Lola
Lola Palola. Lola Canola. Lolie Guacamole.
Lola’s a charming black pug with an expressive little face and lots of character. She’s going to be seven years old on September 11th or 12th. (They think she was born on the 11th, but the breeder said the 12th to avoid the negative connotations associated with the 11th.)
My Dad and Merle were inspired to get a pug by a pug named Chiquita on a reality show. And they’ve been inspired by Morty to add a bulldog to the family in the near future.
Merle takes Lola for many long walks each day, so she’s fairly svelte for a Pug. Apparently they tend towards obesity. She’s one foot tall and weighs 25 pounds. (Maybe 26 by now, since she quickly figured out that I was the weakest link where food was concerned, and she took full advantage.)
A smart little dog, she taught me a trick. If she stared at me long enough and earnestly enough, with her head tilted at a certain angle, and her brow furrowed, I would go into the kitchen to get her a treat.
I taught her a couple of tricks too.
I would get her to lie down, and then I’d put treats on each of her front paws. She would wait patiently until I told her she could eat them. (GC’s dog Logan still struggles with this one. He tries so hard not to look at his paws, because if he sees the treats he can’t help eating them immediately. I think Pugs may be better at delayed gratification than Golden Retrievers. Or maybe Lola’s just better at it than Logan.)
Sometimes I had her wait in the kitchen while I hid a treat in the living room. When I gave the signal, she’d come out and find it. Logan is better at this one. He uses his eyes and his nose together to find it. Lola will get better with practice, just like Logan did. But one thing that impressed me was if I pointed at the treat, she would go straight to it. My old dog Sam, even though he was a brilliant border collie, never figured out the whole pointing thing. Whenever I pointed, he’d stare dumbly at the tip of my finger.
Dog cookies are good, but Lola’s idea of special treat is a peeled baby carrot. She also loves frozen grapes, but she’s not allowed to have them anymore because grapes can cause renal failure in dogs.
The next best thing to eating is watching someone else eat. She loved watching me eat my ice cream in the evenings. She sat beside me and followed each spoonful from the bowl to my mouth. Every morning she watched my dad eat his peanut butter bagel; he always saved the last bite for her.
Lola’s other favourite thing is bedtime. My dad and Merle don’t sleep much. I think they spend only about four or five hours a night in bed. They supplement that by falling asleep in their chairs while playing computer games or crocheting. Sometimes Lola goes to bed by herself. One night she crawled in with Deb and me, burrowing down under the blankets with the feet. She only stayed a few minutes, but it was fun while it lasted.
I introduced Logan and the lovebirds to peeled baby carrots when I got back, and they like them too. Duncan, not so much.
Anyway. It was nice having a surrogate pet to love while I was away from home. Especially such a sweet one.
Oh, my beagle Betsy cannot delay gratification AT ALL! Once she sees the treat, it is all over – drool forms and she bites for it as soon as it is within reach.
Visiting is fun, but isn’t it great to be home again?
Lola keeps looking for you – she misses you and of course your treats very much. We miss both you and your sister very much. Thanks for the visit
Cute! Nice that you learned a trick
Signed,
Finola Granola Cola Guacamola….
I saw a show on TV recently where they did delayed gratification experiments with children and momkeys to see who’d be better at it. The monkeys learned really quickly that if they didn’t gobble up their treat they’d get more treats in the end. The children found this impossible. They just kept gobbling up those treats right away. They kept doing it with older and older kids and it wasn’t until they were about 9 or something that they finally were able to restrain themselves as well as the momkeys did.
Hey Xup, how old were the monkeys? I bet developmentally they were the same “age” as the kids when they figured it out. I firmly believe in all that will strengthening they do in waldorf and enki early childhood programs for just that reason.
Zoom, Lola is adorable!!!!! Pugs are the nicest little dogs going aren’t they? They’re like a bigger confident dog in a small soft squishy wriggly package. Once we move we’ll be looking for a another dog. We need a good fetcher who tolerates little boys rough housing – any suggestions?
Oh! I’m thrilled that Morty has helped inspire someone to want a bulldog! Morty inspired me to get a second one, after all…
Abby, I wonder if deferred gratification is breed-related?
Dad, I miss you guys and Lola too. I’m glad we had some time together. (I hope you keep hiding treats for her!)
Finola Guacamola, are you related to Lola?
XUP, that’s interesting. I know lots of adults who have no capacity for delayed gratification too. I’d be curious to know if Mudmama’s theory is right, that the monkeys were at the same developmental stage (or older) than the kids.
Mudmama, Lola has completely charmed me into being a pug lover. In the past I thought they were kind of ugly in a bug-eyed sort of way, but now I love their expressive faces and their friendly, quirky personalities. I don’t know if pugs fetch, but Merle says Lola is excellent with children. And GC says golden retrievers are excellent with children AND they fetch.
Hella Stella, my Dad and Merle have been following Morty’s exploits on your blog from the beginning, and I guess over time he burrowed his way into their hearts. (It must be his irresistible face and bum.)
Hi
My buddy in Toronto has a Pug. he is hilarious. One time while we were there I sent him a bone almost as long with him with about 2 oz of meat on it. The pictures she got of his enjoyment are priceless.
I met an 8 month old Bulldog (Fletcher) at the vets the other day…I now see the attraction. Merle and Dad, the owner said they aren’t good for walking long distances though. Sweet personality. I was also not a pug fan till I met Lola…she really is great.
Next post about the surrogate GC. Heh, heh, heh, heh . . .
We have a fawn Pug named Lola. She has taught us many tricks. At 19 months, she still gets a treat every time she goes potty outside. If we fail to give her one, she throws her head back and howls at us.