Little Lola May - Not Exactly a Foster

Little Lola May came to us in early May from Brooklyn ACC. The process of picking her up was far from smooth, but I knew from the second that I saw her, that there was no way I was letting her spend another minute there. Weighing less than 3lbs, it was clear that the tiny 9 year old Chihuahua had recently had a rough go of it. Yet, despite being severely underweight, with pneumonia and a mouth of infected teeth, all Lola wanted to do was love and never ever wanted to be left behind. There was no vet at the Brooklyn shelter that day and they were not going to release her to me, as she had not been given her rabies vaccine (even though my pick-up had been planned days in advance) but I refused to leave without her and eventually they agreed to let me drive her over to the Manhattan shelter so that she could get her vaccine and finally go home.

A still very skinny Lola May, settling in to her new surroundings

The first few weeks were not easy - even a tiny dog can make a heck of a lot of noise when they have a nasty case of kennel cough and pneumonia! There were a few trips to my vet and many more sleepless nights with a steam vaporizer and a jar of honey (both are a HUGE help when you have a dog with KC). But each day she put on another ounce or two and eventually the coughing and sniffling stopped enough that we could get her in to the rescue vet to have her teensy teeth cleaned and the badly infected ones pulled.

Honestly, one of my biggest fears with having such a tiny dog in our home, was that Maximus or Rhea would accidentally smush her. Or that they would think she was a rodent and try to hunt her. 101 awful scenarios ran through my head, so while I was at work, Lola spent her first week hanging out in the dressing room off of our bathroom. Thankfully, both of our dogs took to her like fish to water and her big brother loves having a new friend to cuddle with.

Lola and her big brother during her first week with us

After seeing how well she got on with the other dogs, I just couldn't imagine ever letting her go. It became pretty clear that Lola was going to be a foster "failure" and would spend the rest of her days with us.

Living in the lap of luxury

Not even two months after first bringing her home, we officially adopted Lola May. She goes to brunch (and just about anywhere else that she is allowed) with her mom and even accompanies her family out for long hikes in the woods. Don't let her tiny size (or wobbly back legs) fool you! This little girl is ready for just about any adventure you put in front of her.

Hiking in the woods with my dad!