Monthly Archives: January 2011

On slumber and daydreams

January 31, 2011 By in Lollie 12 Comments

Living with Lollie day to day, we forget that not everybody knows the little things about her that are so nice. We have begun documenting the bigger things through our Adoptability series of posts, but little things sometimes go unmentioned in the blogosphere—like the fact that she sheds much less than her foster brother Chick and remains fresh-smelling weeks after a bath, when other dogs would be smelling of ripe fritos.

Recently, somebody asked us where she sleeps. This is another lovely little thing about Lollie. She is perfectly happy to sleep on our bed:

. . . or on the guest bed:

. . . or on her foster brother Chick’s bed:

. . . or just in my lap:

. . . but when it’s time for us to go to work or turn in for the night, all we have to say is “load up!” and Lollie trots happily into her crate to snuggle in.

It was important for us to make sure Lollie was properly crate trained, because a crate trained dog gives the adopter the full range of options for living and sleeping arrangements, easing the transition into a new home for all parties involved. This is another big advantage of adopting a foster dog!

For more info on adopting Lollie, contact us at DCpetographer [at] gmail [dot] com or 301-520-7123.

Adoptability factor 5: Rock-solid temperament

January 28, 2011 By in Lollie 24 Comments

This is the fifth in our regular series on what makes sweet Lollie Wonderdog so very adoptable. Although there are endless adoptability factors we could list, we are releasing these only occasionally so we don’t overwhelm you too much. 

Adoptability factor archive: 1: Snugglability 2: Trainability 3: Drop Dead Gorgeousness 4: Magnetic Personality

Lollie Wonderdog is not what you would call a fussy dog. She will eat anything, sit anywhere, go out in any weather without complaint, and let you handle her in any way you wish. Some dogs are particular about having their nails touched, their ears or tails pulled, or their bellies rubbed by the wrong person. Lollie’s attitude? “Bring it!”

So the other day, I sat her down in front of her TV (our dining room window) to demonstrate how unthrilling it is to have her paws and nails messed with:

and her lips pulled:

and also her ears yanked:

Her reaction is very similar to being picked up, having her tail pulled, or when the dogtor puts a thermometer in her butt (fortunately not pictured here).

In fact, she is so willing and tolerant that she will even let you dress her in human clothes– whether those clothes happen to be a Peruvian winter hat:

Or a nice brown shawl from India:

What more could you ask for in a dog?

For more info on adopting Lollie Wonderdog, contact us at DCpetographer [at] gmail [dot] com or 301-520-7123.

don’t it make my white dog cream?

January 27, 2011 By in Lollie 11 Comments

We had an exciting snow storm last night (it was the first time I had heard the term “thundersnow” used) that left us with about six inches of chunky, snowcone like white stuff on the ground this morning. On our morning walk with the dogs, Lollie Wonderdog was extra frisky. She was bounding about like a little pup and acting extra curious about everything.

As we walked and admired the pretty snow in the trees, fosterdad and I were noticing how very yellow our ordinarily white-seeming dogs looked, compared to the stark, cold white of the snow. Even when they are newly washed (which, admittedly, they are not right now), they seem a little creamy when it’s snowy out.

Will dear foster Lollie Wonderdog have an identity crisis if we start calling her “brindle and cream” instead of “brindle and white”?

For more info on adopting Lollie, contact us at DCpetographer [at] gmail [dot] com, or 301-520-7123.

riding in cars with dogs

January 26, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , 9 Comments

Lollie loves riding in cars so much that if ever, on a walk, I ask her to stop and sit in the mere vicinity of a car, she assumes we are going to get into that car, and starts scooting a very excited and wiggly butt toward the back door, looking expectantly at the door handle. In her first days with us she would jump up on the car to see inside and indicate her interest in going for a ride, but we have since convinced her that this is not so cool.

We are a two-car family (left over from our days in Texas, where it’s almost impossible to not have one car per driver), and one of our cars is a sedan, while the other is an old two-door SUV. Lollie does not discriminate in which car she likes to joyride in, but we have discovered that she hates jumping in through the back of the SUV. If you’ve seen any photos of Lollie, you know that while she is quite skinny, she is hardly a waif. In fact, she is quite athletic and loaded with muscle, and generally a good climber and jumper.

So why, then, does she act like a helpless little prima donna when it comes time to load up in the truck?

Maybe she just likes the extra hugs and attention from her foster dad.

For more info on adopting Lollie, contact us at DCpetographer@gmail.com or 301-520-7123.

double the dog = double the fun?

January 25, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Since we welcomed Lollie into our home as our first foster dog, we get a lot of questions about whether it’s a lot more work taking care of two dogs than one.

This is a hard question and will depend a lot on the personalities, needs, and chemistry of the two dogs you are caring for. If your two dogs are best friends (like Mr B and Miss M of Two Pitties in the City), it is less work than if your two dogs have more individual needs, as do our own doglove Chick and our foster wonderdog Lollie.

People ask, is it no more work? A little more? Twice as much?

In truth, for us, it’s somewhere in between. It’s double the food and double the poop, but still the same number of outfits (our darling Chick kindly shares his sweaters and jackets with his foster sister, who is thankfully the same size). Double the vet visits and double the monthly preventive meds, but not much more cost (when fostering dogs, the sponsoring shelter or rescue generally pays for all vet care, so we just buy food and treats). Double the enrichment and double the training, but hardly any more walks (we usually walk them together). Double the dog beds and double the leashes, but only a few more toys (we rotate toys among them so nobody ever gets bored). When we go out of town, two dogs means double the boarding, but when we’re in town we get double the cuteness and double the attention (“hey, are those two brothers?”).

Most important of all, it’s double the snuggly little dogs all curled up in their snuggly little dog beds, double the silly moments that make you burst out laughing, and double the earnest, wet little doggie kisses that we wouldn’t trade for all the world’s treasures and all the world’s gold.

For more info on adopting Lollie, contact us at DCpetographer@gmail.com or 301-520-7123.

Kibble for Comments – delivery and wrap-up

January 24, 2011 By in Lollie 17 Comments

From December 15 to December 31, Lollie Wonderdog offered to buy one pound of dog food for homeless dogs at the Montgomery County Humane Society (her own rescuer and sugardaddy) for every comment left on her blog—in a contest she called Kibble for Comments. Our goals were to increase readership of Lollie’s blog so that more people were spreading the word about this manificent adoptable darling, and to create a good excuse for a big donation to our favorite animal shelter.

Lollie Wonderdog wonders how she's going to drive that cart full of kibble

During the short two-week period (during the holidays no less), her dear friends and fans posted an overwhelming 201 comments. Not bad for a lowly foster dog who’s only been blogging for two months!

This weekend, we finally delivered the booty– 206 pounds of food to MCHS. Below are some photos of our adventure.

Lollie picking out her donation

This one smells so familiar . . .

Helping load up the booty...

"I know I'm a wonderdog, but jeez! I'm exhausted from all that heavy lifting!"

Relaxing with the goodies (notice the casually propped arm) . . .

The hand-off to Dave at MCHS

Lollie donates more than just dog food.

For more info on adopting Lollie Wonderdog, contact us at DCpetographer@gmail.com or 301-520-7123.

the spotlight shines once again

January 22, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , 7 Comments

Lollie was featured on the fabulous ohmidog blog by fabulous dog advocate and pulitzer-prize winning writer John Woestendiek. In his post, he shares her history, progress, and current life — and reminds readers that she is still available for adoption.

The story is called Out of a Dumpster, Into You Heart.

Go give ohmidog a visit, and while you’re at it, add it to your subscriptions. It’s one of my favorite blogs out there!

savage tongue of the pastry chef

January 21, 2011 By in Lollie 16 Comments

Lollie has been an excellent cook’s assistant from the start, because she selflessly cleans up any food scraps that may fall on the floor, listens and watches very attentively as I explain recipes to her, and graciously shuffles out of the way if I need to squeeze by her in our very small kitchen.

Well last night it turned out that Lollie is an excellent pastry sous chef, too. We baked cupcakes for a colleague’s birthday today (meyer lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting– shh, don’t tell), and Lollie was ever so helpful. She made nuanced suggestions about how to improve the frosting (“I’d better have just one more taste”), offered to help decorate (“I can smooth out those lumps in no time”), and even generously cleaned up (“Take a load off, lady– I’ve got this one”).

You wouldn’t think that a four-legged critter with no opposable thumbs could do all of these things. But, you see, it all starts with the savage tongue and is fortified by the classic “horse-eye” expressions. With a killer combo like that, no pastry challenge is too great for this beast.

For more info on adopting Lollie, contact us at DCpetographer@gmail.com or 301-520-7123.