Lola and Rosie getting ready to leave

6/23/08: Today was a very special day for a very special pooch. Beautiful Lola left today traveling to her new home in Royal Oak MI. We were so sad to see Lola go, but we know she will have the very best chance of learning to trust again with Sandy. Sandy recognized that Lola might be more comfortable and come around quicker if she had a friend living with her, so Sandy also adopted Rosie O'Grady. What a wonderful idea.
We can't thank Sandy enough for being willing to give Lola the time she will need to recover from a very devastating past. We don't know what it was, but we know it damaged her severely. We know Sandy can change all that for sweet Lola.

Lola, Rosie and Sandy - what a great looking family

7/4/08: Hi Cindy. Things are coming along. The best news to report is that Lola has gained 5 pounds! Do you believe it? I must admit I am spoiling her with special nutrient gravy, a few tablespoons of canned dog food and then either scambled eggs, cottage cheese or yogurt and of course hard kibble. She always eats every last bite. She a bad few days where she wouldn't come in the house no matter what I did and I finally had to make a sort of corral so she couldn't keep running around in circles and the corral leads into the house. Today she has been better and is even resting in her bed as I write this. She got spooked I think when my son came over to visit several days back. Two nights ago  it rained about 11p and she finally came in and slept on the back landing.
 
So we are plugging along slowly with our poor Lola and she is still terrified when I pet her to where she just goes catatonic, but I  am sure that will change.  Well, I'l write more later but I am working this weekend and I am tired!!! Sandy

7/20/08:Hi Cindy. The trainer came out last night and was very happy about how the girls were doing.

She thought I was doing everything right with Lola!!!!!  And she thought Lola was doing very well considering her past. She thought there were many positive behaviors going on, such as the fact that Lola will come in the house when I call her as I stand behind the corral barricade..  I told her I know it is because she doesn't like to be outside when I am out there but she said it doesn't matter. She wanted me to start moving toward the door out from the barricade slowly so in a few weeks (or months? ) she will be able to be near me without a barricade tho she will go by me if I am sitting in my patio chair. Of course I can't grab her from the chair either. Lola came out to see us when we went outside and that is good. She didn't get too close but she wants too and is curious.

I thought I might have been pushing her to have her come out into the living room everyday for a minute or so and she said no, that it was good to have them  gradually come out of their comfort zone. I have also been giving her lots of treats when I go into the bedroom where she stays in her bed and while I pet her and that is good. I have started to use hot dogs as a reward too and she said that is what all the agility people use. Anyway it seems we are plugging along at an expected rate and I am doing the right things to gain her trust.

And finally I asked her if she had ever seen a dog like Lola come around and she said definitely, she has had a few of her own and they do agility now, and she thought Lola was doing really good, if I have the patience, which you know by now that I do. She really wants to trust and that face-------who can resist? Sandy

Sandy is Lola's angel. There's no question about that. Lola is in exactly the right place to heal and become whole again. Cindy

Aren't they beautiful!

8/21/08:Hi Cindy
Lola continues to make baby steps. She had her first bath last week and I think she is actually the first dog I have ever had that likes a bath. There were the biggest wags while she was in the tub getting soaped and rinsed. For the last several weeks I have had to get up in the middle of the night to let her out and then she stays out for the rest of the night. But lately she is staying all night in the bedroom with me and a few times when I let her out, I woke to find her back in her bed!!! I am still taking her into the living room and blocking her off so her has to be in the midst of things and around me. I sit on the floor and most of the time she comes to me and just wants her head held and petted. She even loves for me to put her head on my chest and pet her. She has even sat down a few times. In between these times I wonder how she is ever going to put things together that I am the same person all the time, because I might be petting her in the bedroom for the longest time and I will leave and come back in and she cowers in her bed, and when she goes back outside after eating she races past me all scared.

Sometimes I get discouraged but for the most part I think things are coming along, just very slowly. Sandy

1/1/09: The girls are doing pretty good. Lola has on the Anxiety wrap. I think it is helping her. She is in the house all the time now since it is cold and I think she is doing pretty good. Some days I think she has really made a breakthrough and then she is spooked over something and she is hiding in the bedroom again. We just keep trying and going slow with everything. If I sit on the floor and give the other two lots of hugs and kisses she keeps walking back and forth and can't really make herself stop and get petted too, though a few times she has gotten close and I pet her head. She still likes getting rubs in her bed and when I take her into the living room with me. She likes her walks even though we don't go on as many since I am not all that keen of walking in the cold. None of this is great strides but then I didn't expect it and don't force much at all. baby steps. Sandy

Doesn't she look comfy?

Lola and her bud, Rosie.

BeBe, Rosie and Lola peeking around the corner

Isn't she beautiful in her Valentine attire.

4/13/09: Lola has come a long way. She will come into the living room on her own accord if I am sitting on the sofa, check me
out, sniff my hair (she loves my hair) and and then retreat to the dining room where
she now stays all the time. But she will do this several times over the course of the evening.
And if I call her she will even get out of her bed and come to the living room, that is, if she
feels like it!!
She will eat regularly out of my hand when she is out of her bed too. She loves peanut butter!!
If I have peanut butter she will come to me pretty much right away.
Then a miracle last week. A friend was over with her dog and she wanted to try and
give Lola a treat.She was able to go up to Lola while Lola was in her bed in the
dining room and took the treat right outof her hand!!

She started to stay pretty much in the dining room around the time Rosie was having her last
days. I think she just wanted to be around Rosie. But then she just stayed in the dining room
and now she never goes into the bedroom especially with Cole, the big lug, jumping up and
down off the bed all the time. Now, when she is scared, she just moves from the one dog bed
to the other. The other being Bebe's bed, so now Bebe has been ousted from her bed, but she
likes sleeping on the sofa anyway.

She stills gets spooked easily and will have days where she just runs back and forth from
one bed to the other when I come home. I have had some long days lately and I think she
just gets used to the house being only dogs. But the long days will be over soon and I can
spend more time with the babies.

She likes the new addition, Cole and Cole is trying his darndest to get her to play with him
side, walking by her with toys, and bumping into her. So far Lola hasn't gotten, but it will
only be a matter of time now that it is getting nice outside.

I am so glad she is doing better since I have to go to Iowa on Mothers Day weekend for my
daughter's wedding, and am worried about her. But my friend who is going to take care of
has been over several times so Lola is familiar with her and my friend really understands
that she can't expect much from her. I am not even sure how much she will eat, since she
can still get spooked with me and not eat her dinner for some strange reason.

I think she is doing really good, though sometimes I don't see the increments until someone
comes over who hasn't seen her in a long time like some of my family yesterday, who were
quite amazed!!!!!! Go Lola Go

Sometimes, like last night I just go to you tube and watch all the babies play at your house.
Even if I have seen them before, I watch them again and last night I looked up the stories on
Lola's babies and they all look like her but the one, I can't remember her name, really looks
like her. I can't believe they are almost a year old.

And I am glad Buffy has finally found a new home.

I'll send some new pics soon.
Sandy

5/2/09: Lola had a breakthrough. I saw her and Cole playing in the yard yesterday and then she even picked up a TOY and started playing with that too. It was so good to see !!!!!! WooHoo!!

6/9/09: Hi Cindy. Lola did a very interesting thing this morning. I took Cole to the front porch to clean his ears which of course he protested. Lola started to whine and came almost to the door of the porch. It has really been the first time she has showed any emotion toward any of the other kids. She obviously didn't like it that Cole was upset and wanted to comfort him or express her disapproval. Once I was finished with Cole she settled down.

I have also been continuing to take her into the living room at night. I had stopped doing it for awhile because I thought it might be upsetting her too much. But I put up a gate so she can't go outside and she now goes right into the living room where I put up another gate. She will stand and sit right next to me for an hour if I feel like sitting on the floor that long and let me pet her and talk to her. Her tail just wags and wags. Then throughout the evening it I am watching TV she will come out and sniff me but won't come all the way into the living room. Plus she is safe because I am sitting behind the arm of the sofa. If i give out treats she will even stay longer, but of course I have the other two beggars vying for all the goodies too.

Just thought I'd let you know of the great progress.

Sandy

6/10/09: Cindy, you won't believe what Lola did tonight. She put a toy in her bed!!!! And is laying next to it!!! I just don't think Bebe or Cole would have done it since they never go near her bed. I don't know when she grabbed it but there it was when I went to turn the lights off!!! Sandy
ps: some people would not think anything of this but you and I know how all of these little steps are letting her become a happier dog. Dogs need to play with toys.

6/14/09: Cindy, when I came home tonight Bebe and Cole came to greet me at the door as usual. Lola was almost in the living room and didn't move. Then she came closer and when I sat on the floor with the other two she actually came up to me and sniffed me. That was the first time she has ever been interested in coming close to greet me when I came home. She has been getting more curious but has never come up to me before. I can't try to reach out and touch her or she gets spooked. In her time not mine! Sandy

This is a huge step for Lola and Sandy. Keep those prayers coming. They help! Cindy

6/26/09: Hi Cindy Lola is doing good!!! She comes to me when I come home from work more and more freely. I must sit on the floor and pet the other two but she is so curious and knows she is missing something that she usually comes right over and sniffs me. I can't reach out to her or she gets spooked but she is coming to me and at other times when I call her. my neighbor says that she sees Lola play with Cole a lot and even nuzzles him. Apparently they are in love. I haven't seen much of that but Lola is pretty low key when I am home, staying in the house most of the time in her bed just watching me do my thing. I think she has come a long way in this year and expect to see slow and steady improvement in the next year too and the one after that ..... etc. Sandy

9/8/09: Hi Cindy Another milestone this morning. When I called for Lola outside to eat her breakfast she came right in the house!!! She will eat out of my hand every morning. She is getting much better with new people too. Sandy

11/12/09: Last night Sandy wrote that Lola had gotten so sick with kidney failure that she had put her to rest. Lola was one of the Unicoi County dogs and the mother of Mia (Ruby), Jake and Ella (who died during the summer at just over a year old). Poor Lola is also the one who escaped us when we had her and was missing for 6 days. When we finally caught her, she was starved and had a severe injury from her collar that had gotten wrapped around her neck/shoulder. It was horrible. But all that could be fixed. What couldn't be fixed was the severe emotional trauma she had suffered prior to coming into rescue, but Sandy did the very best that anyone could have done for her, only to lose her after 17 months to renal failure. Sandy also adopted Rosie at the same time and she, too, died of renal failure not long after she adopted her. I feel so bad for Sandy and for Lola, but now we know that Lola is no longer afraid. Cindy