Louise's Adoption Photo
March 2010
We adopted Louise in April 2010, when she was about 6 months old. I decided that her birthday would be Oct 31, 2009 so she could be my Halloween Dog. Squash E Bear was starting to really slow down by then and he was totally blind. I thought that getting a companion might help him on our walks and keep him company. I went on http://www.PetFinder.com and other dog sites and started to look for my next love. After several false starts (one being a shelter adoptee that bit me and Squash the first night she was here), I was ready to give up. Late in March we stopped in PetCo to buy guinea pig food on a Saturday and happened upon an unexpected adoption fair. I was immediately attracted to this medium size male dog with long hair (like Squash’s), but the rescue leader tried to talk us into this very fearful little black labby thing. I never thought about a black dog before, or a lab, and I was not interested in a short haired dog (I like the furry kind). We took Louise for a little walk and she was timid and fearful. I really was not interested. After a while her foster family came to pick her up and I saw a different dog emerge. She jumped on the kids and was really happy to see them. We talked to the foster and went home to think about it.
As you can see from the adoption picture above, Louise was not in the best of shape when rescued. They were having trouble placing her because people were scared off by the condition of her skin and her shyness, When you rescue an animal, you don’t know a lot about their beginnings. I was told that she was rescued with her sister, Thelma, at about 4 months old. The rescuers (MJ’s Sanctuary) went down to pick up a bunch of dogs from a kill shelter in North or South Carolina (that is where Maryland gets a lot of dogs) when 2 men drove up with 2 puppies in the trunk. The rescue team tried to talk the men into releasing the dogs to them but these guys did not want to, so the team kind of liberated the dogs somehow before they could be taken into the shelter. Hence her name, “LOUISE” (from the great liberation movie, “Thelma & Louise“). I figure Lulu’s Mom was maybe a hunting dog who got pregnant and gave birth in a barn. Somebody put flea collars on the pups and threw some food at them but I don’t think they interacted much with them because she appeared to not be socialized to people, and definitely not to males. The flea collar was embedded in her neck and her skin was covered with terrible dry mange when they rescued her and she shied away from everyone.
Lulu trying to cuddle with Squash
April 2010
I decided that I would spend some time with Louise and see how it work with Squash. As you probably figured, it did not take long for me to fall in love. Though it has taken 2 years of work (which continues) to help her over the anxiety of life, I could not have been chosen by a better dog. Today she is a loving and special girl, with a shiny coat and adoring eyes.
Louise Today
March 2012
Just another DogDaz morning at our house ❤
Tags: adoption, animal awareness, animals, dog, dog rescue, DogDaz, Dogs, Pet, pets, postaday, shelter dog, Thelma & Louise
My toy
I think I am noticing a pattern with Louise. She likes to sleep on her toys,
This is mine!
She seems to always have her paw on something or it is under her, Sometimes, multiple toys are under her at the same time, Is this a ‘This is mine so leave it alone’ thing, or is it just that she feels secure touching something when she goes to sleep. I never had a dog that actually lied on the toys this way. I originally thought that it was to keep Sofie away from them (which it could be), but, as you can see in the first shot, she even likes to just stretch out and touch a toy and then fall asleep.
My Toy - Do Not Touch
This week Louise was really in love with this frog that I got at the grocery store for St. Patrick’s Day, but tonight Sofie got it from her and they ripped it in half. The usual stuffing everywhere, quick find the squeaker before they swallow it,,,, you know the drill kind of toy. Well it did last almost 3 days, which is kind of a record around here. It was funny because Lulu was squeaking the frog during business calls this week and I had to apologize to people because I did not want to stop her she was having so much fun. We did not even have him long enough for me to get him in a picture.
Mine, mine, mine
I do think that animals like to cuddle with their toys like we humans do (well some of us). Sofie always carries around Beaver (her lovey), so maybe, Lulu finds comfort in knowing that one of her many play things is near by.
Just another dogdaz morning at our house ❤
Tags: animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, nature, pets, postaday, toys
This is Lulu Belle and I wanted to discuss 3 special days in March with you.
Yesterday was the Ides of March. That is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March)
In neo-modern times, it is also known as ‘the day before Mommy’s birthday’ which is today, 16 March. We think Mommy was born later than 44 B.C. (Before Cats?) but we are not sure. Mommy tends to celebrate her birthday for a month since it falls in the middle. We have noticed that humans have parades in the streets of many towns and cities on 17 March (aka St. Patrick’s Day**) to also celebrate Mommy. We wonder why the parades are not held on her actual birthday but humans can be weird? And we also wondered why people wear green and they call her Patrick, which is not her name? Mommy does not like green, she says it matches her skin color.
(** Saint Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is probably the most widely celebrated saint’s day in the world. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day))
Around our house we like the celebration idea much better than the killing of Caesar, so we are going to have a pre-birthday parade and then a post-birthday parade for Mommy. I can’t wait until she sees what we made for her in the yard.
I love a parade ! – Lulu Belle
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo…..
Tags: animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, funny dogs, Ides of March, Julius Caesar, pets, postaday, Saint Patrick Day
No! I will not do what you say ! No No No No No!
Last Saturday, I started a new type of dog training with Sofie. Two weeks ago she ran all over the neighborhood in the pouring rain (I dropped her lease while coming in from the car) and I realized that I need a better way to get her attention. Nothing I have tried for a year has worked, Treats don’t work – she is not terribly food motivated (and she actually gives her cookies to Louise). The Clicker didn’t work – maybe for the same reason, even with high value treats like real chicken. We have started the training they use for military and sporting dogs, called SportDog e-collar technique. My trainer, John, was really happy to have a ‘normal’ everyday dog like Sofie, instead of the larger Rottweiler, Pitt, Shepard, or Mastiff clients he usually has. Though Sofie was her usual stubborn, hard-headed self, she showed considerable progress her first day. I tried the collar on me and it was a vibration type feeling (actually, I do not feel it at all until level 3 and for Sofie I am mostly using level 1). I hope that you will not judge me, I really tried everything else for the last year.
I know that it is really up to me to train my dogs. I never blame the animals for not obeying commands. If they do not follow commands that really has more to do with my lack of leadership than their lack of anything. They are dogs, I am the human. I have been told you have to repeat a command as many as 1,000 times before the dog reliably gets it. I am the one that tires out before completing the training. Dogs do not have gray areas; they are black or white. They respond or they don’t. I am gray. I am not consistent. I let both the dogs push me around and because of that, I think that I have allowed them to become unsafe. Having a dog that runs into the street and does not respond is a safety hazard for them and a fear factor for me. Allowing Sofie to bark at everything or totally destroy my yard is also not acceptable. I was able to get Louise to stop barking using a lot of positive reinforcement but that method has failed with Sofie.
My wonderful little Sofie is with me 1 year this week (Yah!). I know she can be a well behaved and respectful member of the pack, but right now she is the most strong willed 40 lbs of dog that I have ever encountered. I will keep you updated on how the progress goes. Wish us luck. Now I am on my way outside to work on Come, Sit, and Break. Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo. ❤
Tags: animal awareness, animals, dog, Dog People, dog rescue, DogDaz, nature, pets, postaday, Training
Sofie on the floor & Kitty in the dog bed
Sofie & Kitty
I do not know who decided that dogs and cats could not be friends. Miss Constance Kitty has always loved the dogs. She was wild about Squash and now she sticks to Sofie like glue. Sofie and Nine, the kitten, have become really good friends too since he joined us (Little Stella kitten is somewhat shy and gives the dogs a good scratch and hiss still on occasion). Louise tolerates the cats but doesn’t really want to play with them. They tolerate her too.
The only dogs that my cats know are the residents. None of my cats go outside, so they do not know ‘outside’ dogs, and it is rare we have a guest dog inside because of…. well… having 5 cats. We have a strict, “dogs not chasing cats” rule around here, which works 90% of the time, but it doesn’t work at all with strange dogs.
I find it interesting that Louise & Sofie meet many a neighborhood cat when we are walking but that they clearly do not relate the fact that their friends at home are the same species as these furry things behind the trees. I think they think they are just another kind of squirrel.
Sofie & Nine playing
(Just an aside: As I am sitting her blogging this with Sofie and Louise under the desk, Muffin just came in the office and Sofie started to charge him. Noel was already on my desk so there was a little fur flying for a moment… so we still do get a little tet-a-tet here at the zoo from time to time.) Anyway…. they all (sort of) know their place and they all seem to work it out. I know that many a dog would kill a cat if it had the chance and we have had some trouble fostering dogs because of that . You just can’t allow the dogs to chase or get aggressive from the start with the cats or it won’t work. Around here it does work and I really enjoy seeing the dance that the cats do with the dogs. I remember years ago my Alice cat doing that with Nikki dog, Kitty did the dance with Squash E Bear, and now both Kitty and Nine do the dance with Sofie. A long tradition of Cats loving dogs and doing that rub in the dog’s face dance thing that cats do. Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo. ❤
Tags: animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, Cat, cats, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, funny dogs, kitten, pets, postaday2011
I don’t sleep well. I have not slept well since, I don’t know, maybe ever. Come to think of it, my life began with a dog on the bed. And then, it moved to cats and dogs and cats and more cats. Now the dogs are not allowed on the bed, because there is just no room for the humans with all the cats (and the pillows of course). Dogs have to sleep in their kennels at night, and the kittens sleep in the safe room, so that we minimize night time stalking and cat fights. The other night we fell asleep while everyone was still out and when I awoke around midnight I found Sofie fast asleep with her head under the bed next to me. Stella was under the bed (hence why Sofie probably was in that strange position). Louise was asleep in her kennel with the door open (remember this is Lulu, the angel dog), What woke me was Nine scratching my feet (because I am a constant foot mover, even when sleeping, and the cats absolutely love to attack them). Muffin always sleeps next to me between the pillows (so close that when he stretches I wake up with little scratches on my face). Noel sleeps in the hall because she is now the Alpha and has become the night watchman. Kitty is usually under the covers around the foot of the bed (how do they breath down there?) Did I mention that I don’t sleep much?
Just another dogdaz morning at our house. ❤
Tags: animal awareness, animals, Cat, Cat People, cats, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, nature, Pet, pets, postaday
