Success Story: Lily the Border Collie

Meet Lily, a Border Collie owned by Jennifer LaRue and her husband from Frankfort, KY. Her story demonstrates the calming effect of CBD oil when combined with a consistent behavior modification program (and a loving mentor, Tanner!).

Lily’s Origin Story

Lily is an 11-1/2 year old, tri-color Border Collie. We had met her a couple of times when she was a puppy because she lived next door to my brother-in-law, and we thought she was absolutely adorable. We always remarked how similar she looked to our own tri-color Border Collie, Tanner, who was two years old at the time. 

When she was seven months old, we received word from my brother-in-law that her owners were getting a divorce and, because they couldn’t find Lily (who was then named Fritzel) a good home, had decided to have her euthanized. We were utterly horrified and my husband drove three hours to go rescue her from an unfathomable situation.  

When this sweet, terrified pup arrived at our house, she was absolutely overwhelmed. She was so scared that she wouldn’t eat without being hand-fed, and we spent the first few weeks convincing her that she was safe with us. Once she realized she was safe with us, she was able to enjoy playing fetch, taking long walks, and wrestling with Tanner. It was a slow, steady progression, but she is now an incredibly sweet dog with excellent manners, however, she never fully outgrew her tendency toward noise aversion. 

Behavior Modification and a Loving Mentor

Lily was quite a mess when we first brought her home almost 11 years ago. She was very scared of just about everything, but loud or unexpected noises caused her extreme anxiousness. She was genuinely terrified and would go into a flight response with little regard to where she was going. She just wanted to get away! We worked very diligently and used consistent training and behavior modifications to finally get her to the point where she would go to the safe haven of her crate (or through the dog door to the safety of the sun porch if we were outside) instead of running.  

Tanner, our Border Collie who was two at the time, was a brilliant boy who loved to play, but had a very stable, balanced demeanor -- an excellent role model for Lily to learn from. Tanner’s guidance and our positive reinforcement allowed Lily to blossom into a loving, sweet, well-behaved dog. She still struggled with nervousness, but it was mostly in response to loud noises and uncertain situations. 

Tanner had just turned 14 when he passed away from cancer, and Lily will be 12 in February. He had been her canine mentor for eleven years. Because she often looked to Tanner in stressful situations to determine how to react, I was very concerned that she would regress or develop additional anxious behaviors.  

The main treatment I have used for her problem with noises in the past is behavior modification. However, during the week of Fourth of July, I had also used Sileo, a prescription medication that treats anxiety specifically caused by noise aversion issues in dogs. It helped a bit, but not enough to make a major impact on Lily’s response to the fireworks.

Aside from heartworm preventative, the only prescription medication Lily has been on is Sileo, which she only took during Fourth of July week. However, my other dog had taken anti-inflammatories that had negatively impacted his liver and kidney functions, and I understand the side effects of that class of drugs. I prefer not to have to administer those to Lily if at all possible. 

Enter Lolahemp CBD Oil for Dogs

I had originally purchased Lolahemp for our older dog, Tanner, to help him with some mobility and soreness issues he was having that were not being controlled by prescription medication. Sadly, my first shipment arrived on the day he died, so he was unable to benefit from CBD oil. Because I had already purchased Lolahemp, I started giving it to Lily. I didn’t want it to go to waste, and I thought it may help her through the loss of Tanner. At the time, I wasn’t really focused on looking for positive changes in Lily’s behavior. I was more concerned that she may show signs of stress or grief.

Lily is on the smaller end of the Border Collie size spectrum and weighs between 30-35 pounds.  Following Lolahemp’s guidelines, I give her 7 drops in the morning and 7 drops in the evening.

Lily showed continued, gradual improvement over the course of 5-6 weeks. During that time, she was around several sets of friends and family, most of whom had no idea she was taking Lolahemp, and we kept hearing similar observations from them, “She has really come out of her shell...She’s doing so well!...She seems so much more sure of herself...She’s like a different dog!”

Lily doesn’t have mobility issues yet, even at almost 12 years old, but her fear of loud noises would often cause her to withdraw. For example, even though she absolutely LOVES to play fetch or Frisbee, if a jet flew over (even if we could hardly hear it) or there was any loud noise nearby, she would stop immediately and go straight into the house and hide in her crate. 

We had been working on this behavior since we brought her home at seven months old. At that time, she would simply take off running. Although we were able to train her to go to the safe haven of her crate whenever she became anxious instead of running, we could never convince her that she didn’t need to go hide at all. After the combination of Lolahemp and continued training sessions with her, she will now run straight to me instead of into the house! I can then reassure her and get her settled enough that she can continue to play and enjoy more time outside. I believe Lolahemp made a difference for her. 

It wasn’t until we ran out of Lolahemp that my husband and I realized how much improvement there had been in her demeanor. Shortly after we ran out, we began to see the reemergence of some of the anxious behaviors that had gradually diminished over the past several weeks. At first, I was concerned that she may have a health issue that was manifesting delayed grief symptoms, but then I realized that the increase in her nervous behaviors began about a week after we ran out of Lolahemp. 

Lily had begun waking us up between 2:30-3:00 AM several nights a week in the past year or so. We couldn’t quite figure out what she needed, because she didn’t ever really seem to consistently need anything (like going outside, getting a drink, etc.). I had finally sort of accepted that this was her new normal as she began to age. After beginning Lolahemp, the number of nights she woke us up became less and less frequent until she stopped completely.  Fast-forward to a couple of weeks after we ran out, and guess who has been up twice in the middle of the night in the past week?    

We have just restarted her on Lolahemp, and I am very hopeful and interested to observe the transition away from this reemergence of issues. 

Lolahemp - A Choice for a Discerning Customer

The amount of research I do before making any decision that I think is important is almost ridiculous, to the point that my friends and family tease me about it. So I researched for several weeks before deciding on the right CBD product for our dogs.  

Lolahemp was one of the products that easily made my short list because of the excellent reviews from a wide range of sources. But what ended up being the deciding factors for me were the origin story of the company, the transparency in posting the lab test results, and the dedication to giving free bottles of CBD to shelters. The donation to shelters was probably the most compelling for me because it showed a genuine interest in improving the lives of all dogs, not just making a profit from sales

I would definitely recommend Lolahemp to friends and family! I believe the full benefits of quality CBD products have just begun to be recognized. I think we are really just scratching the surface with what these products can do for the health and well-being of our pets and ourselves.