I must say, I thought I would have made this sooner, but new dogs really do make you wonder "where did all my time go?"

Brian and I brought Lola (formerly known as Sweet Pea to the lovely ladies at the Blue Moon Sanctuary in Camdenton, MO) home from her foster family on Friday last week. It was wonderful to get to spend the weekend with her and get to know her. I was very pleased to see that she was house trained and crate trained! I knew we wanted to adopt an older dog as our "first dog" together, as I grew up in a home with dogs, but not Corgi's, and Brian hadn't altogether.

As with any new situation, there have been some "growing pains" that I have chalked up to typical Corgi behavior. It wasn't that I thought anyone was kidding about the "Corgi plant" but goodness gracious! That girl can PLANT if she doesn't want to go down the stairs! We live in a split level home, and at first I was worried that it was a fear of stairs from her past. Unfortunately in MO (and I'm sure elsewhere) Puppy mills are very prevalent and are pretty much a daily occurrence on the news in Central MO. Lola was one of those dogs. She has had numerous litters and very mistreated herself. She had ear mites as a pup so bad they have destroyed her right ear completely so it doesn't stand up exactly right. We're not sure if this has affected her hearing, but we will find out with the vet on Saturday morning. She was abandoned after her last litter of puppies on the side of the road in Camdenton this summer (How on earth she survived is beyond me)! and the wonderful ladies at the Blue Moon Sanctuary picked her up, nursed her back to health (she had a belly full of whip worms) and found her a nice foster mommy named Barbara. Lola is starting to adjust to her new home nicely!

Sunday was a rough day for her, as she wasn't doing stairs at all. When we bought her kennel, we bought the recommended size for a Corgi, but I think it's a few inches too small (about 1 inch by 1 inch), so we will be replacing that ASAP. It's not so small that she can't fit into it and sleep, but she rests her head on the wire of the cage (maybe that's the better word for it), and I'm unsure if that's because it's too small.

Monday we took her to Petco to introduce her to the store we frequent and to buy a few more things. We had a few "accidents", and having never brought my dog into the store I was embarrassed, but apparently it's OK so long as you tell the associate and clean it up! LOL... who would have thunk it!

Today, we made GREAT strides with her! She was a completely different dog today!

(she is 6 years old by the way with no training. we're getting on that ASAP). She did her little corgi run around our yard and get some of that energy out! Brian (my husband) is taking her to the park tomorrow! I can't wait!

Her BIGGEST break through was finding a squeaky toy friend! Brian had bought a lobster squeaky toy on Amazon way before we were considering a Corgi. When we went to visit w/ Lola (then Sweet Pea), we were told she was afraid of the toys. The minute we squeaked the toy her ears perked right up and she came gambling about to which ever of us was holding it and would chase it. Brian and I had a ball throwing the toy back and forth and watching Lola chase it. She will carry that thing around now like a security blanket around the house. She even puts it in her cage to sleep with it! She doesn't squeak it though. I'm not sure she knows how yet. She's still just learning how to be a dog! She also learned that a small tennis ball makes a great toy! She actually picked it up when we bounced/rolled it across the floor tonight. That is a BIG step forward! 

I can't WAIT to start training with her to teach her different things and ways to get her Corgi energy out. 

We also found out there is a great dog park in north Jefferson City MO that we can register with to take her to for some unleashed fun! I can't wait. If any fellow Corgi lovers live in Mid MO and would like to meet up with Lola to play, let me know! I'd love for her to make some new Corgi friends! She goes to the Vet on Saturday for her heartworm test/preventative vaccination and routine check up, and then she's good to go! Here are some pictures of her from her first few days at home with the Koonce family!!!

Until next time,

Megan and Lola