



Lola is a 3.5 year old, 30 lb. spayed female in Crozet, VA
We adopted Lola as an 8-week old puppy - who was already spayed - in September 2021. She is active, energetic, playful, alert, and nervous. She is housetrained but has below-average bladder tolerance, so we cannot leave the house for more than 6 hours at a time, which is problematic for our away-from-home commitments. With her energy level, I believe she needs a "job" perhaps as a farm dog, agility dog, or service dog. As a busy military family, we're unable to do that.
Additionally, she has had a very delicate stomach from birth which results in nearly weekly vomiting episodes. She is on a prescription food and we even tried hydrolyzed protein, neither of which worked. We tried putting her on prozac which likewise did not work. She is currently taking omeprazole as recommended by her vet, but that doesn't seem to impact her stomach upsetness either.
We've spent a lot of time and money at veterinarians' offices trying to figure out how we can help her, but numerous tests (fecal antigen with GIA; TLI PLI cobalamin folate; multiple urinalyses; the latest was a bile acid test) reveal nothing wrong with her. The vet's next recommendation was ultrasound imaging, which we haven't done.
She doesn't act sick - she just vomits a yellow/green liquid and then resumes life as normal. The persistent weekly vomiting makes it more difficult for us as constantly-moving renters to keep her, as well. Also, it makes it more difficult for us to visit friends and relatives, some of whom have made it known they are reluctant to allow us back if her vomiting issues persist. She also had a cancerous growth removed from her front paw when she was less than a year old. No recurrence, so far.
She loves to play and is feisty, not backing down from larger dogs. She's been to the dog park nearby and never has any issues with the other dogs there. She's fine around little kids. She's been around numerous children, and is frequently around a 3 and 5 year old girl. She gets excited and will jump up on them with her front paws when she first sees them, but it's playful, not aggressive. Plus she settles down after a minute or so. I have no concerns with her around small children.
We don't take this decision lightly. When we adopted her, we took the commitment seriously. We've dealt with the vomiting for years and spent a significant amount of money trying to fix it. But her need for more playtime or work than we can give her coupled with the vomiting issues make her a poor match for our family. We think she would enjoy life much more with a person that can devote more time and energy to her. Or, with a person that can put her to work, either on a farm or doing agility work.
Email atharman19@yahoo.com