LOLA OF ARIZONA

Sidney Hardie of Southwest Airedale Terrier Rescue (SWAT) shared Lola's story.  Lola is approximately 20 months old with severe hip dysplasia. She was on Craigslist and an alert Facebook friend let me know. Thank you, Jamie Robinson. Bobbi Procyk, our alert National Airedale Rescue internet searcher, also spotted the ad and let me know. The ad was flagged before I could get to it, but luckily the address was still in the cache and our wonderful volunteers, Bill and Debbie Carrier, live not too far away and they ran over and got her. We don’t know her origins. These people got her from a friend. The husband never wanted her because he (correctly) felt that their yard was too small. She had done some damage in the yard by digging, and the last straw was when he came home and discovered she had chewed up the garden hose. He placed the Craigslist ad and did receive several calls before the ad was flagged, but Bill and Debbie were the first to show up at his door. Unfortunately, I’m fairly sure she has a urinary tract infection, and I don’t like the looks of her hind end movement. Hopefully nothing serious, but it looks like it might be a hip or a knee.

Meet Lola

Lola is very affectionate and, even though she is filthy and matted, has obviously spent a lot of time in the house. She is about 20 months old according to the most recent owner and her life with them consisted of being either in the back yard or in a crate in the house. She wants to nose poke and play with Queen Rose, which is not acceptable to Her Highness. I am keeping them separated unless we are walking around the property together, and I am pretty sure that in a few days they will be good friends. First priority is a bath and a haircut!

Lola -Before  Bath

Lola is clean and I was able to chop most of the mats out, except for her legs. I was able to save some of her beard and I’m hoping maybe I can do something with her legs, but she is matted to the skin so we may end up having to shave them. Thank goodness for Dirty Dogz do-it-yourself dog wash – use their water, soap, blades and electricity. They clean up all the mess and help out as necessary. Lola was nervous, but very good. I also learned she is in heat! Oh joy, but that is better than pregnant!  

Ah, I smell so much better and feel better too

As I feared, Lola’s hips are just about as bad as they can be. The left is worse than the right, but the right is no prize. The left actually slips out of the socket when Lola goes faster than a walk. Luckily, she is small enough so a FHA should be successful as long as she is kept lean and well exercised. The plan is to get her through her heat, get her spayed and once she has recovered from that, make the decision about the hip. The tricky part will to be sure that the other hip doesn’t fail while she is healing from the surgery. She is already feeling better now that she is on pain meds and supplements.  

Lola's hip xray

Hanging out with Sidney's Mom

Some photos of Lola hanging out in her foster home at Sidney Hardie's place.  She sure had a great time w/Marla and Rose. Not sure if Shaggy was on the scene yet.

Lola watching Olympic Figure Skating

Love that snake!

Lola meets Queen Rose,
Sidney's Senior Girl

Checking out Rose

Lola with her new family

Here is a photo of Lola with her new family. Colette and Brian have had two Airedales before. They have a pool and are going to teach Lola to swim (supposedly the best exercise for a dog with HD), will walk her daily, take her to the dog park so she can play with other dogs, and love her totally (of course, who wouldn't?). One of their previous Airedales had such severe HD she couldn't even walk without pain. They are planning to give Lola adequan injections because they helped their previous Airedale so much. They are prepared for whatever might happen, but are delighted that for now at least, Lola has no pain and no restrictions.

Here’s an update on Lola. Doesn’t Lola look proud of herself?!

“Hi Auntie Sydney! It’s taking some getting used to, but I am starting to get into the pool. Mom and Dad have been teaching me to swim, and today I hopped in and sat in the water by myself! Of course, my buddy Orion was with me so it was easy! I hope you are doing well. Love, Lola”

Lola looks very proud of herself that
she finally got  in  the pool

Thank you, Sidney, for the great write up on Lola and the all the wonderful photos.  I had a hard time deciding which ones to use!