Hello there,

Lana here and boy do I have a story to tell.  So grab a cup of tea, coffee or whatever you drink, 'cuz here I go.

First, I was born into a rescue that was no longer rescuing, they were just hoarding dogs.  There was like 450 of us there.  I was locked up in a pen with a handsome English gent.  We had no play  time, no humans to talk to, it was just us.  Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened.  I done went and got myself pregnant with some adorable puppies.

Fortunately Labradors and Friends Dog Rescue found me and took me and my pups in.  My pups grew up beautiful never knowing that deplorable situation from which they came.  They just knew love and happiness for almost all of their upbringing.  They are now all adopted out and being happy dogs in some loving home.

I on the other hand, am having a difficult time adjusting to this new life.  See, during my stay at the "ranch", I never had any exposure to people.  I was soooo terrified of them. I would never bite or growl, I'm just not that kind of girl, but I was very fearful When I came to my new home, with my pups, there were lots of strange sounds  Things I had never heard before and they scared the daylights out of me.  Well one day there was a loud crash of a metal crate and I just freaked out.  I went running like crazy and not paying attention to what I was doing.  In the process of running, I broke my leg. It hurt soo bad, but I didn't trust these humans so I wouldn't let on that I was hurt.  No crying, no whimpering, I just walked around holding my leg up.  But these new humans were smart and figured something was wrong.  So they took me to the doctor and got me fixed up.

It was a long recovery, but my cast is now off.  Now, while I had my cast on I was basically stuck in a crate the whole time.  They would let me out enough to go potty or pick me up and put me the couch with my foster dad.  There wasn't a lot of fun to be had, but I guess it's what was best.   But, boy did my foster dad make up for it.

Whenever he had to take me to the vet for a check up, he would also take me to a pet store or a park and give me just a few minutes to hang out and see the world.  And the more I saw, the more I wanted to see.  My foster dad always promised me that as soon as I got my cast off we would go to the beach.  And we did.

The water was strange at first.  Other than a pool, I had never seen so much water before.  He took me to this place where the water was really calm and there was hardly anyone else around.  It was really very peaceful and made me feel good.  With a little coaxing from dad I eventually started walking in the water up to my chest.  It was really nice.

Now I am working on strengthening my leg.  I go swimming in the pool.  Look at my video of one of my swims.  I also get daily stretching exercises and I am now walking on it pretty regularly.  It's still stiff, so I do limp a bit.

I'm starting to trust people now and loud noises startle me, but don't make me run away in a panic.  I've been watching the other dogs and cats in this house and I think I am picking up some good social habits for people.  I'm not always sure what to do, so I watch them and often follow in their footsteps.  I think if I could get in to a home with dogs and/or cats I would be really happy.  I could then continue getting my guidance from them and keep learning how to interact with humans.