Tag Archives: lollie

everything is illuminated

February 17, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

The other night we were sitting around in the den, like we often do, and Lollie was checking out some of our books, like she often does, trying to decide what to read. When she is extra-concentrating, she likes to go into an intellectual play-bow while she thinks.

First she contemplated the blue books . . .Hmm, some Poe? Maybe some Murakami? Perhaps my friend MMB’s short story?

Then she contemplated the orange and red books . . .Ooh, I do like that Michael Chabon, and I heard the new McCann is good too . . .

But then she surprised herself, and selected a book — a favorite of her foster mom and dad’s — that she hadn’t even planned on reading: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated.Smells like a good read to me . . .

She is pretty enthralled with the story of Shapka, Jonathan, and Sammy Davis Junior-Junior (the seeing-eye bitch), but promises that once she’s done reading this book — tomorrow — she will return her attention to her fans, and share the next chapter in her foster adventure.

zonked.

February 16, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , 8 Comments

Adoptable Lollie Wonderdog came home from “camp” tonight and almost immediately scurried off to the nearest dog bed to fall deeply and profoundly asleep. We had been away over the weekend, so she spent four nights at her vet’s kennel. The facility is no fancy digs, but everybody there seems to love our sweet girl, and every time she comes home she is freshly washed and completely exhausted.

Stay tuned tomorrow, for the one in which everything is illuminated.

you’ve come a long way, sweet girl

February 10, 2011 By in Lollie, on fostering Tags: , , , , , 16 Comments

I love rifling through old pictures, so last night I spent a little time looking back on my archive of Lollie Wonderdog’s photos. I missed her 100 day anniversary with us (today is day 106), but better late than never, right?

I got a little emotional when I found this photo of sad little Lollie on her first week with us. Look at the sores and irritation on her arms. All the thin and missing fur. Look at her brownish yellow tail (this was after a thorough bath at our house and at least six at the shelter). Her pink, irritated nipples. Her red, irritated eyes. Notice her uncertain, defeated expression.

That was day five for Lollie at Casa Fosterfamily, and the following picture was taken 100 days later, last night. I think the photo speaks for itself.

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

our very own CAFO

February 4, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 14 Comments

I don’t often joke about factory farming because it is not at all funny, but last night was just too ripe with opportunity.

Lollie Wonderdog has become quite the stern farmkeeper in her time with us, never afraid to put a stuffed animal in its place or zing it with her teeth for falling out of line. (As an aside, this is a big change from her first days with us, when the mere sight of a stuffed animal would send her into a fearful tremble.) And when its use has expired but it is still taking up valuable floorspace, selfishly breathing our air and soaking up our dust? She finishes it off at the end of its usefulness and sends it to the trash pile.

Last night was a prime example. We had a slaughter, and the victim was poor Mr. Piggy. Lollie was doing a concentrated animal feeding operation on Mr. Piggy’s extremities. Those are the tastiest bits after all, just ask a hotdog lover. I turned around a minute later, and poor Mr. Piggy had lost an ear.

Lollie as not always been such a heartless farmer (she is normally very sweet with stuffed animals), and truth be told, she seemed to regret her harsh punishment afterward, snuggling up with Mr Piggy and asking for forgiveness. Fosterdad and I are hoping that she learns from this experience and becomes an anti farm animal cruelty spokesmodel.

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

the prettiest eyes you ever did see

February 3, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , , 15 Comments

Remember when we blogged about how gorgeous Lollie Wonderdog is (not that you didn’t notice on your own), and about her magnetic personality? And when we showed you how her older fosterbrother Chick was teaching her his famous puppy dog look?

What we haven’t highlighted specifically– but you may have noticed through Lollie’s photos– is that each of these qualities is greatly augmented by her stunning, expressive, artfully-shaped, rich caramel-colored eyes.

We’re clearly not biased, because she’s not our dog. But just in case, judge for yourself.

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

the game of clue

February 1, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , 16 Comments

Lol and I took a self-portrait the other day while driving home* from an adoption show with Bully Paws (a fantastic pit bull rescue organization in Virginia), and while it’s simple, we think it offers many important clues about Lollie and about fostermom.

Among them:

  1. Lollie is a good car rider, sitting calmly at the center of the back seat so she can see everthing, but not climbing over into the front seat, which is both dangerous and against The Rules.
  2. Lollie has a very cute smile and very sparkly eyes.
  3. Foster mom is a Safety Girl and always wears her seatbelt.
  4. Foster mom sometimes ignores the 24-hour rule and neglects to shower on Sunday morning, thus mandating a clever hat.
  5. Lollie and foster mom have been together too long; they are starting to resemble each other—the same twinkle in the eye, and the same color t-shirt.
  6. Foster mom’s best friend is a pit bull (you would be able to tell this if the picture hadn’t been cut off due to poor camera handling skills. Foster mom is wearing this t-shirt in the photo.)

*Come on people, the self-portrait was taken at a light. We are not so reckless as to take a portrait while the vehicle is actually moving!

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.

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!

gifts from a handsome suitor…

January 12, 2011 By in Lollie Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 17 Comments

… or so Lollie would have you believe. Fostermom had the pleasure of photographing Vicktory dog Handsome Dan and his family a few days before Christmas Eve for StubbyDog, and as an incredibly sweet gesture, Dansome got a box of doggie Christmas cookies for Lol and Chick. Lollie has a big crush on Handsome Dan of course (what ladydog wouldn’t?) so she has been shamelessly pretending that the cookies were a gift of love (not friendship) and only for her (not also for Chick).

Here she is with their box of cookies, showing Dansome her most winning “come hither” look: 

Dansome is a real role model for dogs like Lollie, because he has overcome such cruelty and adversity and become a wonderful and gentle family member to Mark, Heather, and their two kids. Dansome is quite shy and wary of strangers– which is understandable after everything he went through at the Vick property– but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and as time goes on, he is learning how to trust and love. He is worlds from where he was.

It was especially moving for me to meet Dansome because I had been following the Vick dogfighting drama from the start, and almost obsessively tracked the progress of the dogs at Best Friends and BAD RAP. I still remember the overwhelming emotion that washed over me each time I read a newspaper article or saw photos about the unfolding case or what was happening with the dogs. I remember seeing the Best Friends article about Dansome being adopted, and thinking how kind, gentle, and warm Heather, Mark, and their son Cam looked in the photos. I remember thinking how stark of a contrast his future life was going to be from his dark beginnings.

Well Heather, Mark, Cam, their new baby Josephine, and Handsome Dan himself all easily lived up to my imagination. Here are a few photos from our session:

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