What has Ms. Lanie Been Up To Lately?

I know I've been up to my eyeballs in work! I haven't had a chance to update the blog in a couple of weeks. Lanie's been keeping herself busy as always. She's no longer afraid of looking cats in the eyes and has become fond of Emma. She tries to lick Emma like Stevie does - Emma's a good sport and lets her. She doesn't even mind Lanie bringing her squeaky toys to play with although Emma has no clue what to do with a big turquoise squeaky lamb! Emma (all 17 lbs of her) is generally only interested in whether a toy might be edible.

Lanie's quite the outdoors woman - she looooves her walks and going out into the back yard. She gets so excited when it's time to hang out outside and races around the house when we come back in. She's such a goofball that I had to get a a video of her silliness:

Her buddy, Stevie, just had to have surgery on his eye and Lanie's been keeping watch over him as he recovers. She's curled up next to him on his bed having a lazy Saturday afternoon snooze at the moment. And of course, she continues her modeling career as the world's cutest underbite doggie!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

With all the snow and cold settling in, Lanie has to make sure she keeps warm when she goes out. Sometimes she goes for the more stylish look:

Other times she's sporting a more active look and is rarin' to go out in the snow and play with Stevie!

But either way, she'd love to bring her winter style to a forever family. Who doesn't need a cute underbite doggie who wears hats!

And in case you're not up on her vital stats, here's an updated adoption profile for Ms. Lanie:

Name - Lanie
Breed, Age, Gender - 7-8 year old female, shepherd/chow/heinz-57 mix
Color - Yellow/Reddish shepherd type fur with white underside on belly, legs, head
Size - Medium - 45 lbs
Energy Level - Quiet, calm, very friendly
Good with other dogs? - Yes - gets along well with Stevie and likes to greet other dogs when out
Cats? - Yes - leaves cats alone and goes around them if they are in her path or waits for them to move.
Rabbits? - Yes- though she's still not sure if she should sniff the house rabbits or run the other way
Housetrained? - Yes
Adoption Info -  Lanie is a foster dog for Rockbridge Dog Rescue. Fill out their adoption application or email tiggamiru@yahoo.com if you'd like to make Lanie a part of your family.

More Info - Lanie is a sweetheart of a dog! She doesn't seem to have had an easy life and then was dumped at a shelter because her owner didn't want to take care of her anymore. The bare patches on her ears from fly strike and/or frostbite and her curiosity about normal household items and going-ons indicate she was likely kept outside much of the time. She was also heartworm positive although she has since undergone treatment and is fine now. Lanie has adapted well to being a spoiled house dog :). She lines her bed with all her toys and plays quietly with them or brings them to you to play with her. She's very quiet and calm yet outgoing. Lanie loves to give kisses and greets houseguests and strangers by kissing them and wagging happily at them. She likes to go for walks and walks well on the leash without pulling.

What Lanie is looking for - Lanie's is looking for you! Lanie could go to a variety of homes - with another dog, by herself, with cats, without cats, etc. With her friendly and calm personality and love of walks she would be a good companion for a younger person or couple or an older one. She likes kids as well. She's really pretty good with everyone and anyone - very happy disposition.

Foster Dog Update ~ Jenny

I'm out visiting the folks this week so no Lanie pics for a few more days. She's staying w/Stevie and being pampered at a boarding resort in the meantime.

In Lanie's place we have a guest foster doggie - Jenny! Jenny is one of my fosters from Dec 2009. Jenny was one of the first foster dogs for Rockbridge Dog Rescue, which is Lanie's rescue. She's also from Rockbridge SPCA originally- the same shelter Lanie and Trixie were pulled from.

This was Jenny at only a few weeks old, snoozing on her buddy Stevie:

Look how tiny she was! And this is Jenny now:

Sixty-five pounds of spoiled rotten princess who thinks she's a lapdog :) She also believes all cats, small dogs and people faces are not clean enough and need a good bathing. She's a terror to cardboard boxes (her favorite toy) and lives for belly rubs.

Lanie will be back next week with another update but in the meantime, Jenny gets the spotlight.

Lanie the Multi-Talented PA

Lanie has been busy expanding her personal assistant job skills as she waits for her new home. After having mastered all the easy stuff like getting along with Minerva (the undisputed feline queen of the house), stepping into her harness for walks, and getting all the toys to fit in her bed while still leaving room for snoozing in same, she figured she should buff up her resume a bit.

She's begun branching out into things like general household repairs and carpentry. Pictures in the directions for the cart assembly not making any sense? Just ask Lanie - she'll figure it out:

Lanie is also trying her hand in the kitchen - I think she's been watching the Food Network when I'm not home. You'll never burn anything with Lanie in the house. She keeps a very close eye on the cooking as she works on her sous-chef skills:

But just in case those skills aren't enough to land her a forever home, Lanie is also studying to be a personal trainer. She's currently working on yoga instruction. Everyone knows that doggie kisses help you hold the poses longer!

When it comes to the Downward-Facing Dog pose, well, let's just say everyone gets into the act:

And the most surprising new skill of all - Lanie added barking to her resume on Friday! Or maybe I should say she added bark - just once. It brought us running to make sure she was okay. She was fine but quite miffed that I'd left her food bowl on the counter while the rice I'd added to it cooled. Clearly, it was an emergency necessitating an actual bark!

Lanie's busy deciding what skill she'll try next - so far it's a toss up between food tasting and professional snuggling.

Holidays with Lanie

Lanie had her first Christmas as an inside dog with her own bed and toys. No frostbitten ears for her this year! Got a great shot of her in her xmas bandana showing off her very silly underbite. My what big teeth you have!

 She and Stevie had their own tofurky roast and peanut butter biscuits and then played with toys. They've developed a routine where they steal each other's chew toys constantly. Stevie comes over to Lanie's bed and sniffs around for one to steal (he's blind, so this can take a few minutes). Lanie patiently lays there and lets him. She knows exactly what he's going to do but doesn't stop him. She then waits about 15 minutes, strolls over to Stevie's spot on the rug and steals it right back. It's very cute - reminds me of Trixie and Wyatt.

She's really got a great personality - very sweet and friendly. She sniffs over Stevie and makes sure he's okay a few times a day - he's quite elderly and she seems to understand that. She loves to go for walks and run around in the park with us. She gets the biggest grin on her face and just gallops around happily.

After Lanie had squeaked all the toys and chewed on the new ones, she fell asleep with all of them piled in her bed - a tired pup on xmas day.

Car ride - oh boy!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee - Lanie loves to go for rides ~ !

Figuring out the couch and the cats

Lanie isn't sure what to make of some things- like couches. She's been trying to figure out how to get up on the couch like Stevie does all week without success.  She could get three legs up but how to get that fourth one up there just wasn't making any sense to her. This morning she finally figured it out! She pranced happily around on the cushions for a bit...and then I had to show her how to get down ;).

Lanie also had her first Baltimore snow fall. She raced around in it and wanted to play. That gave me ample opportunity to get more pics of her awesome underbite!

Lanie discovered that cats can be approached from behind for sniffing and greeting but she still won't approach them if they are looking at her. She'll run around the house with them until one of them actually looks right at her- then it's Game Over. Same effect with a house rabbit - very timid sniffing as long as they don't look her in the eye or she'll retreat to a safe distance. Apparently there's a staring range she feels the need to stay outside of~!

Overall she continues to be a big sweetheart - gets along with everyone, very calm, likes to play but not in a rowdy way, and loves to go for walks and hang out with people. She still hasn't barked, though she worked herself up to a soft "Ruuurhhhh" when the neighbor's yorkies were at the fence barking at her. She greeted them with a happily wagging tail and big grin despite their fierceness :).