Excuse the very shoddy quality of our first Lollie video. Just wanted everyone to see how cute she is in action, while attempting to conquer a stalk of celery, learning how to eat dog food out of a gatorade bottle (which, by the way, she learned in about 15 minutes. amazing.) and practicing “sit,” “down,” and “go get it.”
We especially love her funny habit of tucking her right elbow/shoulder under her body when she does the “down” command.
Lol and me: a self-portrait.
Who knew that some dogs have to learn to cuddle?
From day one, Lollie Wonderdog was full of love and energy. But she had no idea how to express herself or direct her excitement. Her main forms of expression were a trotting pace around the house or yard, back and forth, back and forth; and a constantly flapping tongue—licking the air, but always pointed in the general direction of your face. Come to think of it, I should post a video of this phenomenon.
A few weeks have passed now, and we have taught Lollie to redirect some of her energy into productive things, like going for walks, solving treat-filled puzzles (kongs, Gatorade bottles, etc), and learning new commands. (Have I mentioned what a fast learner she is? It’s amazing how quickly she picks up new things.) But until a few days ago, she still didn’t know how to express affection.
You can imagine that my heart dissolved into a little puddle of goo the other night when she quietly walked over and plopped her 55 pounds of pure muscle into my lap, and rested her sweet face against my chest. As my hands stroked her still-skinny side and her mystery-scarred face, she slowly closed her eyes, looking oh-so-content.
I swear, this dog could melt anyone’s heart.
Lollie is a girl scout too.
If there is anything in the world cuter than Lolita herself, it’s Lolita hanging out with a girl scout.
The other day, Lollie Wonderdog and I went back to her home base of MCHS to be interviewed by ABC 7 for Tuesday’s 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock news. Well, also at the shelter was a troop of girl scouts who had done a wonderful project for MCHS, baking doggie treats and hand-making rope toys out of denim. These little ladies were cute as can be, and once they heard about Lolita’s sad story, they all wanted to come say hello. As always, Lollie Wonderdog was a perfect gentlelady– planting slimy little kisses on sweet girl scout cheeks and sitting calmly to bask in the affection. In fact, Lollie was so impressed with the girl scouts that she is thinking about joining a troop herself. She thinks she would look great in a green vest and a cute plaid skirt. Girl scout cookies, here we come!
Tune in to tomorrow’s ABC 7 DC news at 5 and 6pm to see Lollie’s major media debut!
Lollie turns out to be a huge media darling, and last week’s wonderful story in the Examiner was just the beginning. This Tuesday night between 5 and 6:30pm, she is going to be on DC’s ABC nightly news! Tune in to see our pretty foster-girl interviewed by the news team and hear her rags-to-riches story.
As if that weren’t enough, she will be featured in a video presentation at tonight’s MCHS Love Ball — the Montgomery County Humane Society’s annual gala.
She’s going to take ’em by storm!
Well, it’s that time of year again. Kids everywhere are putting on their fave outfits and trotting off to school for yearbook photo day. In our house, Lollie and I planned for hours.
She lobbied hard to have her photo taken with a spiffy background . . . 
or a cool pose . . .
or an academic prop . . .
. . . but in the end, we settled on a 1950s intellectual look instead:
The results? Beautiful, bookish, and classic:
adopt me!
Lolita’s body betrays her past life as a mother. The curve of her back hints at multiple litters, probably one too soon after the last. If our little girl’s background is any indicator, at least some of those puppies have been sold or gifted into sad lives at the hands of irresponsible owners. Some may be abused, some may be bred, some may end up in the shelter. At the shelter, they may be adopted, or they may not be. And the sad cycle continues.
Lollie is no longer a contributor to the pet overpopulation problem, though. This morning her vet initiated the background bloodwork and tests for her spay. If all goes well, she will have surgery next week.
At the risk of preaching to the choir, I feel the need to state the obvious: having a dog “fixed” is good for the dog, good for the owner, and good for society. A sterilized dog is calmer, less aggressive, and less likely to roam than an intact dog. In fixing your dog, you are taking a stand against the senseless death of 3.7 million animals in shelters each year due to overpopulation. If done while they are young, spaying female dogs significantly reduces the risk of various types of cancer, as well as uterine infections. In males, neutering reduces the chances of testicular cancer and other tumors. Having your pet fixed is a total no-brainer.
Through two simple tactics, we can end the pet overpopulation problem. First, if your animal isn’t fixed, go get it fixed. Immediately. Second, adopt your next pet from a shelter or rescue. Our shelters are full of beautiful, gentle, lonely souls looking for love and a second chance. Just look at Lollie.
Lollie is an incredibly fast learner. Because her energy level is high and she has a hard time figuring out how to settle down, we decided to introduce puzzles to her routine to help her exhaust her mental energy. First up was the Kong (a tough, rubber, pear-shaped toy that is hollow in the middle so you can put treats, food, etc in it). The first day, she merely poked at it with her nose, licked it once or twice, and walked away. She just didn’t understand. The second day, I put some more delicious treats inside and rubbed some peanut butter on the outside to keep her interest. She rolled it around a little until a couple of treats fell out, but again, lost interest. Later that day I tried again, and she went to town on it. She played with it for 20 minutes and got every last bit of treats and carrot bits out. What a little genius-dog.
You may recall that we are slowly getting the wonderdogs used to each other using a combination of leashes and baby gates. Until this weekend, we were using a 4′ baby gate that was essentially a complete physical barrier. Lolita’s enthusiastic tongue could sneak through to lick my fingers or Chick’s unsuspecting face, but nothing more.
This weekend we decided to move to a much more modest gate, so the wonderdogs could sniff and greet over or under the gate in addition to observing each other through.
Lollie interpreted the new gate as a fun game / challenge. She never did weasel her way through it thanks to her big muscular shoulders, but she sure did try:
Dylan McKay and his soul sister, Lollie
Date: yesterday during a 90210 rerun. Location: the dining room “the studio” Feeling: in touch with my beverly hills roots.
Admit it, you’re thinking the same thing as me. Lollie was clearly chanelling her inner Luke Perry (circa 1992) during our photo session last night. She pulled out those soft, brown Dylan McKay eyes, and I instantly fell in love with her just as we all did with Dylan in middle school.
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
