Lola FKA Princess Chocolate Labrador Retriever Female 1 Year Old ID #2931

October 20, 2021

Lola has definitely been on a roller coaster this past week. Every time I thought she was getting better and was acting more like herself, she would get sick again. Dr. Sadanaga suggested if she continues to be sick that we should bring her to the vet for an x-ray and bloodwork. Sadly, we had too. The doctor essentially said there was something blocking her stomach (perhaps small pieces of bones) and that she should be able to pass them on her own. They gave her fluids and anti-nausea medication to make sure she keeps her food down and sent us on our way. She’s continued to be on a bland diet and hasn’t gotten sick since she’s been to the doctor, so we’re hoping it’s all passed and we’re out of the woods. The doctor did make a comment that we must not have had much time to train her because of all her medical problems prior, so I took that as a note to be more vigilant in training. She’s great at home and listens perfectly, but she definitely is excited as heck to be around other people and other dogs, so she was excited at the doctor. I am so happy she’s feeling better. She wants to play constantly. Also – her leaking has completely stopped and she’s asking to use the bathroom outside, so I’m also convinced the surgery was a complete success. The next step (in a couple of months) is to have her spayed.

October 5, 2021

Lola has been a trooper lately. At first, she was taking the Proin tablets no problem, but since the beginning of this week, she’s been vomiting at night. Yesterday, I woke up to her having an accident (a soft #2) in her cage, so I called Dr. Satanaga and he said it could be the medication. Since she has not been leaking at all over the last couple of weeks post her surgery, he said we can stop the tablets and see how she reacts. He suggested a clean diet of boiled chicken and white rice. She rested all day yesterday (presumably because she did not sleep restfully in her poop), but was acting like her playful self toward the evening. She ate her chicken and rice just fine. We left her out of her cage overnight in case she had another emergency poop. She did. She ate her rice and chicken last night, but did not want it this morning. I now know what it feels like to be a worried mother because I just want her to feel better. Nothing else has changed as far as her diet/routine goes, but for now, we’re just hoping her poop/appetite return to normal as soon as possible. I’ll keep you posted as she recovers!

September 20, 2021

Lola had a great time staying at another foster home while I was in Florida. He took her on nice long walks. Since Lola is essentially recovered, she has so much more energy. She had her checkup appointment last week and the doctor said she was better but not 100%, so he gave her another pill (proin) to be taken 3 times a day. This has seemingly helped at least since she’s been home. The pills are supposed to help and we’ll eventually ween her off of them. He said if once we stop giving them to her and she regresses, we’d just have to continue with pills for the rest of her life. She’s about at the end of her heat, so once that is finished, we’ll be able to go back to the dog park. The doctor said he’ll call in 2-3 weeks from her appointment to get another update on how she’s doing and how to proceed with weening her off the pills as well as the timeline for her to be spayed. From speaking to him after her surgery, I believe it’ll be at least a few months before he would recommend getting spayed since that could create complications with her incontinence. Now that she’s recovered from her surgery and cone free, she’s been taking her proin pills like a champ and is back to being her happy, go lucky self.

September 9, 2021

Lola is recovering nicely. I feel like she’s starting to get her energy back post-surgery. She is peeing outside and I don’t think she has any residual leaking in the house. She’s still not completely peeing regularly and will squat for a long time without any production, but each day is better. I got a call yesterday that she had bacteria in her urine that they collected at the time of the surgery, so she needs antibiotics for a bit longer. She definitely wasn’t a fan of all the pills originally, but we’ve mastered the gourmet cheese/hot dog/pill combo. The doctor said it’s nothing to be overly concerned about. She is simultaneously going through heat which is a struggle. I feel bad because she’s all coned up and bleeding and still has her stitches. Next week (Sept 14) Lola will be rechecked and Dr. Sandanaga will remove her stitches.

August 22, 2021

Lola is still doing great. She’s definitely mellowing out and is much calmer these days. She still LOVES to play, but I can tell she’s maturing a bit. She is more entertained with the toys at the dog park than the other dogs.

She’s even so good on her leash that my nephew (who is 5 years old) was able to hold her on her walk. She officially has learned “stay” and will sit nicely and wait to be told to come toward her treat. She still has been a trooper with her diapers and will be finally getting scoped next week (August 30th)!

August 8, 2021

A short update because not much has changed in our house. Lola is still thriving. We brought her to our friend’s house (friends who have a pet pig) and she was very intrigued.

She is still an amazing girl. She has been good with thunderstorms and the new barking dog next door. She doesn’t bark back. We’ve slowly been letting her upstairs more often (mostly after pees outside and with her diaper on). She pulls less on the leash and still loves going to run around freely at the dog park. She is a gem. She can’t wait to graduate from diapers at the end of this month (fingers crossed).

July 29, 2021

50 lbs. chocolate lab female puppy (9-month-old)

Things are business as usual with Lola. She’s been great with her diapers and her schedule. I like to tire her out in the morning, so she can relax while I’m working. She still believes she’s a lap dog and she still love tug of war.

She is playful and so energetic; however, I’m still impressed how good of a puppy she is. She continues to do amazing in the crate and hasn’t chewed on anything she isn’t supposed to. She does love to pull apart toys (as most dogs do – I’m shocked they haven’t developed a plush toy that is indestructible – any suggestions welcome). She loves the car hammock we bought for car rides. I just bought more washable diapers because she’s officially grown out of size medium. I almost think she’s doubled in size since we got her. One month away from her scope to either laser/surgery. The countdown starts now. But since she still is doing great with the diapers, we are patiently waiting.

July 20, 2021

Lola is still 50 pounds and as energetic as ever. She is learning to listen more now with the leash and with the word no. We drove to my friend’s house and went on a walk/play date with her small dog. Lola was happy in the car and excited to meet a new friend.

She was also gentle with her since Lola was definitely bigger. FD’s niece (6-year-old) also came over for dinner one night and played great with Lola. She was playing tug of war and fetch with Lola and even laying on the ground with Lola petting her. Happy to report that Lola is great with kids. I included a rare photo of Lola sleeping after her playdate with a six-year-old. I will continue to say this in every post because I truly believe it, but she is a great dog. A new neighbor moved in next door with a dog and that dog is very loud. Every time I hear that dog bark, I expect to hear Lola respond (as most dogs would), but she perks up and yet remains quiet. I think it helps that she doesn’t actually SEE the other dog, but I still am glad Lola doesn’t bark while I’m working from home. Apparently, someone developed an app where you can drown out dogs barking in the background of your video calls. I don’t need that! We’ve also been letting her roam around upstairs more often as we’re beginning to trust her more. She still sleeps in her crate at night, but takes naps with us whenever we’re just lounging in bed.

Her scoping (/potential surgery) is scheduled for August 30th. We are hopeful that Dr. Sadanaga at VRC is able to get this girl out of diapers.

July 9, 2021

We were reunited with Lola after the 4th of July weekend and she was tired after spending time at what I call “Camp Ward” with Stefanie and Joe. She definitely LOVES visiting and playing with Scout. Over the last couple of weeks, she’s been getting better with the leash and overall listening a lot more. She is still full of energy and loves playing fetch at the dog park. Yesterday, she finally had her surgery consult with Dr. Sandtana at the VRC in Malvern. She was a good girl at the vet and was very excited to say hi to the doggie nurse and doctor. After reviewing her previous vet records, the doctor ended up suggesting that he would need to further scope to see how to resolve her incontinence. Only from then on would he be able to proceed with the appropriate fix (between a laser or surgery). Of course, we are hopeful that she doesn’t need full blown surgery as the recovery time would double for her, but at the end of the day we just hope she can live a leak-free happy life. The next appointment has yet to be scheduled, the doctor mentioned his schedule is jam packed for a few weeks and that the office would reach out to me soon to schedule. She was such a good girl at the doctor, we ended up stopping for a pup cup (from Starbucks) on the way home.

Luckily, she’s still been great with the diapers and we will continue to use them before her next appointment. The doctor also said we should focus on the incontinence issue before spaying her, so we’re hoping the appointment is schedule before her first heat.

June 27, 2021

Lola has continued to be a treat in our home. She is mastering sit and down but still is struggling on her leash. She gets excited going outside, but probably because she knows she’s headed to the dog park to play. We are still working on that with her. We just recently bought a little fake patch of grass for our back patio to make her more comfortable going outside. She loves it and will pee on it happily. Even though she’s getting bigger, she still believes that she’s a lapdog and doesn’t exactly understand personal space.

I am happy to have the dog park so close living in the city. I think since spending time with Scout, she is more confident at the dog park with other dogs. She will try to play tug of war with any willing pup or person.

Our dog park has a bunch of toys out that she loves to play with and still is a huge fan of the pool there. She also loves getting toweled once we get home to dry off. She is still full of energy and loves to play all the time. She seems to be fully settled into our home and our schedules. I will continue to work through training her before her surgery consult coming up soon!

June 13, 2021

Lola has been adjusting to her schedule of waking up and going to the dog park. She knows when she sees foster mom in the morning putting on her shoes to sit nicely by the front door. She has also made some friends and loves to play tug of war with them.

She still loves fetch if no one is interested in tug of war. Lola is getting better on the leash. She is still a bit excited initially, but settles down much sooner these days than at first. Foster mom and dad are going to the shore for July 4th and luckily foster babysitter has stepped in to watch her before her surgery consultation when we get back (July 8th). I’m sure she can’t wait to see Scout again. She’s definitely adjusted to wearing diapers regularly, but we are excited to have her only pee outside.

She gets excited when we sit down for dinner and will be vocal and bark to try and beg for food (unless she’s genuinely curious what we’re hiding from her on the kitchen table). Lola is adorable and has such a fun personality.

She’s playful and curious and is so smart. She is still a great dog and only getting better over time.

June 6, 2021

We got Lola back on Monday night from the foster babysitter after a long weekend and she definitely needed a day to recover from nonstop playing with Scout! She’s a great pup.

We received the Brookline care package, which she also loved. She loved all of the goodies (and she even loved the box).

Luckily, she is used to the washable diapers and she’s adjusted to them nicely. She puts them on no problem now. Unluckily, we haven’t heard about scheduling an earlier appointment for her surgery consult, so we are just patiently waiting for July 8th. Lola is still learning how to walk on her leash. She just is so excited. She loves to run after the small birds in the city and she says a very friendly hello to every dog in the neighborhood.  Her favorite game is fetch. She loves all of the tennis balls at the dog park. She finally has figured out she needs to drop the ball in order for us to continue playing. She also LOVES the pool. Definitely one of the infamous wet dogs at the dog park. Lola will hop into the pool and then run around to say hello to all of the dog owners. We love having her around and are excited to continue to train her a bit more before her surgery.

May 24, 2021

Lola girl let us sleep in until 5:30am. Luckily my boyfriend woke up and took her on a walk first thing. Later in the morning, we went to the dog park. She loves every dog and every person she meets. Lola loved the dog park. Her favorite part was playing in the pool. She also peed in the pool, but then again who hasn’t at least once in their life? She ran around and played there and once she was tuckered out, we walked through the Italian market to pick up some produce. She did great on the leash staying close to Chris and sat next to us as we ate lunch. We walked home and she was definitely tired because she went right to her comfy bed. We put her in the crate for a Sunday Costco trip and let her sleep off the busy morning. We got home and relaxed with her until dinner time.

She’s been really good with going to the bathroom outside (#2). Now we wait for the consultation appointment (which sadly isn’t until July, but we’re on a waitlist) for her ectopic ureter. Here’s to hoping we get an appointment sooner. In the meantime, we are loving having her around.

May 23, 2021

She’s still a ball of energy. That 5am wakeup call was no joke. She absolutely loves to play. A limited game of fetch in the home bumping into all of the furniture to get to whatever toy is thrown. We went to the dog park early in the morning and she was able to run to her little heart’s desire.

She met some friends who shared their tennis balls with her. She’s still sometimes a bit timid and will run back to us and hide between our legs if she is unsure of a loud dog at the park. She’s adorable and everyone was asking us about her. Lola is still learning not to tug on the leash. She’s really strong. I’ve also heard her little bark for the first time if I decide I’ve thrown the ball 800 too many times. She wants more. She’s able to calm down and keep herself busy with her bones, so I usually trade the fetching toy with a bone.

She’s good at redirection. She laid next to me while I watched a few episodes of my latest binge (a million little things) and then took her for another walk.

I will say, the leaking is less bad today. Since we take her outside often, she’s been doing full pees outside and less dribbling inside. I wonder if she was just transitioning yesterday. I’m not cleaning as much today. Although she is still not allowed upstairs since it’s fully carpet, she waits patiently at the bottom of the stairs for us to come back downstairs. She is still as adorable as ever and will make a family so happy once she receives the treatment she needs.  She slept the night again sleeping fine in her crate. She is seriously such a good dog.

May 22, 2021

Lola is 30 lbs of chocolate. We had an hour and a half long drive home back into the city. Princess (or as we are now calling her – Lola) was wonderful in the car, even helping Foster dad with work on the way home. We weren’t sure about the name Princess and figured we’d assess once we met her to see if there was a name better suited for her personality. Although she is royalty, we thought she looked and acted more like a Lola. Of course, she’s still learning her name. She is amazing. We feel so bad about her former family needing to give her up due to her ectopic ureter. She has been dribbling some urine, but we let her out on our outdoor patio as much as we can. We’ve also had a single attempt at a single use diaper and she was not having it. Luckily, we have wood/tile floor, so clean up is easy. We’ll keep trying on the diapers. Beside the occasional urinating, she’s amazing. It was difficult getting pictures of her while she was running circles around the house when she first got here, but over time she’s calmed down. The amount of energy even after traveling was so high. I took out her bag of toys and she rediscovered each one. She also enjoyed the new toys already at my place and had fun taking out each new toy until our toy basket was empty.

She ate dinner and we took her on a walk later in the evening to try and tire her out even more. We put a pee pad and dog blanket in her crate and she slept the night like an angel (an angel that wakes up at 5am, but hey we’ll take what we can get). She is so cute and we are happy to have her in the home. More updates to come on this cutie!