Jake helps me pick tomatoes

Jake can’t figure out why mom is so excited about all the tomatoes she picked in the month of October. He was very helpful, though.

Jake is Not as Tough as He Acts

Jake just started going to K9 Camp last week, he went through two evaluations and everyone thought that he could handle an eight hour days there. After four hours he came home tired but in a couple hours he perked right up and was his old self. Well, after eight hours last Friday he was very tired. He was walking strangely with his back legs, kind of like he was riding a horse all day. He was also licking his sore paws and drank four bowls of water Friday evening.

I was a bit worried about him on Saturday when he stopped midway on the stairs and I had to go pick him up to take him outside. He was walking like a little old man dog and very slowly. I thought we would just keep an eye on him and let him take it easy for a day or so and if he didn’t perk up by Sunday, we’d give him an extra day off and not take him back to ‘boot camp’ until Tuesday.

He did perk up on Sunday and I decided to take him to camp from 9-1pm, a half day. He did pretty well. He didn’t bark when I dropped him off, which was noticed by all employees. 😉
They call him “Noisy”. Since today was a rainy day, they brought the dogs inside and Jake was in an enclosure with about 20 dogs of his size or a little larger, not the big guys.
There was no barking when I came in the building, from any of the dogs, so naturally I thought
Jake was somewhere else. But he was right there waiting for me and pretty tired.

He gets a day off and then back on Wednesday. I think he’s getting the idea.

Summer is Over! Where did it Go?

This summer was chock full of good times for us. Our doggies had a great summer, too. No camping for them, unfortunately, as Jake still has his moments with strange dogs and crowds of people, but, lots of walkies and keeping cool inside when the temps got too hot for them.

We are hosting our famous “PastaRama” at a music festival in Virginia.

Since all the summer fun is ended, we are concentrating on Jake…again. On one of our walks at a local park, Jake and I met a couple walking their tiny Yorkie, Mattie. We let the dogs meet. Mattie snarled and snapped at Jake at first and then calmed down nicely. Jake barked at her and wanted to leave. Anyway, they told me about the place they were taking Mattie that was really helping her with other dogs. I gave them my cell number in case they wanted a play date at my yard and then went straight to the K-Nine Dog Camp nearby.

While there  I was able to talk to the employees and Jake got to look around a bit. We made an appointment with a trainer for an evaluation which we did yesterday. The trainer was great with Jake. He tried to ease him into the place using non confrontational dogs, one at a time, and on an anxiety  scale of 1-10 Jake went from an 8 to about a 3 in an hour’s time. We soon realized that I wouldn’t be able to leave Jake there that day and they wanted another eval from the owner. The trainer felt pretty sure that Jake would improve after another couple short visits, supervised, of course. They had just had a recent nutcase, Oscar, a small terrier type, who acted very much like Jake did, and he was now part of the group of dogs and calmed down tremendously. Oscar was part of the evaluation and got along with Jake, no trauma.

This center has been the only place where they didn’t want to dump Jake in a yard full of all sizes of dogs without a thought to how to introduce him to the experience. I never felt good about any of the other places I checked out. This place is really concerned about each dog there and they have lots of employees that are actively involved in the care. They also have cameras focused on all the areas that you can view from their website!  How cool is that?

Snuggling with Jake

Self Portrait with Jake

Heat Wave

I waited as long as I could to give Jake and Gillie their summer cuts. They are so cute and the short, short hair is so soft and silky. They really do look alike now and I guess I’ll have to weave them more distinctive collars. I think I’ll go with a flag motif for Jake and Gillie will get something girlie…when I get some free time to weave.

Jake Report…

Jake is settling down more and more. It has taken a couple of years to realize how much progress he has made.  He is still ‘Jake’, but now he lets lots of things slide, like most noises outside the house and our neighbor’s activity when they are in their yard. It’s more of a learning experience for us than for Jake.

He was getting some “Bed Aggression” recently so we solve that by not allowing him on our bed, problem solved. He has to work for most things he wants. Sit, stay, before eating, going outside, going for walks, etc. He’s still a nutcase but that’s what I love about him. He still wants to attack male dogs when we go for walks. Solution is cross the street, don’t make any fighting memories for him if possible.

Gillie Report

Gillie is my sweetie pie and would be on my lap 24/7 if allowed. She is getting a little more independent as time goes on and will now happily sit with Jake on the sofa while I am busy on the recliner. Her ball playing has expanded to skillfully catching them in midair, something in which Jake is not interested. She instigates wrestling sessions with Jake and they are hilarious to watch.

She still wins the prize for longest tongue on a Yorkie. She loves to snatch lettuce leaves from my garden and munch away on them.

My Garden Helpers

Jake and Gillie are helping mom in the garden.

Jake is Four Years Old!

Time has just flown by since we drove home from Janice’s with our little “nutcase”. I’ll never forget how much he whined and screeched and tore at the comfy memory foam pad in the kennel. Ah, good times. Well, he’s four years old this month and has matured some. I must admit that his crazy ways are why he’s so much fun.

Yesterday I went to Petco and bought him a new bed. He has a habit of biting holes in the bottoms of his fleece donut beds. He then removes the filling and Gillie chomps on it. They make a great team.

Since Jake is growing up, I resumed his manners training. Ever since he bit me, an accident, I’m sure, I have been insisting on calling the shots around here. He is so quick to pick up the new changes to his routine. Like when we get up in the morning we go downstairs and make breakfast. I used to let him out first to chase Mr. Squirrel. Now, doggies eat first, Jake finishes first, and he has to sit and stay in the kitchen with the outside door open before I’ll let him go out with the release word, “ok”. It’s so cute how he looks up at me while waiting for my command. Then he bolts out the door. Gillie is pretty good at this, too. I’m just afraid Jake will break a bone someday as he catapults off the porch, the sitting and staying slows him down a bit.

More later.

Jake’s in the Virtual Doghouse!

I can’t blame it all on Jake. I was careless and didn’t think before I did it. Tony and I had been out all evening and before I left the house I gave Jake a rawhide bone to keep him busy. Jake is VERY possessive of his toys, etc., and before I went to bed I decided to take it from him, so I wouldn’t find it in my bed. I blame it on being half asleep and not thinking it through. I grabbed Jake by his back with one hand and grabbed the bone with the other hand. I got the bone out of his mouth and he spun around and grabbed my other hand and chomped down hard. I guess I was lucky that it wasn’t worse but he did break the skin and it did hurt and bleed! I was mad and woke Tony up so he could help me get a bandage on my finger. Jake went immediately on my s**t list!
Here is a picture of my boo boo several days after the event, healing nicely.
For at least 24 hours afterward, I was still pretty mad at Jake, so no bed, recliner privelages for him.
I also resumed his obediance training as far as making him sit for anything he wanted, including going outside. Both dogs always sit for their meals. That means sitting and staying until released.
I have a great training book called “How to Behave so Your Dog Behaves”. by Sophia Yin. I’ve had the book for some time, but I think now is the time to really read it and follow the training tips. They really do work but must be strictly followed, the tough part.

It’s been a week since I got bit and maybe it was a wakeup call on my part. I was slacking off on my
attention to Jake’s training. He really is a fast learner but humans tend to get lazy. I will try very hard to keep up with training and to avoid situations where Jake has to be territorial. He really is a great little guy and wants to please.

Who couldn’t love this face?

Jake Sports His New Coat in the Snow.

I finally found a warm coat that would work with Jake’s harness which is attached to his leash at his chest instead of on his back. He looks so cute in it.

It’s Been Bitter Cold Here!

I just spent a few minutes rereading posts from last year and realized that a lot has changed in our doggie world. Jake is coming up on four years old and has settled down quite a bit, though, the untrained eye would maybe not agree with this. We have decided to go with the flow and accept that he is “special” in his own way.

I’ve been spending lots of time with both dogs indoors since the weather has been so frigid. The cold doesn’t bother Jake one bit, in fact, it’s sometimes difficult to get him to come inside when he’s on a squirrel hunt. Gillie, on the other hand, doesn’t like to stand on ice or snow, so that keeps me busy sweeping snow off the grass and all surfaces she might want to walk on. I don’t mind, she had a rough life with the backyard breeder and I spoil her rotten because of it. I even ordered her a pair of snow boots; they haven’t arrived yet. I hope they fit and she will walk in them. It should be hilarious.

Gillie has gotten more selective where she pees in the house now. I have been trying to train her to pee on a pad in the kitchen and on rare occasions, she does.  She has stopped peeing on the floor in the dining room, which was a big relief as it is wooden. She has also stopped peeing in the hallway on the second floor during the night when she has to go.  She mostly sleeps on our bed all night and will go down to the kitchen if she needs to. Luckily, Jake takes no notice of all Gillie’s peeing in the house and he is good as gold in that department. This is his best superpower!

I bought a new video camera before Christmas and I plan on taking lots of videos when the weather finally breaks.