Adjustments

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at how crazy our house has gotten with two dogs.  Lucy passes gas in front of guests without guilt, snores, drools and doesn't wait her turn.  Yet we can't stay mad at her for more than two minutes because she is SO cute.  Her mannerisms are hilarious!  Ariyah doesn't know what to do with her half the time.  She has really started making herself quite at home, especially in the last 48 hours.  She is testing the limits to the max, attempting to see just how far she can go.  Her and Ariyah are T.R.O.U.B.L.E when unsupervised.  So far they have pulled pillows off of the couch and bed on separate occasions to use as they please (luckily I have caught them both times before any holes were chewed).  Yesterday I left them in the bedroom for three minutes and Lucy had her way with the corner of a text book of mine that was on the floor.  That bought her a nice time out in the kennel.  Our backyard is fenced in (thank you Jesus) so we can put them out there whenever we need to.  Well, last night we caught Lucy trying to dig through to China in a little patch of dirt between the concrete patio and the brick wall.  That bought her a good scruff-grabbing scolding from Scott and a bath (which she didn't seem to mind - her feelings cannot be hurt...so we thought).  Until she punished us for her punishment by leaving a gift of poo in the dining room five minutes later.  This bought her a good forced inspection of said mess and 15 whole minutes in the kennel.  She finally calmed down after that and just wanted love the rest of the night, which we will happily give.
So far today she has chewed off the end of a football (much to Ariyah's grief as that football is one of her favorite toys), attempted to chew up Ariyah's dog bed, and been caught in the act trying to steal pillows again.  All of which have gotten her good scoldings and several nice shots in the face with the spray bottle of water (which she detests).  It's like watching a naughty toddler!   She has had a year of bad habits instilled in her from her previous family that we are gradually going to have to train out of her. We have faith that she will learn and this is just an adjustment period that any adoptive family would have to go through, but still.  It's work!

          My Nursing Textbook....