If you guys have been following my blog or instagram for awhile, you know my pup Lola means the world to me!  I wanted to make today’s post not just about her newly discovered favorite dog food that she DEVOURS… but also tell you about her adoption story and how we became “we”.  And at the bottom of the post… I’ll share her heartbreaking “before” photo…and how greatly she has changed and blossomed over our time together.  Keep reading!

Lola’s Adoption Story

I’ve always grown up with dogs from when I was an infant through high school and college but I had never had a dog on my own before.  I would always toy with the idea of getting a dog and always talk myself out of it because I lived in a one bedroom condo in San Francisco and living in a small space wouldn’t be fair to a dog–my dog deserved it’s own backyard!

My family and friends would always say “OMG just get a dog already!!” but for years I would deem that it wasn’t the right time yet.  Until, it all clicked one day.

I was browsing Petfinder one day (December 20th 2014 to be exact!) and ran across a dog that I couldn’t get out of my mind.  Don’t get me wrong, the adorable smiling puppies and wagging tail photos of many of the perfectly amazing adoptable dogs made my heart sing, but seeing Lola’s sad and heartbreaking photo on the site stopped me dead in my tracks.

Seeing this poor dog–scared, underweight, and alone–I knew that my “but I live in a condo” excuse wasn’t going to cut it anymore.  Whether I had the backyard or not, I was going to pick Lola up the next day.  I called my family and told them, “okay the time has come, I’ve found my little girl!”

The next day I woke up and snapped a photo of Lola’s Petfinder page before getting in the car and starting out on the hour journey to San Martin, CA to pick her up.  I remember calling the shelter in advance and saying I was coming to meet her and to please make sure no one else adopted her.  I also specifically asking if she was lap-dog sized and the girl on the phone responded, “um yeah….sure she is?” (Clearly, we can all see Lola is not lap dog sized! But I already made up my mind)

When I got to the shelter the staff lead me to her kennel and she was so adorable and happy to have a visitor come and see her!  They brought us both to and outdoor play area to “get to know each other” alone and it wasn’t exactly the love-filled moment I was hoping for.  Instead of interacting with me and playing with toys, she whined at the gate for the staff member–it was clear that she had been abandoned previously and had latched on to the staff member she got close to.  Even though we didn’t have that initial connection, I told myself I’m going to do everything I can to give this dog an amazing life.

Fast forward a couple days and we are still getting to know each other.  I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan of taking her outside to go to the bathroom multiple times a day (compared to my “backyard” fantasy…) was a total pain and we were still gelling and figuring each other out.  I remember driving together on Christmas Eve to Tahoe and on this long and rainy drive, she used her cute little nose to burrow under my hand to get me to put my hand on her head and pet her the entire ride.

Needless to say, my condo was put on the market two months later and I was in search of a house with a backyard for Lola.

I love Lola dearly (duh!) so it’s important to me that she get the best nutrition possible to keep healthy and happy–and that she loves her food too.  I’ve always fed her grain free kibble but will mix in fresh food / wet food to make it extra tasty for her.  I’m so glad when I discovered FreshPet because it gives her meals made from scratch without any artificial ingredients.  And there are whole vegetables in it too!  Lola loves her sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas and fresh meats along side it too!  She generally gets excited when I ask if she’s hungry for dinner…but now when I take the FreshPet bag out of the fridge and give it a little shake…she jumps–all four paws off the ground!–into the air in anticipation of her dinner!  It makes me happy to see her so happy!

And please excuse the iPhone photos below…these are from my personal camera roll.  On the left a photo of Lola brought in off the street (her shelter name was Sierra for a week), and on the right Lola today the most happy-go-lucky pup I know!

If you haven’t yet tried FreshPet for your dog or cat, I highly recommend giving it a shot and letting them decide if they love it!  It’s now Lola’s favorite dinner mix in! Please share if you have an adoption story in the comments!

In partnership with FreshPet, all opinions belong to Lola–she loves it!