What Scares Lola

With Halloween this weekend, I thought it was a good time to talk about things that scar Lola. You would think with her tough appearance (some may disagree) and the fact that she is a bully breed she would have no fear.  With somethings that is true, but with others not so much.  Lola has some strange fears and dislikes.

One thing Lola has always been afraid of is water.  But not the type of water you are thinking.  I have taken her swimming before and she was not a fan, but she was not afraid of the water.  She is afraid of sprinklers.  Yes sprinklers.  I have no idea why.  But ever since she was a puppy, when we would walk and there was a sprinkler on, she would do whatever possible to avoid walking through the water from the sprinkler.  She will walk in the street, try to completely stop, whatever.  I have finally managed to get her to a point, where we can run past it.  Otherwise, we have to walk completely around it.

Another thing she is afraid of is umbrellas.  One day it was raining, and she needed to go out, so I figured why not open the umbrella when I went out with her. Big mistake.  I opened the umbrella and she freaked out and ran inside.  It took quite a bit of convincing to get her to go out after that.  And now, whenever I get the umbrella out she freaks out.  I was just trying to be nice and keep her covered from the rain, but it was not appreciated.

She is also scared of the baby gate.  A lot of dog owners I know get baby gates to prevent their dog from getting into trouble.  I put the baby gate at the stairs to the basement (there is no door).  There is just too much for her to get into down there.  Whenever I get it out to put in front of the stairs she gets very timid and backs away.  I know where this fear came from.  When she was a puppy, the gate fell on her.  She jumped on it and it fell.  Ever since then she has been terrified of it.

She is also terrified of skate boards.  I think it has to be the noise that scares her.  She goes into this state of confusion, where she is not sure if she should chase it or hide. 

What are somethings that scare your dogs?

Fall Is Here

And it is about a month late.  (Which makes me happy.)  It has been unseasonable warm in the Denver metro area this fall.  It as been mostly 70s and high 60s.  Which I love.  It has been so warm that most of the trees were still green and had there leaves.  But this week, fall finally seemed to hit.

There are a nice variety of trees in my neighborhood, which makes for some beautiful fall colors.

I finally turned the heat on this weekend.  I was sitting on the couch freezing.  I went to see what the temperature was in the house and it was 63.  A little too cold.  So on went the heat.  But it has still been pretty warm during the day, so the heat has not been coming on much.  Which I love, because that means there will be a cheaper heating bill.

Great Walk

I know last week I bragged about how well Lola did on a walk, and now I have to brag one more time, (and then I promise I will stop for awhile.)  We went for an afternoon walk this weekend, and there was a woman walking with a little boy and a dog.  I could tell from quite a distance that the dog was walking the woman rather than the woman walking the dog.  And I know a lot of us have been that person, so I decided to walk in the street so we would be out of the way.  When we walked past the woman, she commented on how well behaved and in control Lola was.

I know a lot of other people have said this, but it is great to know that we are representing the American Bulldog and the bully breeds in a positive light.  And it makes me proud to know that we can show people that bully breeds can be great dogs.

Vet Visit

Lola had a vet visit last Friday.  It was nothing serious, just a comprehensive exam.  I am happy to report that Lola is healthy and doing great.

The thing I find funny is the way Lola acts when she goes to the vet.  She absolutely loves it.  I have never known a dog who loves the vet as much as Lola.  And the thing I love, is the fact that the vets, techs, and front desk employees all LOVE Lola.  They think she is great and treat her so well.  With the comprehensive Lola is dropped of for the day.  And I feel at easy when I drop her off because I know how well they treat her and how happy she is there.

Wordless Wednesday

Good Girl, Lola!!

Do you ever have one of those moments where you dog did something so well and you are just so proud, that you can't quite get it out of your mind?  Well, I had one this weekend.

We were going for an afternoon walk, like many other people.  And up the street on the same side, I saw there was Great Dane puppy.  (Well, puppy meaning probably 7 or 8 months, because he was pretty big.)  He made his dog sit, so I decided to cross the street so we were out of the way and he could continue with his dog.  So we cross, and I had Lola walking beside me.  As we continue walking, I told her to "leave it".  We kept walking and we started passing the puppy on the other side of the street.  I said "leave it" one more time.  As we walked by the puppy started barking and jumping (I know he wanted to say hi) and the poor owner was trying to get him to calm down.  And through all of this Lola just kept trotting along beside me not even paying attention to the dog across the street.  I could not believe that she did not even care.  She is usually gets excited when other dogs are excited.

The Lost Dogs: A Review

I never really planned on reading The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant, but I saw there was an e-book at my library so I decided to give it a try.  I had nothing against the idea of the book, and I actually thought it was great that somebody wanted to write about what these dogs went through, but I thought it may be too difficult to read.  I was right in someways, but I was extremely wrong in others.

There are three parts to this book, and the first part was by far the hardest to read.  The first part, is about the investigation of the fighting ring. And I have to say,  there are some very specific details.  I actually skipped part of the first part.  I could not bring myself to read the horrific details that some of these dogs went through.  And the one part I did read, about what Michael Vick did to a dog was so horrific that I actually started crying.

Once I got to the second and third part, it was much better.  I could not put the book (or more correctly my nook) down.  I was hooked.  Gorant focused on specific dogs and told their stories, from the shelter, to foster home(s) and beyond.  I felt like I was right there with the dogs as they went through their troubles and triumphs.  I was especially drawn to Jonny Rotten and Jasmine's story.  Two very different dogs and situations.  But in both cases the humans that came in to help these dogs did amazing jobs giving them the love and affection and attention they never had.  They gave them a home and made them special.  

Jim Gorant did an amazing job of telling this story.  I felt like I could feel the different personalities of each of the dogs.  I felt like I was watching each dog.  I was laughing and crying throughout the story.  There are hilarious and sad moments.  Gorant, did a great job giving these dogs a voice and face.  They are no long the Micheal Vick dogs, they are Jasmine, Jonny, Sweet Pea, and so many more.

I would highly recommend this book, to any dog lover.  You will cry, but you will also laugh, and in the end I am sure you will love it.

Saturday Blog Hop 10/9/2010

Lola's Kong Mishap

As you have seen before Lola loves her Kong wobbler and is pretty good at getting the food out.  Well, she has has little mishap the other day. Lola came over to me with a look of desperation.

HELP!!

It first got stuck under the coffee table.

It is right there! Get it out.  There is still food in it!!

I got it out from under the table and Lola went right back to getting the food out.  I loosened the top and she can usually get it off and get the last 2 or 3 pieces out.

Then I got the same look of help me again.

I can't get it

 Then the bottom part of the wobbler got lodged under another piece of furniture.

I got it out for her and she made sure to get those last pieces of food.

Needless to say, it was a rough night with the wobbler.

Toys, Toys, Toys

Since Lola is currently my only child, I feel it is necessary to shower her with love, and affection and toys.  You have to make sure you child is happy, right?  So, of course, toys help with this, right.

Trying to get to the tennis balls.

Once Lola hit her destruction phase I thought toys would be a good distraction from the couch and other items.   So I started buying her all types of toys. She has everything from ropes to Kongs to balls to Nylabones.

Small selection of toys.

I think you have all figured out by now that Lola has jaws of steel. She can destroy almost anything.  And toys are right up there on that list.  I have come to point where I can tell by just placing a toy in my hand whether or not it will survive.  And let me tell you there are not many that survive.

There is a small piece of good news to this story.  Even though she destroys the toys, she does not usually eat them.  She usually tears them up in pieces and spits them out.  And then I go around picking up the pieces and trying to find the toy to throw away.   But, if have she is happy and had a good time with her toy. And really what more can you ask for.

Wordless Wednesday - Indestructible Toy

I was told this toy was indestructible. I think this picture speaks for itself.