Case Study: Lola

Say hello to Lola-- a 6 year old Min-Pin rescue. She's with us for the next two weeks where we will be targeting some pent up issues she is carrying with her, and work on regaining balance.

Here's a bit about Lola's history, and the request we received from her owners:

... We got her as a foster from a rescue organization back in December, and while she seemed to immediately fit in and get comfortable with us, we quickly noticed her anxiety and aggression towards other people and dogs during her walks. 

Within a few weeks we had you and Baby over to work with us for an afternoon to teach us how to handle Lola, because we recognized that many of the issues we were experiencing were likely our fault (having never owned a dog before). We had a successful session with you and were able to continue the methods you taught us until we hit a serious snag with her health around Christmas. She had come to us needing a quiet home to recover from a bronchial infection, and it had flared back up to the point that we had to take her to emergency twice for difficulty breathing and severe allergies. And because the severe winter temperatures at the time would worsen her breathing, we were told by her vet to keep her stress levels down and not expose her to the elements. She ended up being diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and is now on a corticosteroid inhaler twice a day. 

In May we moved to a townhouse and since then, going outside has been significantly easier for her without a long and sometimes very eventful ride down in an elevator beforehand. 

As for how she is doing, she seems to enjoy getting outside more often, which we find easier and less stressful for her now that we're in the house. We would take her out longer but we still find her challenging to walk - the pulling, heavily panting, aggressively barking at people and other dogs. We still think it's the socialization factor that she's missing, and knowing her role within the pack. 

She reacts this same way when one of our neighbours, even without a dog, tries to speak to us. So the aggression and leash pulling are the primary issues for us and the biggest things we hope to resolve through Lola's rehabilitation. Other issues we want to work on are being able to have visitors come to the house and stopping her sometimes incessant licking."

Now that Lola has taken the necessary time to recover, and her health is much better, we can focus on her needs as a dog. 

After meeting and bonding with my girls over the weekend, Lola will now join the rest of the pack. Like I always say, the power of the pack is very real; Lola is already showing why dogs have an advantage by living in the moment.

We invite you to follow Lola's story; as many of her experiences will actually be some of her firsts.