Update:
Lucy is doing better with some training. I'm not feeling quite so frazzled and out of control! I've been listening to Cesar Millan audio books & cd's for a couple of weeks now, and doing some of the suggestions. It's a lot of info, so I'm trying not to get overwhelmed. I've signed up for his newsletter online too.
We decided to go ahead and get Lucy a sister! We adopted an 8 year old Beagle named Katie
Her owners are having to relocate and can't take her with them, unfortunately. She is a tricolor instead of a black and tan, like Lucy. She has a lot more white on her, and so it balances out Lucy's colors. They look cute together. They aren't best friends yet though. In fact, Lucy is dominating her. And I figured that would happen. So we are feeding them apart until we can get Lucy better trained. She is much more mellow than Lucy, and mature, so I can actually leave her alone in the house on the couch just fine. She knows her name, and comes when called, is house broken, and seems to be a sweet mannered, very intelligent dog.
I've been working with Lucy, using treats, on sit, stay, and come. She does REALLY well when there are treats involved. Not so well outside yet. BUT... since the arrival of Katie, I've noticed Lucy is watching my face more, listening more, and is actually better behaved! Since I read up on Beagles and found they are definitely "pack" dogs, the advice is to pair a Beagle with another dog and it behaves better... this seems to be true!! Aside from the feeding issue (growling, lunging, baring of teeth), they do pretty well together, and walk great together! I have just ordered a leash coupler to pair them so the leashes don't tangle so much and I'll walk them one-handed. I have watched Lucy the past couple of nights as she tries to get Katie away from the food bowl... I have corrected her as Cesar suggests... she is very stubborn. We had to tear her away from Katie at one point. My husband yelled sooooooo loudly that Lucy was scrambling low to the ground to get away. I told him not to yell anymore, that I'd use Cesar's techniques. I've gotten her away from chewing household things by making the "tssssssttt" sound along with a poke in the side with my finger (not too hard). I repeat this over and over and now is seems to be working some.
I was fairly amazed at Lucy's ability to quickly learn sit, stay, and come by using the treats. She has apparently been holding out on me... Lol!