Lola De la Luna Stargirl Inserts Herself
With a name like that, you’d think she is a goddess, right? Well, she might grow into it. Actually, the name Lola De la Luna is a goddess name, specifically Yucatec Maya lunar goddess of the moon, who symbolized fertility, the cycles of nature, and the mysteries of the moon - that’s why we chose it. After we had met her online. For a short time.
This is the photo that I first saw of Lola
Her adoption was so much faster than Ziggy’s. I had been looking for a couple of months, but Todd and I were working long hours (both in our garden and our work) and so we felt perhaps adopting in the fall would be best, when we’d have more time available to focus on a new puppy.
With Ziggy, we never left him alone for two solid months, and he really thrived with that. After those first two months, we just left him for 30 mins at a time at first and then stretched the time to a bit longer. He never had to be crated and was a gentleman in every way. He would take one of my shoes and bring it where he slept, but never chew on it, just hold it close (incidentally, Lola destroyed one of those shoes soon after her arrival). Oh well.
After some time at home
I had been in touch with the same rescue where we adopted Ziggy from, and they had so many dogs, and one in particular I had been eyeing for a while, but she didn’t have the character that I thought would jive with Ziggy; she was more of a lover of people, and wasn’t particularly interested in other dogs. But I loved her already and knew she would be amazing. But then I thought she’d become MY dog, and I would have to get a third dog for Ziggy :)
So I looked around and as soon as I saw Lola I inquired, filled out another long application, and very quickly got approved. Lola had been found with a sibling/playmate, in a sketchy area in South Carolina. She was also skinny, but unlike Ziggy, had a very strong personality and was very active. She didn’t even go to the shelter because the person who found both puppies worked for a rescue, and she immediately took the dogs home to foster them.
When I inquired about her, they told me she had a meet and greet the next day with a potential adopter, and she might not be available. I did say to the foster that maybe they would cancel, and in any case, I truly wanted the best home for her, and so I trusted the process.
The next day I got a text that the meet and greet had been cancelled! Ha!
We set up a virtual visit the day after and Lola was just playing in the backyard with another dog. Yes, she was full of energy, but what dog isn’t? I mean, she was estimated to be 10 months old, so of course she was playful. We really wanted a medium energy dog…. We found out later she does not have a TURN ME OFF button. Oy!
Todd and I were sure she was the one, so we said yes, and she arrived a week later! Prior to her arrival, she had to be spayed, and she was pretty much put on the van (the same one that brought Ziggy!) three days after the surgery, and I went to pick her up in a town three hrs from our home on a Sunday afternoon.
About a week after she arrived.
Because she had just been spayed, she had to be crated for a few days to keep her quiet, which was good (but hard to do!) so that it gave everyone time to acclimate.
Right away Ziggy and Lola did well… on appearance. A lot of sounds, but we knew pitties play rough. But we then noticed Ziggy would get really amped up and would bite her too hard. She was like a Mack truck, bouncing right back, no awareness of being perhaps a bit too… aggressive? Pushy was more like it. She is non-stop pushy. She appeared to be so much younger in her awareness, ability to listen, and demeanor.
Over the next couple of weeks we realized that she obviously had never lived indoors before (except the month with the foster, but there were 6 dogs in that house and Lola was crated or was playing outside), and she would pee even after having been out for 30-45 mins. Oy! We removed all the rugs; jotted down her daily routine on a small white board…when she ate, especially when we took her out, and what happened.
We were taking her out 15 times a day! Every hour, or even every 45 mins. We did crate her when not at home, and took her out immediately after letting her out. Over the course of three weeks, the accidents became less, and only now happen when we don’t see her standing at the door…. We are still taking her out every two hours now, but she is getting better at holding herself. She can go thru the night no problem.
Slow morning in bed
First time at the beach! She loved it, but initially she was nervous with all the wide spaces with no cover. This particular area came after a long stretch of open beach.
We like to say that she inserts herself because she does. If we are petting Ziggy, or doing anything near her, she comes over and literally inserts herself between the person/dog/item, and you.
After a little over two months, we can say she has started listening more and isn’t using Ziggy as her pin cushion. She is great at playing with toys by herself and loves to run around the garden off leash. She has naturally great recall, and loves to be close to us, so that is a huge plus for our active lifestyle.
Lola, Ziggy and Dakota love the same cookies!
We are planning on the teaching the dogs buttons. Have you seen those buttons that you/they press and they speak a word (pre-recorded by you)? Like “Outside”, or “Rest”, “Toy”, etc. Some dogs and other animals like pigs and cats have a vocabulary of hundreds of words! Ha! I’ll be happy if she learns “Outside” when she needs to go out potty! Stay tuned.
