boiling water dumped on them, we got back to focusing our attention on the little typhoon of energy who was making an effort to chew on everything in sight.

(This stuffed rabbit didn't stand a chance against the Cookie Faced Guillotine)

It's pretty apparent due to Lucy's already existing affinity for human attention that she had spent some time with a family, although her almost complete lack of discipline or training leads us to think she spent that time locked up before eventually being discarded. Thus, she was a bit of a blank slate in terms of training. Shit, we don't even know if she speaks English! Language barriers aside, we are getting to the point where our xiao pengyou (little friend) is quite obedient. In order to help stave off any destruction due to unspent energy, common to puppies with working parents, Sara and I have been taking turns running her in the mornings and evenings. This Saturday Sara and I strapped on our Vibram Five-Fingers and got our newly scooter trained beast on our Taiwanese minivan and headed out to hit the trails. About an hour and several hundred winding steps later, we were all pretty beat. We've taken turns teaching her tricks, and so far we've got Sit, Lay down, Come (unless something smells too good to abandon), Shake, and Go to your home (an idea borrowed from Sam, Shel, and Rock). Earlier today I gave 'Bang' a shot (literally) and within 15 minutes, she was giving Oscar worthy flops.

(our chariot)

As many of you know, I spent over two years working intensively with children on the Autism spectrum, which in case you are unaware of, tends to take a lot of patience and consistency. I can honestly say that dealing with this new addition to our little family has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. And despite all of that frustration, every day has been better than the last. I suppose when you start at the bottom, it really can only go up. We're still not sure what we'll do with our Oreo Faced Fiend, but at the moment, we're enjoying making at least one stray puppy's life a little more full of love.