LaLa's Story: Part 1

My avatar and the title of this blog feature my rescued buddy, LaLa.  I first learned about her in an email, which described as shy, nervous, and afraid of men.  BINGO!  Time for me to go into action!  I'm a tall, thin guy that has physical characteristics that dogs can have issues with; beard, glasses, etc., plus I usually wear a hat.  Due to this, I tend to get these types of assignments.  I'm able to assist with desensitization and begin the process of positive generalization in dogs that fear men.  Also, my wife volunteers at the shelter as well!  If a dog is afraid of me through the kennel door, she can lead them out and eventually introduce the dog to me.  That's exactly what we had to do with LaLa.

We worked with her a few times and decided that we were going to foster her and help her get used to a variety of things.  La was picked up as a stray so we didn't know much about her background, but it was easy to connect the dots.  What really broke my heart was La's reaction to the first sit command (my hand signal for this command is STRONG looking).   After saying "sit" in a happy and excited voice to her, while using my hand signal, she ran from me and cowered in the corner of the run.  It was evident that someone had hurt La in her previous life.  Quite simply, I had to help.  Abusing an innocent being is a horrific act...  seeing a dog react in such a fashion makes me feel very angry toward the unknown individual or individuals that could do such a thing.  Instead of being angry, I try to turn that anger into something positive.  In this case, fostering LaLa and then adopting her.

LaLa did really well on her first car ride with me, but she was naturally nervous.  She also did well meeting my three resident cats!  YES!  That always makes things much easier.  She was even wonderful during bath time!  Then again, not every dog gets bathed by a dude wearing Super Mario jammy pants. 

I'll write more about LaLa in the near future.  She owns a HUGE chunk of my heart.  I simply want to share her story.  She even plays a part in how I ended up at 2old2play, where I've been meeting some wonderful people. 

Thank you all for being so welcoming.  Gaming is how I get rid of stress and I've been missing it for the past couple of weeks.  Waking up after a good Halo session feels really great.