By: Linda Elward, TAPS Volunteer
Lois Lane is a 5-1/2 year-old, 44-pound, female, low-rider pit bull mix who came to TAPS over a year ago and although she came with no information, we have learned so much about her during her stay at TAPS. Lois’ story started last November when she was found running as a stray in Metropolis, Illinois, with another dog and was transferred to TAPS after no one claimed to own her. Given that she was a stray, she had no background information, but we have discovered that she is a sweet, fun, and sassy girl with lots of energy – and so much more!
I have taken Lois to my home several times, and outside the shelter, I witness a different dog every time – still a sassy dog, but a fun girl! And although Lois is well-adjusted at the shelter, she has the appearance in her kennel of being high-spirited, and extremely excited who will bark excessively to get your attention, but this is the only way she knows how to get your attention.
For starters, Lois is bursting with anticipation to go for a ride and do something fun and has a cute “snort” when she is overly excited. Lois loves car rides and prefers to ride standing on the center console of my car so she can get a clear view of her surroundings and to see where she is going. Since this is her favorite spot in the car, it is not surprising that when she was transported to TAPS initially, she broke loose from her crate to sit in the front seat. But this is not to say that she does not like to be crated; in fact, she prefers to be in a crate when her kennel is being cleaned.
Lois is a fun dog with a spunky spirit and personality. At my house, she is extremely curious of her surroundings and relishes at any opportunity to be active. When I first brought her to my house, she showed enormous interest in my swimming pool and, although it was clear she had never swam before, she quickly realized she could swim and smiled the entire time with excitement of her new found activity. From that day after, she made several trips to my house to go swimming and after swimming for nearly an hour, she would then want to go for a hike. Due to her high energy level, she would not be a good fit for adopters that are couch potatoes. And potential adopters should know that Lois can, and will, climb a chain link fence if left unattended.
With the colder weather, Lois’ future visits have been regulated to inside my house where I learned surprisingly new things about her. Since Lois has such a high energy level, I thought she would run through my house, slide across my hardwood hallways knocking over my Christmas decorations, pee on the carpet, and, largely, be too excited to be inside; however, I was pleasantly wrong! After she thoroughly inspected my house, she began to settle in and take the bones that I gave her and piled them by the back door – clearly she wanted to take them outside to perhaps bury or simply save for a later date. Also, to my surprise, she did not pee, or attempt to pee, in my house and when I said “let’s go potty outside” she got a look on her face where it was clearly evident she knew what that meant. In hindsight, this should not have surprised me since Lois always has a clean kennel and waits to go potty outside for her morning walk.
As mentioned earlier, Lois was found running with another dog, so it is presumed she is dog friendly; however, she has had several meet-and-greets with other dogs, and they did not go as well as we had hoped for as we discovered Lois plays very hard with other dogs and does not appear to pick up on other dogs’ cues to back down from play. For that reason, it appears that other dogs may not be in Lois’ future, however TAPS has not discounted Lois’ ability to be with other dogs yet because Lois may be acting like this during the meet-and-greets due to kennel stress and is willing to try another dog introduction in the future.
During Lois’ stay with TAPS, we have also learned that Lois absolutely loves all people that she meets; except small children and we have witnessed her become extremely reactive to small children that have entered the shelter. Given Lois’ reaction to small children, we believe she is trying to tell us that she may have been teased by small children in the past. Accordingly, we believe Lois lived in a house with children, although probably not well supervised children, and is potty trained.
Overall, Lois will make a great companion for anyone who is active, does not have small children (older children are okay), and would most likely not do well in a quiet home with non-energetic people. But if you are looking for a sassy, fun, well-rounded, active girl – Lois Lane would be perfect- and thankful finally to go to her forever home!
Application to adopt Lois Lane can be found by visiting our website!
