Lolly

Lolly, born 2022, partially sighted, and weighing 17kg, is a very unusual and special dog. She is looking for the quiet life: an exceptional home that won’t expect much of her and just let her be. What happened to Lolly we’ll never be completely sure. She was found as a pup in Bulgaria – either she was abandoned because of a neurological condition, or she sustained brain damage after being discarded and landing on her head.

Lolly’s condition means that she behaves like an old dog – sleeping most of the time, walking at a snail’s pace, rarely moving from her spot on the sofa. She is a timid girl who likes to stick to the safe routines that have been carefully, painstakingly established in her foster home.

Lolly has always been a soft and loving dog, never having a problem being touched and stroked, and she enjoys placing her head in your lap or having a cuddle.

Lolly doesn’t ask for much. But she can’t give in the ways that most people expect from dogs – there’s no reaction when you come home; there is rarely much expression on her little face at all. Lolly’s adopters will have to be satisfied with seeing the tiny little signs of pleasure that Lolly sometimes shows – she does get excited for her supper, and she has been seen chasing foxes, but mostly the world is quite a scary place for poor Lolly: she tends to walk with her head down.

Lolly’s progress in her foster home has been phenomenal – her carers have been so patient. However, that progress has been from a very low start point: she hardly moved at all, and it took weeks to get her to go into the garden by herself. Now she’s housetrained, travels well in the car, can be left for a few hours, and is never destructive. She hardly ever barks. Lolly will react to things with wheels – bins, prams, bikes etc – but only if they come close to her. Equally she will react if excitable dogs come into her space.

There is hope that a playful but calm and respectful dog might help bring Lolly out of her shell a little, as there is evidence that she enjoyed this kind of relationship as a puppy in Bulgaria. Currently she lives with two other (older) dogs, and although she has tended not to acknowledge other dogs out on walks, she recently enjoyed the environment and introductions at a local dog show, where her gradual gentleness and sweet face won her a rosette!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzzACbFJ-E4