When our boys were little, we had a small dog who passed away. For years, they begged us to get a big "fun" dog with which they could play and wrestle. They promised they would help take care of the dog, feed and walk it and give it exercise, but as the Mom, I knew the burden would fall on me. So, I gave very specific parameters...1. had to be a German Shepherd Dog, my favorite breed, 2. had to be a female, 3. had to have short hair. Then, while on a family vacation with their cousins, they mentioned the dog and its requirements, and their Aunt said, " We have friends who are German Shepherd dog breeders, and they just had a litter with a short-haired female. One week later, we brought her home from Ohio.

We decided as a family that the dog would either be named Lucy or Maggie. After a vote, Lucy won, but her middle name is Margaret (Maggie).

Lucy holds true to her German Shepherd Dog instincts. She is very protective and loyal. While she is on the smaller side for a GSD, she thinks she is a lap dog and tries to squeeze into small spaces. At one time, she would insist on sleeping in a twin bed with one of her brothers, not willing to give up her spot even if he was uncomfortable. Her favorite sleeping position is on her back with her legs going in one direction and her head in the opposite direction. Just watching her makes my body ache, but she can sleep like that for an hour. In her younger years, Lucy would play catch with her ball for hours and hours, tiring out us mere humans before she would stop. In her more mature years, Lucy has become overwhelmingly protective and connected to her Mom, and everyone else, including my husband, are just people she needs to tolerate. She goes where I go, even if I just get up for a few moments, she has to come with me, and when she can't find/see me, there is a frantic search until I am located.

She is very protective of her "pack" (family), and she takes her job very seriously. She will sit at different windows of the house for hours every day, guarding. Even when we take her to other family members' houses, she will find a window to sit in front of to stand guard. However, she can also be a "big baby" and wants people to pay attention to her. The good news is we have never had a delivery go unnoticed.

German Shepherd Dogs are incredibly smart. It only takes you using a word 5 times for her to learn it. So we got to a point where we had to spell keywords so Lucy wouldn't get too excited too soon. For example, I would have to tell one of the boys to take her outside and play b-a-l-l. Soon she picked up on spelling as well, and we had to get creative with synonyms, like go and play with the orb. 

Lucy is a wonderful dog, well-trained, lovable, and loyal, and she is a blessing to our family.