Ode to our dog

I recently saw the movie "Marley and Me," and I couldn't help but be thankful for our yellow lab, Lucca. If you've seen the movie, Lucca is basically a female version of Marley.

There have been many times that I've thought that we must own the most difficult dog in the world.

When she was a puppy, she chewed everything. She's ruined countless pairs of shoes, boxes, toys, even a leather couch. Man has yet to invent a fence that will contain her. She scales 6-ft fences like they're nothing, using her toenails to shimmy up like a cat. And she sheds copious amounts of blonde doggie hair all over my dark rugs and hardwoods.

But who could resist this pretty face?

She has a lot of "talents" that other dogs lack. For instance, she loves balls. No one has greater endurance than Lucca in a game of fetch. In fact, saying she loves balls is probably an understatement. She is obsessed with them. I mean, have you ever seen a dog who will climb a tree to retrieve a ball? That's our girl.

She is a loyal companion and guardian to our kids. Even though she's 100% alpha when it comes to other dogs, she has never been anything but gentle and tolerant of kids climbing on her and toddlers pulling on her ears and lips.

When the kids are sick, she lays right by their sides. She lets Isaac boss her around even though she's at least twice his size. When a thunderstorm hits (her greatest fear) or fireworks are going off (her other fear), she cowers in Samuel's bedroom until it's quiet again. She loves her "brothers."

She has been with us for five and a half years now. Matea, Isaac and Elijah have known her all their lives. In fact, Isaac's first word was "Ucca."

Today as I had to go retrieve her from animal control for once again jumping our fence, I thought about the all the money we've spent over the years on leashes and invisible fence systems and fines to bail her out of puppy prison, and I had to laugh. I echo John Grogan. The world's worst dog really can turn out to be the best dog in the world.