Day 96 - ADOPTED!

Today, Lana was adopted - by us, of course. We thought we had to act now since she looked all gorgeous on the new Petfinder photo.
We have just become so used to her and she's become part of the family.

She has found new confidence and is now even following me up the main staircase. She still won't go downstairs, but I'm positive that one day she'll just get up and do it.

So here the story ends......
Hey, at least it's a happy ending!

Day 94 - Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Last Thursday we got Lana groomed. Since we don't know anything about groomers, but heard from our neighbors who not to go to, we asked our vet. She said they had a groomer come up from Ponca City once or twice a month, that she was one of the best in the area, and loved poodles. Bingo! She was due to do her magic in 2 weeks and although I would have liked to have Lana groomed immediately, we decided to wait.

When I delivered Lana to the vet's office the groomer hadn't arrived yet. The vet assistant asked me what I wanted to have done, but all I could think of was: "Just make her beautiful!"

In the afternoon, Tom picked her up and when he got her out of the car I couldn't believe my eyes! I didn't think it was the same dog, because indeed, she was beautiful.

The groomer went all out, even painted her toenails pink. I've always frowned on people putting little ribbons on their dogs and painting their nails, but I'll be darned - it doesn't hurt the dog and it made her look so pretty.

As long as we don't treat them as fashion accessories I guess it's o.k.

We totally think Lana noticed a change, because she carried herself much differently - just pranced around with her head held high.

But see for yourself:

We are now seriously thinking about adopting her. She's still not o.k. with the cats, but has gotten much better. We think there's hope that in another few months she'll be able to fully ignore them.

The shelter took a new picture of her and posted it on Petfinder.com so we'll see what happens.

Day 78 - Friday, March 27th, 2009

O.k., so I didn't post anything when I said I would. I'll use the usual excuse - been busy.

We got a call from the Humane Society on Monday saying that somebody was interested in Lana again. We arranged a meeting for Wednesday and I had high hopes. The potential adopters were an older couple and they asked all the right questions. The best thing was that they don't have cats. Sounded like heaven to old Lana!
Unfortunately they were looking for a smaller dog and the old girl came back home with me. Can't say I was too sad...

Right now we're having a nice little ice storm and I can hear tree branches snapping every few minutes from the weight of the ice.
I just hope our power will stay on!

Update - just completed this post on Sunday, March 29th, because our power and cable did go out. We got our electricity and heat back about 2.5 hours later, but the cable wasn't fixed until now. We had called Cox and they said they'd send somebody tomorrow - Tom and I were perplexed because that meant we actually had to talk to each other instead of playing around on the computer.
We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the Cox truck pull up today and the cable guy putting our cable back where it belonged.
What in the world did we do back in the dark ages when there was no internet?

Day 75 - Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

We're back! I'll post more tonight.

Day 61 - Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Well folks, freedom is finally here - tomorrow we're taking off for Germany/Scotland and grandpa Tim is here to babysit.

Lana has become better with the cats, but there are still flare-ups; for that she's much better with Tom.She's realized that Tom's not such bad guy especially since his hands magically produce treats.

Josi has now started playing big-time with Sophie and it is so much fun to watch them!

We wish grandpa lots of luck with the circus and off we go!
We'll miss the little boogers, but it'll sure be nice to get a good night's sleep....





See ya in 9 days!

Day 52 - Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Hard to believe we've had the wooly mammoth for almost 2 months now!
She's filled out quite a bit and she's at an ideal weight. Any more gain and she won't fit through the cat door.
Speaking of which, she's still annoyed by the cats (and don't even ask them how they feel about her), but doing much better.

This, of course, has all to do with a shamanic healing seminar I attended last weekend. I learned some energy healing techniques, and if you now think I'm crazy then that has a whole lot to do with the fact that I am crazy.
Thank you for the great genes, mom and dad :).
Anyways, I also attended some animal communication classes (yes, pet psychic) previously and to make a long story short, I tried some of the stuff I learned and am actually seeing progress.
Josephine is less grouchy too so now I have to try it on Tom. Maybe we could say good-bye to those cancer sticks and happy pills!

The cats have been hanging out in the kitchen the past few days, and Lana still yaps at them occassionally, but is dealing with the situation quite well.
Outside, she'll still run after them, but won't do her obnoxious barking routine. Sometimes we can actually all co-exist in the back yard without having to wear earplugs.

What we're learning now is climbing the main stairs. I couldn't figure out if it was a physical or mental thing, but since Lana has shown no signs of arthritis, I'm thinking she's just never encountered a staircase.
We haven't tackled the problem yet, because it had never been a problem before, and we wanted to give the chihuahuas a place to retreat to since Lana and Josephine were a little on edge around each other.
Well, the past few nights Lana has been waking me up several times a night, having to go out and me having to carry her down the stairs. This had the result that I could now compete at work with my students in the lets-see-who-can-go-to-sleep-first-during-class contest.

I thought that Lana had temporary diarrhea and the problem would be over in a few days, but now I don't know if she really still has diarrhea or thinks going out at night to patrol is a poodle's version of hanging out at the local bar.
I've become so sleep-deprived that I just left her downstairs for the night, along with about 5 cozy dogbeds to choose from, but that just doesn't quite cut it for her.
Of course she wants to be with the rest of the pack and starts barking up the stairs about 3x per night. She never barks for long, just enough to wake me up and give me time to invent a few new curse words.
Anyways, I started the training today and whereas Lana's very cautious she's mastered 3 stairs today. I've read online that that's very good progress in one day so hopefully she can use the stairs by the time we go on vacation and grandpa has to come and take care of the brood.

Grandpa, if I were you, I'd be hoping real hard right now!

Day 40 - Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Lana and Sophie at play.

Day 39 - Monday, February 16th, 2009

Last Thursday I got a call from the Humane Society - somebody was interested in Lana and wanted to meet her.

I took her to the shelter the next day with mixed feelings. On one hand we became attached to the old girl, but on the other hand the shelter director assured me that the interested person would give Lana a wonderful home.

The people in question visited with Lana for a bit and then said they'd think about it. They're o.k. inside, but as soon as Lana spots one outside, off she goes.

We haven't heard back from the people and I really think the cat-chasing issue might have been a problem for them. Can't blame them! I'll have to start working on that intensively.

Grandpa and stepgrandma came to visit over the weekend and they got to meet their new granddogs for the first time.

Sophie was bopping all over the place, as usual, but Lana was a bit shy. Even barked at them when they first came in.

Grandpa is going to babysit when we go on vacation in March, and if Lana's still here I'm sure they'll become friends within a few days. Well yeah, since he's the one with the food......

Sophie has been demanding more and more of Lana's attention, and the old lady has seriously started playing with pipsqueak.

She's also been carrying her toys around in a more playful fashion and less in a "I-need-a-place-for-my-puppy" manner.

This odd behavior had been a source of conflict between her and Josephine, but it has changed into something more playful, and now Lana enjoys being chased by Sophie while carrying a toy in her mouth.

She's also starting to go for the tug games.

Surprisingly, Luci has watched the two interact and all of a sudden started playing with Sophie too. This has never happened and was so much fun to watch. Better than TV!

Day 32 - Monday, February 09, 2009

I finally caught the two newcomers playing in the front yard.

Day 31 - Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Today wasn't as warm as yesterday, but it wasn't cold either. We did spend some time outside, first taking a long walk and then sitting in the front yard. The video shows an energetic Sophie, just running around and enjoying life.

Lana had a sort of a breakthrough last night and exhibited it again today - she actually played with Sophie! Sophie tries hard to get the other dogs to play with her, so far unsuccessfully. Last night she started tugging on Lana's ears and jumping up on her and Lana responded by mouthing and rolling around on the floor with Sophie. The old dame is reliving her second youth.

We went shopping in the afternoon and when we came home both Lana and Sophie greeted us outside. The little pipsqueak had obviously followed Lana outside through the doggie door! Nobody has ever showed her and I thought it would take a long time for her to go outside on her own, but here she was - yet another surprise.

Day 30 - Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Today was another special day - aren't we just full of them!

Lana got to participate in our Saturday ritual for the first time. No, we don't sacrifice small animals and drink their blood - we go to the coffee shop.

It was a wonderfully warm day today so I took Lana out to the walking track and walked one mile with her, as I do now every morning.

Then we loaded our 4 kids into the car, which is no small feat and almost feels like herding real children, and headed out to our neighboring town to get some decent coffee.

They tolerate us and our ever expanding circus at the coffee shop and let us sit on their patio mainly because we put their kids through college. Or maybe it's just because they are nice people.

We took all of the dogs for a short walk before planting ourselves on the patio. and they behaved surprisingly well today. There was none of the usual "lets-see-how-tangled-up-we-can-get" contest, but just peaceful snoozing in the carriers - until the food came, that is.

Then of course daddy was suckered into giving out bits of his lunch until he hardly had anything left. And he wonders why Josephine is fat!

Anyways, it was very enjoyable. Lana paced a bit, but then settled down. We'll definitely take her again.

The rest of the day the dogs and I spent mostly outside. They had a ball in the warm weather, just running around in the yard and barking at the people that went by.

Lana is still chasing the cats outside, but can now co-exist with them in the kitchen. Once in a while there's a frustrated bark at them, but when I call her name she stops.

Not so outside, but we're working on it.

Little Sophie also came outside with us, something she hadn't done when it was cooler. She thought it was the greatest thing to run around on her little stick legs, drag branches through the yard and try to animate the others to play with her. They were very tolerant, but wouldn't play.

All in all there was none of the usual "who's-the-biggest-bitch" behavior and everybody got along.

I guess the warmer it gets, the more they chill!

Oh, almost forgot - Lana hasn't had any accidents in the house for quite a while. That's a good thing, because grandpa and stepgrandma are coming to visit on Friday, and we sure don't want them to get wet feet. Not to mention other things.

All we need to do now is potty train Sophie!

Day 26 - February 3rd, 2009

Today was the big day - we took Lana to the vet this morning to get her teeth cleaned. We also took Sophie to get dipped for mange.

This is a precautionary measure, because some of the other dogs at the "breeder" she came from have mange.

I took off work this afternoon so Tom and I were able to go pick up the kids together.

Lana came out with her mouth all puffy, but she was very alert and proceeded to pee on the vet's rug in true movie-star fashion.

The vet said she had to remove 7 teeth and gave us some pain medication for her, but when we got home Lana acted like superdog, chasing the cats, barking enthusiastically, and running around like a puppy. If I were to humanize her I'd say she was relieved to have finally gotten rid of those rotten teeth.

Now she's rubbing her face against the carpet so I guess it's time for the pain pill!

Day 24 - Sunday, February 1st, 2009

I haven't posted in a while since nothing earth-shattering has happened in the past few days.

Lana is still going after the cats despite my best efforts, but I have hopes that some day the yapping and chasing them will shrink to a tolerable level.

Now that the weather is getting better I've been taking Lana out to our local walking trail, which is a mile long, and walking one round with her.

She has enough energy to walk the full mile and enjoys it, but indicates that that distance is fully sufficient for a lady her age.

Barb, the chihuahua rescue lady, sent us some more bling collars for Lana and Sophie, including the matching velvet leashes.

They look so pretty all decked out - if there were a show "Pimp My Dog" they'd be on it!

Sophie is still shy, but will come to us if she wants to be held. She's a little spitfire with lots of energy, but we have the impression she put a little weight on. Luckily we can weigh her on the kitchen scale and get a more exact number than on the people scale.

Seems like the dominance issues between Lana and Josephine have been resolved. For a while there it was cause for worry since at times it seemed they were going to get into fights, but it never advanced beyond the growling and snapping stage.

I'm not quite sure who won, but I have the impression Josephine did since Lana will turn her head when Josephine comes near.

I'm glad since Josi was here first and shouldn't be downgraded in the order of the pack.

Lucrezia has become more tolerant of Sophie, but the most patient dog with Sophie is actually Lana. Sophie will try to get her to play, tugging and jumping at her, but Lana just lets it happen. I think the circus that has moved into our house is finally getting its act together!

Tuesday is the big day for Lana - she'll finally get her teeth fixed. I am so looking forward to that since her teeth must be causing her discomfort.

Sophie will go with her to the vet to get dipped for mange one last time.

There's always something!

Day 19 - Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

I got a call this morning at 5.40 telling me that due to the ice on the road there was no school today. Yay!

Lana was bundled up in her new coat and we took a walk outside. It was freezing cold, but she enjoyed it until she started limping. Guess she got some salt onto her paws so we went back and ran around in the yard for a bit.

The little pipsqueak Sophie is starting to come out of her shell. She was sleeping with Tom this morning and when I came close to pet her she bit me twice. She also growls at Josephine and Josi keeps her distance.

The shelter director emailed me today asking how Lana was doing and I had just got done writing how well she was doing and that I was hoping she'd start playing soon when Lana picked up a little toy Josephine was previously playing with. It was a little pink stuffed puppy and Lana was carrying it around quite a bit - almost as if she was looking for a spot for her puppy. Josephine didn't like it and started growling whenever Lana got close and Lana growled back. It was the first time she didn't back off. I took the toy away so they couldn't fight over it, but now whenever they get close to each other they start the growling and are aggressive.I have the impression it's a fight for dominance, and we'll have to watch them closely - the last thing I need right now is a major dogfight.

I've written before that Lana has shown signs of dominant behavior, but it had always been quite harmless.She gets along well with Sophie, who never growls at Lana. I guess only time will tell...I've done some clicker training with Lana to get her to calm down when the cats show up and I was somewhat successful but that doesn't mean tomorrow will be the same.

Sophie is still hard to catch and does quite a bit of running around, but when she's tired she'll stop and let herself be picked up. She then sleeps on me until she wakes up and gets all goofy, rolling around on her blanket and nipping my hand.

She gets lots of treats, as Lana does, to gain some weight. Right now she's chomping on a lamb's ear that's almost as big as she is.

This house is a real circus right now and the little ones are keeping us busy, that's for sure, but hey, the only drugs they take is glucosamine, they don't stay out at night, and they don't want to go to college!

Day 16 - Saturday, January 24, 2009

Yesterday was the big day - we went to pick up Sophie.

All of our animals are named after historical personalities (except for Ozzy who's named after Ozzy Osbourne - definitely a personality, but not quite historical yet) and Sophie was named after Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, the later Catherine the Great.
Started out real small and became real big - both anatomically and historically.

Anyways, Tom took the day off and that turned out to be a good thing since Sophie is so small, very quick and hard to catch once let off onto the ground.
I was worried about the cats and Lana - the cats having been freaked out too often lately by a barking and charging Lana, and Lana herself showing dominance behavior towards Luci and Josi. After the initial greeting, Lana did try to get on top of Sophie to nip her in the back of the neck and we had to stop her.

Sophie ran right up to Messerschmitt to play as I held my breath and already imagined me describing to our vet how the cat swallowed the dog whole, but Schmittchen was so confused that she just sat there and let the approach happen.
Ozzy didn't really react either and we were relieved. It is obvious that Sophie loves cats so the worry that she could be scared and intimidated by them was unfounded.
Hindenburg and Richthofen aren't around much these days, because they are so annoyed by Lana barking at them.

Sophie became very attached to Tom and she goes looking for him and whines when he leaves the house. That'll be great fun on Monday, when he goes to work, and I don't plan on sleeping much Monday night.
She's very active, running around on her thin legs with her hip bones sticking out.

I have the impression that Lana gained some weight so I hope the same formula will work for Sophie - home-made chicken stew mixed with supplements and green tripe.
Of course Sophie isn't potty trained so we're having fun all over again.....

Lana can now be trusted enough that we don't have to put her ino the sunroom when we leave the house. She pees in the house about once a day. No poop lately at all though!Of course she marked over the spots Sophie peed on yesterday, but today there wasn't much of a problem.The dominance behavior only comes up occassionally.

It was very cold today, but the sun was shining and we decided to bundle up the dogs in their jackets and go for a walk.
Sophie got to ride along in a carrier that looks like a backpack, but is put on in the front. We wrapped her in a blanket, put her in the pack and Tom put his coat on top. She was snug as a bug with just her head sticking out.

Lana was not slow at all today; in fact I had to walk very fast to keep up with her.
Luckily, walking fast is the thing I do best - just ask my students.
I've noticed a big difference in Lana's activity level. Now, when I come home she lopes around like a puppy and runs circles in the yard for about 10 minutes.
I think she's regained a lot of her energy along with the weight. It is so cool to see the progress she's making!
Luci also exhibits puppy behavior when Lana is doing the homecoming ritual so I'm hoping that the two old gals one day will run around together and become friends.

As for now I feel like I'm the director in a circus - thank goodness I don't have to pick up any elephant poop!

Day 14 - Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

We have news!
What I hadn't mentioned on Tuesday was the full story about the vet visit.

While I was in the waiting room and Lana was socializing with the other dogs there, the vet came out and placed this tiny shivering thing in my lap.

Turned out it was a chihuahua she had rescued, about 7 years old, very little hair (she's being treated for mange), very waggy tail, and weighing a whopping 1.8 pounds.
I've never seen a tiny yet full-grown dog like that!




The vet was hoping we could give the little lady a home, and I just thought: "Oh boy!"
Well, not quite, because I can't repeat here which words I really thought - just about the last thing we need is another dog, but this little girl was so cute, and in my mind I had already named her Sophie - never a good sign!
I mean for the willpower, not for the dog, of course!
Since I couldn't spring another animal on Tom I said I'd send him by the next day to take a look so he could decide. And be the bad guy, of course.

He went for a short visit yesterday, and when he called me I didn't dare ask what the verdict was. He talked about other things first, while I was stepping from one foot to the other wishing he'd finally mention the subject since I didn't want to rush him. Being afraid of the answer could have had something to do with it too.
After what seemed ages he said that he'd visited the mangy runt, and yes, we'd bring it home.
You just gotta love that guy!

The next step was to go into overdrive and plan this out.
Since we've learned a lot from Lana, and nobody knows if Sophie is potty trained, I bought a rabbit playpen we can put her in when we're gone (we're hardly ever gone and we'll make it real comfortable too), because if she pees in the house, Lana will want to mark over and we'll have the vicious cycle going on here.
Sophie also doesn't like walking on a leash so I bought one of those rabbit harnesses until we can get her a real one.
Barb from the chihuahua rescue has already offered to hook us up with some stuff since you can't buy accessories for XXXS dogs at Walmart.

I'm a little worried that Sophie will be terrified of the cats, and that Lana might be too rambunctious since the old girl has decided to transform into a spring chicken every time I come home from work.
That's a good thing since it gets her nice and excercised - and tired, for that matter, but I'll have to watch her closely around tiny Sophie.

I'll go pick her up tomorrow after work and then we'll see what happens.
Somebody help me, I've actually become Paris Hilton!

Day 12 - Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Yesterday was not a good day.

Lana woke up, went right back to her bad bathroom habits and refused to eat breakfast.
She also refused to eat her favorite treat duck jerkey and the no-fail Cheez Whiz.
That's when I became worried.


I was off due to Martin-Luther-King-Day and luckily able to watch Lana all day.
She acted bizarre - grazing grass and henbit leaves like a cow, then going over to raiding the houseplants which I had to put out of her reach.
Earlier in the morning we had caught her eating a decorative plant outside which she immediately vomited back up so it must have been toxic.
We then covered up that plant so Lana couldn't get to it, so she went into the back yard and started chomping down on anything green she could find.

Before anybody wonders - I do feed her supplements like enzymes and powdered barley grass. Any attempt of bribing her with food was fruitless and given her low weight I called our vet and asked if they had a high-calorie paste like Nutrical which they did, so I went and got some. Lana hated it, but by now she was pooping pure grass and I was getting desperate. I'm thinking she must have eaten something slightly toxic first thing in the morning which upset her stomach and made her act strange.

After spending the day trying to get Lana to eat and rescuing the houseplants she finally settled down in the living room and slept for 3 hours straight. I think the Nutrical paste might have soothed her stomach and given her some peace.

When I let the dogs out before going to bed Lana ran straight to one of the wooden posts on our patio, wrapped herself around it and began scratching her sides and face on the wood.
Weird!

She then had some diarrhea (great!), went inside - and ate a whole bowl of dog food!
I was very relieved and called Tom, telling him to take Lana out when he came home and again before he went to bed, because of the diarrhea.
That led to her now being afraid of him (who wants to be taken out of a warm bed and into the cold outside in the middle of the night), but avoided any accidents.

When we got up this morning, Lana was eager to run around and wag her tail. This time she didn't pee in the house, but waited until we went outside, and then waited impatiently for her breakfast. She again ate a whole bowl of food - whew, she was out of the woods!
Our walk went fine, she ate the duck jerkey, and I slipped her some Cheez Whiz just to make sure she was back.
That she was!




When I came home from work today there had been no accidents in the house, and I've never seen her so excuberant and excited.

Josephine had her vet appointment today, and I took Lana along to introduce her to the vet. I asked the doc to take a quick look at her, and she found that Lana had an ear infection and impacted anal glands. That was taken care of, and even though that was a little painful, Lana was very forgiving and socialized very well with the other, bigger dogs.
In fact it was quite the party in the waiting room.
She weighs 8.4 pounds and is still about 4 pounds underweight, but I think we're getting there if there are no more incidents with those devious plants.
She's going to get her teeth cleaned in two weeks so she has some time to recover between anesthesias.

I spent some time in the kitchen when we got home, and there was no pacing - Lana ate another bowl of food, then immediately went to lay on her bed in the dining room to snooze.
My clicker finally arrived, and tomorrow we'll start learning that cats can be your friends if they are not accosted by a curly-haired creature with a Hollywood name.

Day 10 - Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Well, Lana did mark in the hallway this morning while I was in the shower. I half expected it since I couldn't find the spot she marked yesterday morning and cleaned the spot I thought she peed on. Guess I didn't quite hit it.

This morning she paced in the kitchen for a bit, then disappeared. When I went to check on her she had let herself out through the doggie door!

Lana came back relatively quickly, then decided to tackle the mystery of the cat door. It is installed in the kitchen door and leads to a mudroom, but the wind was blowing it slightly inward. I watched Lana trying to get out, and she managed to open the flap toward the inside enough so she could slip under it.
She amazes me every day with the things she can do without being shown, just by trying them out!

We've been practicing positive reinforcement when it comes to the cats. Two of them have now figured out that even though Lana charges them, she backs off if they decide to sit it out.
Whenever she starts raising her ears and looks towards the cats one of us says: "Leave it!" and as soon as she turns away, she's praised.
I was hoping the clicker would have arrived by now to make things easier, but it hasn't. Still, she's making progress on that every day and I hope that in about a week she won't be charging cats anymore.

Personally, I think Cheez Whiz should be named best inter-species ambassador, because when that can comes out, the animals line up and suddenly get along, no matter the year, make, or model!



They eat it directly from the nozzle so just remember to never eat cheese with crackers at my house.
Just kidding!


Having had Lana for over a week now, and hoping a potential adopter might read the blog, this is what I hope she can go home to:
a person that understands positive reinforcement, takes daily short walks (Lana can walk easily for 1/2 mile) , has a yard and possibly a doggie door and lots of love and appreciation for this sweet, intelligent girl.
Lana is an active dog, who is showing a very slight stiffness in the hind legs, but loves walking as long as it's not miles and miles.
I also have the impression her eyesight is not the best anymore, but she hears and smells very well.
She'd make a great companion for somebody!

She also gets along with other dogs even though I have to watch her around Luci when they get excited like right before walks or during playtime. Lana does a dominance thing and tries to nip Luci in the back of the neck, but it only happens when the excitement level is high and poses no problem at any other time. In fact, Luci likes to run outside with her and they all form a "pack".
Cats shouldn't be a problem before too long either. It'll take a while for them to get used to each other, but then they'll be just fine.

Lana has peed in the house only twice the last two days, and a few times she's gone on the pee pads.
Again, she's learned this quickly, and I expect her to be fully potty trained in a week, give or take a few days.
She still hasn't attempted to walk up the stairs and we'll wait with that for another few days until her incision has healed up a little more which, btw, isn't bothering her much.

Lana also rides well in the car. I think she's a little scared, because the first few miles she'll stand on the seat and just stare ahead, but she usually settles down after a while.
She's also become much more relaxed in the house. She still paces, but is starting to settle onto her bed a little sooner every day.
As soon as I sit down, she's on her bed snoozing.
Not bad for a dog who obviously hasn't experienced any of this before!

Day 9 - Saturday, January 17, 2009

Lana became restless at 6 a.m. this morning and woke me up. Figured I better take her out which is much less hassle than having her jump off the bed and breaking a leg. Cheaper too!

When I lifted her off the bed she made a beeline for the carpet and squatted, but this time I was anticipating that move so I scooped her up, carried her outside and praised her relentlessly for finishing her business in the yard.

I've never seen this in a dog, but she seems to react better to praise than treats so even though it was below freezing this morning and I just in a t-shirt, I followed Lana around and every time she finished peeing she got lots of praise. There were lots of spots for her to check out, and I bet I was a frightful sight for the neighbors, but it was for a good cause, right?

During our kitchen-time this morning she still paced a bit and went after the cats, but she's not so agitated anymore when they show up. Lana will huff and puff a bit and run towards them, but then back away especially since they're starting to stay their ground.

Finally she went to lay on one of the dog beds in the kitchen and relaxed . She also relaxed in the dining room while I was having breakfast.

No accidents!

Tom and I are in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and were going to attend little brother's basketball game this morning. What to do with Lana?

I came up with the great idea of leaving her in the sunroom (it has the doggie door leading outside) and blocking off access to the rest of the house, thus avoiding any activity of the lower bodily regions anywhere but the laminat of the sunroom, which is easy to clean.

Luci never goes out on her own anyways, and Josi holds it easily for a few hours, so having no access to the doggie door was no problem for them.

It would give the cats a break too, because they use the cat entrance in the kitchen door.

We made it comfortable for Lana, leaving her with food, water, her bed, and tasty duck-breast jerky.

After the game we brought little brother home with us, and when we opened the door to the sunroom Lana was nowhere to be seen.

I started to slightly panic when suddenly she showed up behind us - she had mastered the use of the doggie door, gone outside and enjoyed the sunshine in the yard!

She learned how to come in from outside a few days ago, but had never gone outside through the doggie door.

She really is a smart little girl!

Little brother, who's 10, connected with Lana, sitting down beside her and running his hands over her back. He commented on how thin she was, then proceeded to counting the number of vertebrae he could feel (it was 11, in case anybody was wondering).

Later on we went for a walk and he was put in charge of Lana. She stopped to sniff every 2 seconds and took her sweet time, but he was right there, patiently waiting for her to move on.

He's a great kid!

It is now almost 8 p.m. and so far, no mess in the house. I let Lana out about every 2 hours and keep on praising her when she pees outside. Other than that she has learned how to relax more and now even rolls on her back for a belly rub. Such a cutie!

Of course I won't break out the champagne quite yet - maybe this was just a lucky day.

So I'll just break out the wine instead and pre-celebrate just a tiny bit.

Day 8 - Friday, January 16, 2009

Lana slept through most of the night, only waking up a few times, and then only to lift her head, look around for a bit, and go back to sleep again.
I had not put her on my bed this time, because she was so groggy, and I didn't want to risk her falling off so she slept in her bed on the floor.

When the alarm went off this morning she hopped out of her bed as if nothing had happened, wagged her tail, and followed me around. I carried her downstairs (she'll still not walk the main staircase), and she was eager to go out, running around outside in the snow and sniffing extensively.

When she came back and spotted Richthofen, our big orange cat, in the hallway she went for him - that's when I knew she was back!

Peed in the kitchen twice too....

She didn't want to eat at first, but when the rotisserie chicken came out of the refrigerator Lana decided the fast was over and went for it - emptied a whole bowl of food and didn't have to vomit.

She still hasn't put on a whole lot of weight, so besides her food she's constantly getting rewards for good behavior - all healthy treats, of course.

Problem is that the chis also expect a treat, when Lana gets one, no matter that they didn't do anything to earn one (after all, she is on the bottom end of the pack), but I guess they think looking cute warrants a reward.

They are so right!

Lana might not have woken up from the anesthesia as quickly as a younger dog would have, but she didn't need 3 days to get back to her old self either, which we thought she would.

When I had to go to work I left her in the room with Tom, and she immediately went to sleep.

I made my daily phone call home around noon, and Tom said Lana was doing very well. He had a long session with her, just sitting next to her, scratching her ears, and reassuring her.

Her incision doesn't seem to be bothering her, and we're relieved we don't have to experience the joys of the canine heat cycle.

I opened the local newspaper during lunch break and there was a picture of Lana staring back at me! The Humane Society puts adoption ads in the paper on a regular basis and this time it was Lana's turn.

I'm wondering if anybody will inquire and that brings up the next problem: what if somebody wants to adopt her soon - will we be able to let go?

I'd sure like to get her housetrained before she leaves so her new parents won't get upset with her.

I have read up on the problem and since I'm off for the next 3 days and can constantly supervise Lana, I'll see if she can learn and make progress.

I've heard that it's hard to get dogs over 5 years of age potty trained, but poodles are the second smartest breed, right?

Day 7 - Thursday, January 15, 2009

Well, today was the big day - Lana was going to be dropped off at the shelter at 7.30 a.m. to see the vet.

First though I took her outside and was surprised to see snow.
I knew it was supposed to get really cold, but snow? A walk was out of the question since Miss Lana hardly stayed outside long enough to pee. I had to carry the chis outside, because no true descendant of the Mexican desert attack rat will set its dainty little feet on cold snow voluntarily, no ma'am!

I went inside, checking my watch every 5 minutes to see if it was time for the school robocall telling us we have a snow day and I didn't have to go to work.
When it hadn't arrived by 7 I figured I had to bite the bullet and prepare myself mentally for work.
Luckily I was able to go half an hour later, due to my trip to the shelter.


Lana was as spunky as ever, going after the cats. I actually started feeling sorry for them, no matter that they could tear a poodle up into stir-fry strips within seconds with their Ninja claws.
I decided to use the opportunity since I had just watched another episode of Victoria Stilwell's "It's Me or the Dog" where she trained a bulldog to ignore other dogs by saying: "Watch me", thus distracting the bulldog and feeding a treat.
I cut up some chicken, and every time a cat showed up and Lana started lunging I distracted her by saying the magic words and giving her the chicken.


She's a smart little cookie, that one, and of course after a few times she knew how to earn a treat by just looking at the cats and waiting for me to yell: "Watch me, watch me".
I did order a clicker and a treat bag so I could look all professional when I did future clicker training that I know nothing about.


After only 2 accidents in the house I packed Lana and my lunchbag up and we drove to the Humane Society.
I asked the wonderful lady there to email me when I could pick Lana up.
Tom called me around noon and we decided that if we hadn't heard anything by 2 p.m. Tom would call the shelter, because we were all anxious. He did, and they said Lana was still asleep, but we could pick her up around 4.30.

He was going to take 2 hours off from work so he could go to the shelter and pick up Lana (and get the rugs and carpet cleaned with the steam cleaner he had rented) hoping she'd bond with him.
Of course I had to go too since he's a guy, and I was afraid he would forget half of the information they'd give him.
Besides, I was going to meet Kayoko, my dealer for doggie-spoil-items, at the shelter for a transaction.

Guess who got spayed?
No, not me even though that would take care of a few problems.
Lana was very groggy when Tom took her into his arms, and the shelter staff told us she would probably be for the next few days.
Normally I'm the one with all the questions, but suddenly Tom switched into seargeant mode, asking for the details of the surgery - didn't see that one coming!
We got quite a bit of information. When Tom heard that a lady had been on the phone a few minutes earlier, asking about Lana he wanted to know all about that too - turns out the lady was looking for a male.
This was the second inquiry for Lana so it seems there is hope of her finding a home - she's such a sweet little thing who really deserves it!

Lana also received a microchip and a rabies shot, so now she's fully vetted. The vet said the teeth needed cleaning, but that needed to be done at a later time, after Lana recovered from this surgery.
We're thinking about helping out with the costs for that, because the shelter doesn't have enough money and they've already done a lot.

She turned out to be heartworm-negativ which we were worried about, because one of the other seized poodles had heartworms.
For now, we need to expect some vomiting and a groggy dog for the next 3 days. We also need to make sure she eats and drinks by tomorrow evening.

At least the cats will get a little break - they were already wondering what was going on when they walked past Lana and there was only a slight raise of the head.

Oh, I almost forgot - the living room rug is actually black. And for the longest time I thought it was gray! I'm thrilled, because black matches the furniture so much better.

Update - Lana drank a lot of water and got up to pee - on the freshly cleaned living room rug, of course. Seeing it coming I grabbed a pee-pad, took a dive and did a belly-landing under the table just in time to slide the pad under her hind end. Too bad the Olympics are already over!

Day 6 - Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Last night I let Lana run around upstairs while I took a shower and when I went on an inspection tour I couldn't find anything. She was dry for the first time!

Ah, the sweet taste of success...

When we got up this morning we observed our usual routine, and I let Luci and Lana out. Josi refuses to come out from under the covers and I know better than to disturb her.

She usually lets herself out during the night and doesn't have to go immediately in the morning, but will magically appear in the kitchen as soon as her breakfast is ready.

Anyways, Lana had fun sniffing around again so I thought I'd just let her do that, and come get her later.

Suddenly I heard a sound, and there was Lana, standing in the living room, wagging her tail - she had figured out how to come in through the doggie door!

What a surprise considering nobody had ever shown her, but she's only watched Luci come in.

Smart doggie!

Now she needs to figure out how to go outside by herself, but I'm sure it won't take her very long since she already runs to the doggie door when we go out, but then uses the main door.

When we went for our morning walk Lana ate some henbit leaves; she did that yesterday in the back yard and Luci likes doing it too, if I don't watch her. It's still dark outside when Lana does it and I don't always notice right away so she manages to snarf up one or two.

Lana did her business outside, which made me even more cocky, and let me think about what a breeze dog training really is and wondering what the paycheck for a dog trainer would be.

When we came back Lana started wandering again while I was getting ready for work. I left the leash off, because, having done her business, I thought: "What could happen?"

Then the smell hit and all my dreams went up in poop - it was worse than the tripe smell when I warm it up for the chis in the morning. I followed this rancid path of vileness, and lo and behold, there were 3 landmines placed strategically on the living room rug, blending in with the color.

The only giveaway were the green henbit leaves of which the concoction mainly consisted.

Anybody who hasn't had to clean up invisible soft poop when they're already late for work has truly missed out!

Postponing the Rug Doctor project was one of the best ideas I've ever had...

Tom called me at work and he was very proud of Lana - besides another deposit in the same

spot on the living room rug she had had no accidents all morning. That was good news!

When I came home I let all of the dogs out and went to check the mail. I had received the necklaces that Barb from the chihuahua rescue had made for the dogs.

They are so pretty and I now have the most gangsta dogs in town!

I don't really know what that means, but the kids at the school I work at say it all the time so it must be something cool.

Coming back inside, I headed straight for the kitchen while Lana lagged behind. Then another round of smell hit me - if I had thought the previous one was bad, this one was a WMD! Luckily it was this time placed on the footmat and clearly visible, but placed in such a way that anybody coming down the stairs or through the front door just had to step into it and spread the love. If I didn't know better I'd swear this dog has taken a class!

Now, where did I put that incense???

p.s. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Barb of Because of You Chihuahua Rescue http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/OK226.html for all she's done for us and Kayoko Harper of http://www.seniorpetcareproducts.com/ for providing us with the best customer service and all the things it takes to spoil our dogs rotten!

Day 5 - Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

I had a genius idea this morning when I woke and could have kicked myself for not trying it during the weekend - why not use the umbilical cord method all the time (meaning keeping a leash attached from Lana to me while I was at home)!
Worked like a charm - absolutely no pee in the house. Great sigh of relief!
We went about our routine without incident and Lana again slept on her bed while I had breakfast.

It was very cold this morning so on her walk, Lana got to wear her new coat that Tom bought for her; it didn't seem to bother her one bit.
I left for work with high hopes that maybe there would be less accidents in the house while I was gone.

I called later in the day to check on the situation and Tom told me that he couldn't take a walk with Lana because she was shying away from him so badly that he couldn't get her harness on.
Of course she had peed and pooped in the house again, but that was to be expected. At least part of it was on the pee pads this time.
The good news was that she spent about 1/2 hour outside in the yard, enjoying the scents and smells. It was still cold, but the sun came out and she had a good old time.
Tom didn't get around to renting a Rug Doctor, but we decided to postpone that until Thursday, because Lana would be at the shelter for her vet visit that day.




When I came home there were 3 wiggly animals to greet me and Lana was loping around like a puppy, much more so than yesterday. I could tell she had a few problems with her hind legs, but she did good for an old lady. I was very excited to see her so happy.
I decided to take all 3 dogs out for a walk around the circle with Luci in my doggie pack (looks like a back pack, but attaches to the front and you can carry a small animal in it) and Lana and Josephine on leashes.
Turns out that that little episode was about as much fun as having to be nice to your mother-in-law - Luci and Josi for some reason don't want to walk the circle.
They've never had a negative experience there so I'm thinking maybe it used to be an Indian burial ground or something that makes them want to not go there.

Anyways, I decided I was the alpha bitch and they needed to go where I wanted them to go.
The result was that Luci kept squirming, trying to get out of the pouch, Josi kept digging in her heels, and Lana was the only one walking, but changed sides frequently so that the leashes got all tangled up.
I didn't want the chis to feel left out when I walked Lana, but I think I put on enough show for the neighbors and will simply disregard their feelings when it comes to this matter :).

The afternoon was spent cooking in the kitchen and I kept the Lana attached to me. Every time she went to sit on her dog bed I gave her a treat and praised her.
Of course the chis were in the kitchen too, along with Ozzy (our oldest cat) and whenever the roast beef came out their ears perked up, and I was met with eyes that said: "What's so special about her? You better let some of that wander over this way, because we might be little, but we can create huge puddles on your favorite blanket if forced to do so!"
Of course I complied, because I happen to like a dry favorite blanket.

When I took Lana out later she went to sniff at the far end of the yard. I thought I'd let her have her fun, go back in and come to get her later. When I was walking towards the house I couldn't believe my eyes - Messerschmitt saw me coming, but ran as fast as she could to where Lana was. Sure enough, a few seconds later I saw an orange flash running the same way back, only now being chased by a yapping, excited poodle.
So all along this has been just a game for Messerschmitt? And here I was being worried that she could be annoyed by all this ruckus.
Cats! Somebody said in a movie once that cats always have 2 legs in hell and I'm starting to believe that. That is, if I believed in a hell.

When I let Lana back in I remembered that I'd left the leash in the kitchen. I also knew Ozzy was still in the kitchen, and Ozzy is very fussy and would never let me hear the end of it if I let Lana charge at her so I had the grandiose idea of picking Lana up and carrying her.
Just as I lifted Lana up and she was halfway between the floor and my arms she vomited.
It wasn't much, but anybody who has ever thrown up from a standing position knows that it makes for great spatter, as was the case with this high-velocity, purreed chicken-and-veggie, green dog vomit, with little pieces of roast beef as garnish on top.
Seriously - what would I do without enzyme spray?

We finally all settled down in our favorite spot - the couch, only this time I had a chicken enchilada on the table, along with a laptop and a glass of water.
Lana kept on trying to climb on top of the table and yes, you've guessed it, dumped the water onto the table top with a direct water flow underneath my laptop.
It was really, really hard not to get mad, but I guess my Yoga class finally paid off, and when I figured out the laptop had suffered no harm, I took a deep breath, decided not to put karma at risk, and gave Lana a treat.
The chis also received a treat, because a water-soaked rug is all the wetness I need right now.

Day 4 - Monday,January 12th, 2009

After a restless night (must have been the full moon) I woke up at 5 a.m. to the sound of puking dog. Poor Lana had to throw up - I expected it after the food change, and luckily it wasn't much.

After the ritual of going outside, then coming back to pee on the hallway carpet while I was in the shower, we proceeded to the kitchen to pack lunches and make breakfast.

The cats showed up to be fed, and Lana started to go nuts on them again, when I remembered a "It's Me or the Dog" show where dog trainer Victoria Stillwell attached a leash to a dog and then to a person - kind of like an umbilical cord.

I thought I should try that so I'd prevent Lana from lunging at the cats and it worked! She felt safe with the leash and didn't even try to go for the kitties. She just followed me around the kitchen, like she would have done anyways.

After the cats were fed and went on their merry ways I detached the leash and Lana, after having her breakfast, quietly settled on the dog bed.

Yes!!!!

She also came with me into the dining room and layed down on the dog bed there while I was having breakfast. Double yes!!!!

After breakfast it was walk time. We walked around the circle since Hindenburg and Messerschmitt discovered us and decided to follow, so we couldn't go onto any side streets. That was just as well since Lana was very tense on our first round around the circle, but relaxed on the following 4 rounds and stopped to smell the grass.

Amazing what the neighbors are doing at that time of the morning :).

I hoped she was nice and tired and left her upstairs with my sleeping husband, with a Kong filled with Cheese Whiz cheese.

I called home around noon to see how it was going. Tom said she had vomited, peed, and pooped all over the place so he wanted to rent a Rug Doctor tomorrow and clean the carpet and rugs. We had planned that for the last two years and it took a poodle to finally get it done :).

Diapers are sounding better and better!

Lana displayed some shyness toward Tom; she followed him around and wanted to be close, but not touched. I told him to bribe her with treats, but if she's a little shy towards men it'll take a while for her to overcome it.

Lucrezia wanted nothing to do with Tom for over a year, before she decided he was really a nice guy and started licking his hand and doing her happy dance for him.

Tom took Lana on another walk and hopefully it'll take her less time to figure him out.

I had received an email from the shelter telling me that Lana would be checked by a vet on Thursday and to bring her over. She'd have a heartworm test, rabies shots, microchip, her teeth looked at and the vet would decide if she could also be spayed - awesome! Thanks, Humane Society!

When I got home there were three wagging tails and three happy faces - it puts me in a good mood every time!

The daily ritual is that I come home, then go into the spare bedroom to play with the dogs. The chis love digging in the clothes that Tom leaves there and there's also a fake tiger fur that they roll on, not to mention little squeaky toys.

Josephine has always played, but Luci has just started a few weeks ago. It's a sight to see how she runs around the room like crazy with her hind end tucked in, then proceeds to throw her squirrel toys around and dig in the dog basket.

Lana shows no interest in playing - she just paces from the bedrooms into the hallway, into the bedrooms, peeing on the way.

Playing is another thing she's probably never experienced, but if Luci can learn and enjoy it I have hopes she can too.

At feeding time most of the animals were present. I did the leash thing with Lana again and the cats were tolerated. I let her off leash later, and she still didn't react to the cats who were now lounging around on the dog beds. Messerschmitt even ran right in front of her, yet still no reaction. I was so proud of Lana!

We retired to the living room where the chis climbed up onto the couch (their favorite time of the day) and Lana immediately went to sleep in her dog bed - that is until Hindenburg showed up. One quick movement of his, and Lana was a furiously yapping ball of curls on a mission. Poor Hindenburg didn't know what hit him and flew through the cat door.

All I can say is we're working on it!

Day 3 - Sunday, January 11th, 2009

I took Lana out immediately after she woke up and then went upstairs to get Luci to take her out. When I came back there was a big old poop on the pee pad! Go Lana!

Pee spots on the hallway too - double sigh......

Making breakfast was the same old story - Lana on her feet interrupted by chasing a cat or two. Treat trick worked for a while, then we went out into the yard and it didn't work anymore.

The cats are starting to become annoyed, albeit unimpressed so I figure they'll get used to it.

Today was a relatively warm day so we took all dogs on a longer walk - whatever long is when you're walking a chubby chihuahua and two seniors. We're talking like 20 minutes :).

Lana likes the walks, but is slow. Weird, considering all the energy she puts into constantly being up in the kitchen and running into the living room and back.

I had some things to do in the kitchen during the day and Lana just wouldn't settle down. Finally, after about 2 hours, she proceeded to lie down on a bed so there's hope!

She loves the chicken stew I cooked for her, and I managed to dig up a bottle of enzymes and micronutrients to add to the food. She and the other dogs also get an oil mix and glucosamine treats which she devours.

I tried to give her a Bach Flower Essence mix to help her with the change in her surroundings, but she hates it. And I thought it was hard to get the cats' mouths open to administer medicine! The other dogs like it, licking it right off of the eye dropper.

Twice a day I try to get some Petzlife Oral Spray into Lana's mouth. I've had great success with it on the chis, who have had real tooth problems before they came to me.

I think the damage in Lana's mouth is too great to be remedied by the spray, but it might give her some relief before it can be attended to.

The shelter said they'd arrange a tooth-cleaning, but given her age and low weight I don't know when that'll be - hopefully I'll find out next week.

All the education I have about poodles is a 20-minute feature on Animal Planet that I watched by accident. According to them poodles are the second smartest dog breed, the first being border collies. They also require a certain amount of grooming so I tried the brush on Lana. She let it happen without a hitch, but I'll have to find out from the shelter who does the grooming, if Lana's ever been seen by a vet and what vaccinations she has.

I then hit up the internet for information on the canine heat cycle since I've never had an unspayed female dog. I might be looking at buying diapers since dogs apparantly don't go through menopause - darn!

Since Lana didn't have a collar, Tom decided that a lady like her needed some bling. He tried to find a rhinestone collar at a well-known box store, but couldn't find one in her size so he got her a snazzy pink one along with a matching coat.

We got Josephine from a rescue group and I email the lady that runs the group on a regular basis. She works in a pet boutique and had sent me gorgeous rhinestone collars for Luci and Josi a few weeks ago. She also made necklaces for the two and they look so pretty! When she heard that Lana needed some bling she offered to look at her store for a collar. She also immediately made a necklace for her too - how nice is that?

Thank you, Barb, for all you do!!!!

Tomorrow is a work day for both Tom and me which presents a whole new situation. We had to figure out who was going to take Lana on a walk when. The chis only want to go for a walk a.) when the weather is perfect and b.) it involves a car ride, but, having read some poodle stuff online, Lana needs daily walks, no matter what.

I volunteered to take her out before school, meaning around 6.30 a.m., and Tom will take her before work, meaning around 2.30 p.m.

We live on a circular road without much traffic, but there's traffic on the adjoining streets. Whenever we go for a walk we have a procession of cats following us, especially Messerschmitt, our youngest.

She'll follow us anywhere, so we basically have to sneak out of the house when we walk out of the circle to avoid her running on the street after us. That'll be quite a challenge!

When it was time so settle down on the couch, Luci and Josi came up the doggy steps and got themselves comfortable - and Lana went right on her dog bed next to the couch and fell asleep. Amazing!

As of now, Lana hasn't peed in the house for the last 4 hours, but the day hasn't ended yet.

Day 2 - Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Lana woke me up at 7 o'clock, so I immediately got up and carried her downstairs and into the yard, assuming she had to go.
That she did indeed and I was very happy that she woke me up instead of doing smelly, nasty things on the bed.

I made myself breakfast and try as I might, Lana would not lay down in one of the numerous dog beds we have in the kitchen, but instead chose to be constantly underfoot, sometimes running into the living room and back.
We're used to our chis settling down and snoozing in their beds, sometimes watching what we're doing, but never constantly being on their feet.

Lana had changed her strategy towards the cats, now barking and lunging at the cats whenever they showed up. That is not acceptable so I used the old treat trick, distracted her when she tried to go after the cats, and then rewarding her when she stopped the attack. I don't watch "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet for nothing!

Every time I thought she'd realized the cats posed no real threat, one of them moved too quickly and the show started from the beginning. Sigh....
We took Lana out about every half an hour to avoid her marking in the house, but somehow she always had pee left to use on the upstairs hallway.
I'm so glad I've procrastinated the tearing out of the carpet for 2 years now!
Did I mention I have the greatest admiration for the person who invented enzyme spray?

My husband Tom and I had an early appointment for a massage and we decided we couldn't yet leave Lana alone with the cats so we put her in the spare bedroom, along with a bed, pee pad, a cheese filled Kong, and water.
When we came home, the door was not chewed through, there was pee, but not on the pad.
Another round of clean-up with the enzyme spray!

We then took the whole pack to the neighboring town since we needed some supplies from the health food store and thought it was a good opportunity to test Lana's car riding skills.
We put her on the back seat, and the 2 chis on my lap in the front.
After falling of the seat and struggling to get her back up, Lana settled down and actually snoozed the whole way.
We managed to get in a short walk since it was too cold to take a prolonged one.

Throughout the day Lana tried to sniff up Luci who became very scared and started snapping. I had to separate the two a few times since Lana just wouldn't back off.
Luci did the same with Josi when she came to live with us, then later tried to buddy up to her, so I'll give it another week or two. Hopefully, Luci will finally have somebody to snuggle up to, because Josi won't permit it.

In the evening, Tom and I went out for dinner so Lana again went into the spare bedroom. This time though she tried to get out, scratching at the door.
We ignored it and left, having read somewhere that a prolonged leaving just exacerbates the separation anxiety.

When it came down to couch time the two chis were now uncomfortable with having Lana so close. I have to respect their wishes so I tried to entice Lana to lay down in her bed next to the couch. She didn't want to at first, started pacing again, until I managed to lift her onto the bed and pet her. She finally settled down as long as I had my hand on her.

At bedtime she observed the same ritual - two pees on the hallway carpet while I was in the bathroom, then a lift onto the bed and an immediate settling in.
Tom took her out again before he went to bed, but she didn't pee.
This time she slept until 8 - success!

Day 1 - Friday, January 9th, 2009

Let me introduce myself - I live in a medium-sized town in Kansas, have a husband, a house, a yard, a job in special education, 4 cats, and 2 chihuahuas.

Chihuahuas are like potato chips - you never can have only one. We have the space for more, but we also like to ensure that our animals have the best possible food and vet care so the time has come where we decided that our financial limit has been met.

So I came up with the brilliant idea of volunteering as a foster parent for another dog at the local Humane Society - that way we could help more animals, without the enormous cost.

I didn't know how I was going to deal with giving up an animal after it has been part of the family, but I decided that was my personal problem and I just had to deal with it.

My experience with the Humane Society has so far consisted of us sending them checks and going to their fundraisers since I'm too wussy to work there. All of our animals have been rescues in one way or the other, and I deeply admire the work the people at the shelter do, but I just can't stomach all of the things you see there every day.

Fostering is one way to help without actually having to be at the shelter so we went for it.

I applied for a license with the state and got it very quickly. Then we waited for a home visit from the shelter. We had been warned that it could take a while, so some time passed without us hearing anything. Suddenly I received an email from the shelter saying they were going to waive the home visit for now since they had animals that needed a foster home.

They had received 3 poodles that were seized by the state; they were older dogs and I made it clear that I loved seniors (I adopted our first chihuahua at her age of 10 and she's my baby) and would gladly take one of them.

We're stocked with doggy stairs, pee pads, heatblankets and all-natural treats that can be chewed by almost toothless dogs so I was excited when I received another email saying that a 12-year old female was in dire need of a foster home since she'd been pacing so badly that her paws were raw and bloody.

In comes Lana. I went and got her right after work, not knowing anything about her. The people at the shelter had no information other than that she was seized by the state and was up to date on her vaccinations.

She wasn't spayed, she was very smelly, and had bits of poop on her fur, but at least her nails were clipped and her coat was shorn. I was given a bag of dry dog food and the adventure began.

Lana willingly went with me to the car where I gave her some duck breast jerkey which she ate on the spot. The car ride lasted only 10 minutes, and she was very relaxed, alleviating the worry that she would jump around and end up under my brake pedal since I didn't have a carrier large enough to accomodate her.

I let her out in the yard where she was very interested in all of the sights and sounds - that is until the cats discovered her. When she looked up, she was surrounded by 3 of them and ran towards them, wagging her tail and perking up her ears. Of course the cats didn't think that was funny and hissed at her - she yelped and ran to the other end of the yard. I then let the dogs out to meet her and that went relatively well, with Josephine, our 5-year old, being her grouchy old self and Lucrezia, the now 11-year old, being very shy and timid.

Josi defends her space and growls and snaps at anything that gets too close for her comfort, but she let Lana sniff her out, until she had enough. Lana was not that impressed with the growling and ignored it for the most part, earning a snap or two in the process.

I let Lana mark in the yard for a while, hoping that she wouldn't have any urine left to mark in the house since I assumed she wasn't potty-trained.

I was right - Lana came into the house and started peeing on selected spots that Luci, and probably every other dog that has ever lived in this house, have frequented.

Whoever invented enzyme spray should receive a gold medal!

One of the things I noticed immediately was that Lana had no idea how to climb stairs. She was very hesitant with the 2 steps that lead into the door, mastered the one step from the living room into the hallway, but then gave up on the main stairway to the second floor.

She also was hesitant to walk onto a dog bed, much less lie down on one. I just have to assume she never had one and that's sad.

But I had resolved to not dwell on the past and instead making things better in the future.

Since it was feeding time anyways I opened up the bag of dry dog food I got from the shelter. I feed my guys a diet of ground tripe and raw ground whole birds, but I didn't want Lana to have diarrhea so I gave her the dry food.

She sniffed it, tried it, and then didn't eat it.

I hadn't mentioned that she's about 7 pounds underweight and just skin and bones, so she must have been hungry. I checked her teeth and whereas the front ones showed some plaque, the back teeth were just one brown mass.

No wonder she wouldn't eat - she couldn't chew the food.

I watered down the kibble, ground it, and she ate.

I made the decision then and there to provide the food, cook a home-made diet to get her up to weight and health, then switch her a good quality wet food, just in case somebody did want to adopt a 12-year old, non-potty trained, unspayed poodle.

A bath was an absolute must, as smelly as Lana was, and she took it really well. Luckily she's small enough to fit into the sink and bathing was a breeze.

That evening Lana settled down on the couch with all of us since I couldn't get her to sleep in a bed I put on the floor next to the couch. The chis tolerated her for now and Hindenburg, the cat, even came to join us, so I thought there was hope.

At bedtime I fixed a comfortable dog bed next to my bed for her. The chis climb up the doggy steps onto the bed and sleep next to me, but Lana didn't know how to get up the stairs and I didn't know if she could hold her bladder all night. I put out a pee pad and thought she'd settle on the dog bed once she figured it out, but that wasn't so. She tried to climb up the side of the bed so in the end I lifted her onto the bed and she laid down next to my head.

She was quiet all night, once in a while lifting her head to see if I was still there.

Josephine, who sleeps under the covers next to my feet, sometimes gets up in the middle of the night to go through the doggy door into the yard, but that didn't bother Lana and all was well.