Videos and pictures

Here are some recent videos and pictures of Lava (Baklava).  He continues to be a wonderful fella!  He loves his foster "brothers" and foster family (Mom, Dad and Daughter).

Lava is a gorgeous guy.  He sheds minimally and will need regular grooming.

He enjoys being outside and loves to sit in the fenced yard watching the world go by.

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Life with Lava

Life with Lava is good.  Very good.  He's a fantastic little dog, and is one of the best fosters we've had.  I know there's someone out there for Lava, so I thought I would spend a little time describing what life is like with Lava.

(BTW, Lava is short for Baklava!)

One of the first things we do in the morning is eat breakfast.  When Lava first came to us he was very adamant about not sharing his food with our two dogs.  I still separate Lava from my dogs at mealtime with a gate, however he's made a lot of progress.  Until recently I would put Lava on his side of the gate alone, and my dogs and I would go to the room where the food is and I would load up the bowls, leave two bowls for my dogs, and bring Lava his bowl on the other side of the gate.  It's not quite that way anymore. Now Lava comes with my dogs into the room where my two guys eat.  I fill my dogs' bowls first and they immediately start eating, and Lava waits patiently while I fill his bowl and then we walk to his side of the gate to eat.  He doesn't go after my dog's food.  There's no growling.  It's almost as if Lava just wants to see what the process is! 

After breakfast the dogs love to run around in the yard and take care of business.  Lava never has any potty accidents in the house.  The dogs run around and play while I get ready for work.  They come in nice and tired, and settle in for the next 5 hours while I'm at work.  I don't crate Lava while I'm gone. I did crate him in the beginning, but now that I know how well he gets along with the other dogs and I'm confident I won't come home to a present waiting for me on the floor, I'm okay with leaving him out of the crate.  But an even bigger reason I don't feel that I have to crate him is that he doesn't chew on things he shouldn't. There are lots of chew toys all around the house and he plays with them all the time.  No worries that I'll come home to a chewed up couch, although he does like paper.  He'll grab a Kleenex or a paper towel if he can get one, but that's about it for things he shouldn't chew.

Once we're all home from work, Lava is content to be in the yard watching birds and waiting for dogs on leashes to walk by the yard.  He runs from one side of the house to the other so he can see the dogs coming and going.  He does bark, but I don't have any problems with that.  He should bark at strangers walking by!  Makes for a good watch dog.

Lava enjoys going for walks.  He does pretty well on a leash, and makes lots of stops along the way as he gets to know all the smells of the neighborhood.

Lava's challenges when he came to us were protecting his food, and whining and barking when he's in his crate.  The food issue is a no-brainer.  If you adopt Lava and you have a dog(s), please continue to separate them by a door or a gate.  No big deal at all.  Regarding the crate, he's reacted differently at different times.  When my dogs are in the same room and he's in his crate, he doesn't howl or bark.  He seems to be comfortable just having other dogs nearby.  If Lava is by himself, he's much more likely to howl and bark.  So if Lava is adopted by someone who doesn't have any other dogs, it will take time and patience in the beginning to deal with crating.  I wouldn't recommend not crating Lava, or any dog in the beginning.  But with time and patience it can be dealt with.  If you live in a single family home and he barks and howls in the crate, it's not too big of a deal.  It's something to think about more carefully if you live in a condo or apartment because neighbors would be able to hear him.  Time and patience.

Lava fits in very well with our dogs.  He adores them, although being seniors they don't play as much as Lava would like.  But he's content to run around the yard, go for walks, look out the window, chew on his favorite chew toys, and just chill.  He's a super sweet boy!

Please enjoy these photos and videos.  And thank you for considering a rescue dog and for taking time to learn about Lava!