How a Rescue Dog Healed My Heart

Squirrel chaser.  Heart healer.  Personal body guard.  Belly-rub lovin’.  Rescue dog.  Lila Blue.

Every day on Instagram, I get messages about Lila Blue.  When she’s in a picture y’all like it ten times more! Y’all love Lila Blue as much as I do and that makes my heart happy.  The people have spoken and they want to see more of Lila Blue.  So much so that Lila Blue now makes daily appearances in my stories on Instagram and y’all can see her adorable true spirit.  Lila Zoomies and all.

I get a lot of questions about Lila Blue, so in honor of her Got Ya Day today, I’m answering the questions I get asked the most.  Happy Got Ya Day, Lila Blue, we love you!

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Is Lila Blue a purebred?

Lila Blue is a rescued breed.  🙂 I don’t know much about purebred dogs {or honestly care if they are}.  I’ve always had a heart for the ones that need a home.  For me, I’d never pay tons of money just to have a purebred dog when there are so many animals that need a home.  That’s just my humble little opinion though.  However, you can find purebred dogs at the shelter, I’ve seen them there.  Rescue pets are the best. I had no idea what kind of dog she was when I saw her the first time, but we were told that Lila Blue was likely an English Setter when we adopted her.

I’ve had a few friends on Instagram tell me they think she is part Great Pyrenees and part English Setter.  I did a little research and I agree that she’s got a little of both breeds in her.  Great Pyrenees are beautiful giant breeds that were once used to work the fields and protect the sheep and livestock on farms.  They are protectors that love their humans and will bark at anything they think may be a threat.  English Setters are hunting dogs and great protectors.  They are very friendly animals, great with kids and they need to be around their people.  As puppies they are very energetic, but will calm down when they mature.  Hyper = Lila Zoomies.

How did you get Lila Blue?

I honestly wasn’t looking to get a dog when I found Lila Blue!  Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks kept trying to get me a dog (rescued, of course!) after our dog, Penny Belle, passed away.  Each time I’d tell him no because my heart couldn’t bear the thought of getting a new dog so soon.  A family friend that devotes her time to saving as many dogs as she can, we will call her the Rescue Angel, posted Lila’s picture on Facebook.  Lila had been surrendered to a high kill shelter and the Rescue Angel was trying to get her pulled and into a rescue.

I saw Lila’s picture and something about her big brown eyes…I couldn’t stop thinking about her. My head kept saying no, but my heart wanted to know more about that freckled face pup.  After talking to Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks, he agreed to find out more information.  I contacted the Rescue Angel and the next day we unexpectedly became emergency foster parents to Lila Blue!  It was Super Bowl Sunday and we were suppose to foster her for a week until a transport could be arranged for her to go to a rescue in Pennsylvania.  That adorable freckle faced rescue dog came to me unexpectedly, but she was meant to be my girl and along the way, she helped to heal my heart.

She’s got a lot of hair… how do you deal with that?

Yes, she does! So. Much. Hair.  I’m constantly sweeping and I vaccum weekly.  I always have hair on me, so I just call that my glitter. 😉

Her hair is so long and it has to be brushed each day.  If it’s not brushed, she gets little knots in her hair that are hard to get out, especially around her tail and ears.  She doesn’t mind getting brushed though, so that’s good! Her grooming routine requires two brushes.  First, I use this dematting comb that gets out any tangles and pulls out the loose hair.  This also helps with the shedding!  Next, I use this porcupine brush to finish and it pulls out any loose hair and keeps her coat stay soft and shiny. This one is her favorite and she really thinks she’s being pampered during her brushing sessions.  Adorable.  For bath time, I use this special shampoo formulated for white and light coat dogs, which helps to keep her vibrant white coat soft and shiny.

How did you train her?  Did you put her in any classes?

I taught her how to sit, lay, shake and stay all in a few days.  I used treats to teach her what I expected of her.  I’d say a command and when she finally did the command she would get a treat. This was a repetitive practice until she finally realized the commands would involve a treat.  If she didn’t do the command right, we’d start all over again.  That meant it took longer to get a treat and she quickly figured that out.  She wanted to please, so with lots of repeated practice {and treats!} she learned what we expected. We also put Lila in training school at our local pet store with private lessons, which did wonders with her.  That really helped both of us learn how to train her the same way and it was a great bonding experience together.  After a month of lessons, she graduated and her behavior improved so much from those lessons.

With any dog, you have to teach them what you expect of them and reinforce that you’re the leader. When they do what you’ve asked, reward them with a treat or praise.  These bite-sized mixed berry treats were what we used to train Lila Blue, she loves them and they smell delicious!  They’re all natural flavors and they were small enough to use as a quick reward.

Does She Get Along With Your Cat?

She had to get use to Louella Mae because this was a major deciding factor for us. She’d bark non stop at that little cat and chase her all around the house.  They didn’t get along in the beginning. One weekend when Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks was at work I made a break through between both of them.  I put Louella in a room where Lila could see her through the glass doors.  Lila would bark nonstop at Louella and each time the barking stopped, they each got a treat.  For hours we sat and did this {I’m sure my neighbors loved that!}  until finally Lila accepted her and no longer barked at Louella!! Proud fur momma moment right there!

They’ve accepted one another, but they are not fully best friends yet.   I keep a close eye on them playing because Lila likes to wrestle and I never leave them alone together.  Louella Mae tries to ignore her when she can, but Lila loves to try and play with her.  Maybe when Lila is fully mature they’ll be best friends.  Cats and dogs can be friends, it just depends on the personality of each animal.

Your pets have interesting names– how did you pick them?

Haha!  I get this question all the time!  You know, I didn’t really think to much about their names, but I guess I can see how those names are different.  In the South, it’s not that uncommon to have two names and I just liked that tradition for my fur babies.  When I adopted Louella Mae, that name just popped in my head and I had never heard anything like it before.  She just looked like a Louella Mae.  My mom and the lady at the adoption place thought it was an interesting name choice, but I think it’s simply Southern and perfectly unique.

For Lila Blue, I wanted a name that started with an “L”.  I’m that fur mom with the matching first initials, I guess.  I had watched a movie and the main character was named Delilah and I liked that.  So Lila is the short version of that name and I just liked how regal her name sounded as Lila Blue.  She just looked like a Lila Blue.  I told the Rescue Angel if we kept her, I was going to name her Lila Blue and I asked if I could call her Lila instead.  The Rescue Angel smiled at me and said, “I love it, you do that!”.  Of course when we name an animal you’ll keep it… she learned that her name was Lila pretty quick, too.

Lila is the happiest dog I’ve ever seen!  She looks like she loves to play!

Oh my goodness is she a happy dog!  Her smile makes me smile and it can instantly change my mood.  People have messaged me to say they were sad, but watching her on stories made them feel happy and changed their mood.  Other people tell me they feel like they know Lila Blue!  How cool is that?!  She has a way of doing that for people, she truly is a heart healer for all of us.  And yes, she loves to play!  Her favorite thing is to run around in the backyard with her football and frisbee at the same time.  The frisbee circles around her head and it’s hilarious.  We spend a lot of time out there playing together.  Toys don’t last long around here, but she loves to play with all of them.  Her favorite toy is Pinkie, a pink unicorn that she pulled the horn off and she loves to cuddle with it.

Adopt a Pet, Save Two Lives

If you’re looking for a pet to add to your family, please don’t shop, ADOPT.  Adopting a pet ultimately saves two or more lives: the animal you’re rescuing AND that adoption opens a spot for another animal to find their fur-ever home.  Through adopting an animal you’re giving her a second chance at life and the opportunity to know love.  You can teach an old dog new tricks and a rescue pet has so much love to give to you.  They are not broken, they just need love, and you can help make a difference for one of the many animals waiting to be adopted.  Also, if you can’t adopt, consider fostering an animal until they can get into a rescue.

We saved Lila Blue’s life and I cannot imagine her not being a part of our family now.  That beautiful soul, that is loved by so many, may not have made it to her first birthday or gotten the chance to make hundreds of you smile every day if it weren’t for an unexpected Facebook post one cold February day. Choose life.  Adopt a pet.   While you’ll think you’re saving that rescue animal, in the end they save you.

Here is the picture I saw of Lila Blue and a picture of her now.  From scared, sad eyes to a happy go lucky girl with a sparkle in her eye.

Do you have a rescue pet?  I’d love to hear all about it in the comments or connect with me on social media!  Use the hashtag #sweetsouthernoaks on Instagram to share inspiration from the blog. As always, feel free to find me on Facebook or Instagram. I’d love to chat with you about all things home décor! You can also pin with me on Pinterest for even more inspiration for home décor, recipes and more!