Lola's Big Adventure

We adopted Lola from the Animal Control Center in Okinawa, Japan. We can thank the wonderful organization www.doggiesinc.org enough for the work they do on this island. This poor girl was obviously mistreated and starved on purpose; the stray animals of Okinawa find garbage or other things to eat before they get this skinny. Not only that, she cannot walk well at all due to the lack of nutrition and muscle structure so there is no way she has been avoiding captors for enough time to be this skinny. I've created this blog to monitor her progress and show how much a little attention and a lot of love can help a sweet animal in need.

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BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Lola...... Just played FETCH! With a tennis ball... For like 30 minutes... I AM SO PROUD!!!!!!

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She has something serious to talk to me about...

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Lola made me a beautiful present while she was outside! >:( -- it was frustrating but still kinda funny! And no, that's not blood!

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She LOVES him! And she started playing today! It's so stinkin cute, she was pawing at Kimbo and trying to bite his ears. He wasn't very welcoming to it, I think he's still a little unsure of her. But she was even trying to bite at my hands today and pawing at me a little. This is the first time she's showed a little personality! Very exciting, I was beginning to think she was going to be a simple dog forever haha. She's been doing okay with house training, she knows when she's outside she's supposed to go but she hasn't yet figured out that when she's inside she's NOT supposed to. She doesn't have any clue at all that she's being wrong. She has been 400% better with her anxiety when I leave her with the other 2 dogs it's just amazing. Also the calming drops that were donated to her work SO well. She has been putting on some great weight and I think this week I will start on some extra blood work, radiographs and possibly vaccines and her microchip. Hopefully the doctors will agree that she's ready for all those things. Thanks again for everyone's love and support :) 

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haha!

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HALLELUJAH!

Today Lola came with me to work again and promptly pooped in her kennel and walked through it, then later peed in it as well. Was expected though. She cried and barked for hours, scratched at the cage. We put towels over the front of the kennel to calm her barking but she would scratch until the towels fell down. Someone awesome donated some calming drops for her, it's some type of herbal therapy. I gave one of those to her and then brought her into the office with a couple of the girls I work with and she was AMAZING. No accidents, no barking, no crying, no scratching... She was just looking at everyone and trying to figure out what was going on. Sitting calmly and quietly, every once in a while she pretended like she maybe wanted to walk out of the office and I told her "No." And she walked right back inside!! BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! MICHAEL AND I WENT OUT TO DINNER TONIGHT! AND WE LEFT LOLA HOME ALONE! AND THERE WAS NO PEE OR POOP OR ANYTHING WHEN WE CAME BACK!!!! Oh man, it was so exciting. The advice we got on leaving her with our other dogs was just a GODSENT! I don't know why we didn't consider doing that before. It looks like she did jump up on our entertainment center and knocked over one of the speakers but that was all we saw. Was so very exciting. I was starting to really get discouraged and thought that maybe I would never be able to help Lola the way she needed. I thought maybe she would need someone who could stay home with her for the majority of the day everyday to bring her outside every hour or so but it seems that she's making some progress I'm so happy! I think we're going to try to get a doggie door too and see if we can get her to figure out how to use that. Oh, also, Lola has gained 4lbs in a little over a week!!! She looks SO much better, pictures coming soon! :)

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Little Victories!

Lola has spent her 2nd day in the kennels at work without having an accident inside them! AND I didn't have to take her out every 5 minutes. She definitely does let you know when she wants to go outside, we just have to listen! I wasn't able to bring her to work with me first thing of the morning so I left her home in her crate... Not the best idea. She pooped and went a little crazy in it. I didn't see the aftermath, Michael told me about it. I got some great advice today from two of Lola's loyal supporters. One said, "I'm sure she'll start picking up on your other dog's mannerisms and learn from them" -- I thought to myself well they aren't being the best teachers! The other asked what I do with her when we leave the house. I said "I put her in her crate or put her in a room by herself" - "well... Maybe she needs to be with your other dogs?" Why didn't I think of that!?! I guess I was too concerned with Kimbo and Sophie being dramatic or overly sensitive and I didn't want to stress them out more than they were with Lola being around. However, I dared to go to the commissary today while Michael was at the gym. Lola was in the house alone in the same room as the other two and there was only one puddle of pee-pee NOT WALKED THROUGH! Yippie!!!! Is this really what we've been doing wrong this whole time?! Thank you for everyone's advice, I have new high hopes!

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WTF IS THIS?

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Happy girl!!

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Lola Went to the Beach! Still Psycho When Left Alone.

We took Lola to the beach on Friday. It was a beautiful Oki day, not too hot, nice little breeze and a few scattered clouds to give a quick break from the sun. Lola was SO adorable. She was RUNNING!!! It was amazing given that she could barely walk when we brought her home. She was inspecting things and chasing Kimbo & Sophie all over. When we got her home I was so sure that she would be tuckered out from the days events. She started itching at her paws a little bit so I figured maybe she was a little allergic to the sand. I gave her a couple benadryl, the proper dosage for her weight (which by the way is 28 lbs... a 28lbs full grown Boxer???!) and she seemed to get drowsy and calm. We put her in her kennel and she stayed calm. I was thrilled. We had dinner plans that night so I was hoping if we left her in there she would stay out of trouble. This was the second time we have left her home by herself. Otherwise, my husband and I switch off on leaving the house and staying with her. When we came home from dinner it was probably the worst case scenario you could ever imagine. The blanket that we had put over her crate to cover it was on the ground somehow. And once again... poop.... EVERYWHERE... And when I say everywhere, I don't mean oh her feet and the bottom of the crate. I mean the top of the crate, the sides of the crate, THE WALLS NEXT TO THE CRATE! My husband and I just stood there in utter disbelief. She had only been in there for about 3 hours. Today Michael and I decided to attempt going grocery shopping together. We put her in the laundry/wash room this time, with a shower curtain basically tied down to the floor for easy clean up. This time she dumped her waterbowl all over the place, and there was water on all the walls, the doors, the sink, the counter.. Clearly from her jumping all over everything. I got an email from one of Lola's followers suggesting something called a "thundershirt" and I could not order it fast enough. It's supposed to help dogs with their anxiety... Hopefully it will do something for her. Like I said before, I have no experience with this type of ridiculous anxiety. Luckily I can bring her to work with me everyday. I don't like the idea of using medications but I think I'm going to have to give it a try to make her more receptive to training. She has started responding to "NO!" and seems to now understand when she's doing something she shouldn't be, like trying to eat something off the table or jumping on the counters. I know I need to give her some time.. Today she only had ONE accident in the house!!! She goes to the bathroom at minimum every hour, sometimes 30 minutes. She does pace around when she needs to go so it's easy to recognize. Even if she could use a puppy pad while we were gone, or would just go to the bathroom somewhere on the floor and leave it alone it would be easier for me to deal with but to poop and then skate through it? Even outside, she'll poop on the porch and immediately step in it before you can stop her. Anyway... She really is so cute and she is a good dog while we're home but as soon as she's by herself even for 5 minutes it's absolute chaos. Thank you to whomever recommended the Thundershirt we will definitely be trying it. If anyone has any other suggestions I am so open to anything and everything!

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She inspects every thing anyone ever has in their hands to see whether or not it is food. The camera is no exception. 

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She is so stinkin cute. 

When I decided to adopt Lola I knew this would be a difficult task. Crate training is not going well at all. She flips her lid as soon as I leave the room, let alone put her in a crate. I've tried giving her Kongs with peanut butter inside but as soon as she finishes it she starts to flip out. Her "cry" is not a regular dog cry it is the most high pitch squeal I've ever heard, the neighbors in the next city must be able to hear her. We haven't left her home alone for any extended periods of time... until tonight... A friend of ours had a baby very early and unexpectedly so we went to visit. Lola scratches and claws at her cage and just goes insane and I don't feel comfortable leaving her in there until she is properly trained to see it as a safe place..... So I left her out in the living room... And came home to every square inch of the floor covered in poop. The poop paw prints indicated that she still had a super freak out the entire time. I know nothing that I can do in a couple of days will cure the intense feelings of abandonment that she has but I have never dealt with this behavior in a dog and I don't know how to fix it properly. It makes me feel terrible. 

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he knew basic commands but was useless on a lead and didnt really understand who was in charge or where to go do his business (he'd both had a poo and pee on many of my friends bags:') all i can suggest is plenty of love, it seems the more love i gave him the more he listened to me and learnt his place. i still have some problems with him on the lead and it's only been recently he's come back to me, but in the house he's perfect! i'm only 18 so im sure she'll do great with you two! :)

Thanks girl! I've been on a dog whisperer marathon for the last few days so hopefully I'll learn something. I have a lot less patience than I thought I did. She literally does not listen AT ALL. 

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what you're doing is amazing. i got my boxer from a guy who obviously tried to train him to be mean (which isnt in a boxers nature at all) he was scared of peeing near me and wouldnt go anywhere near a plastic bag. had him for almost a year now and he's the most beautiful dog i could ever ask for, the more love i give the more i get back and i think it's lovely you're willing to do the same for Lola :) so glad i stumbled across this. Good luck to you and Lola too :) x

Thank you so much! If you have any tips or suggestions I would be so grateful! Was he house trained when you got him? Did he know any commands?