In 2012 I took a couple of weaving classes and my dogs were the recipients of my efforts. I made them each a new collar for Christmas and they are so cool.
It is virtually impossible to take a picture of either dog wearing the collars as the hair covers them or they just don’t stay still enough to capture a good shot. Here is Jake helping me on my laptop and you can just make out his new collar.
He is such a help…
We are all glad that 2012 is behind us and we are looking forward to a great 2013!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UremsgbuZ54&feature=youtube_gdata
Click on this link to watch Gillie and Jake practise their “catch” skills.
Since I have had “adopted” Yorkies for the last 23 years, I have had many thoughts on dogs experiencing stress, especially at holidays. My current dog dynamic is no exception. I now have two very different dogs that have their own kinds of stress that I have to learn to recognize and deal with.
My number one concern is Jake, my almost four-year old. He has his own ways of dealing with stress and I’m not crazy about them. He tends to vocalize when we come into contact with new people on the street or in my home. My actions are to pick him up. Now I know some people say I’m enabling him and he really wants to be picked up, but, hey, it works.
He also mounts his soft donut bed and humps vigorously until he sports a quite impressive erection, which he waves around until it disappears. This usually happens when we have company. I’m getting over this, slowly. I think the best thing is to not make a big deal out of it and maybe he’ll grow out of it.
I have tried to get him interested in playing ball with Gillie as a release for stress, but when I throw a ball and Gillie goes to get it, Jake just jumps on her back making it impossible to continue the game. I have settled on confining Jake to the house and playing ball just with Gillie.
I live and learn from Jake.
Gillie’s stress is managed by close contact with me. She loves to sit at my side, across my lap, on my chest, on my laptop, wherever I’ll let her perch. I’ve also noticed that she may pee in a non typical place when stressed. I think she once had a UTI that was cleared up after she was on antibiotics for something else, so I can never rule that out as a cause for house training mistakes.
I found an interesting article on this subject. http://www.webvet.com/main/2008/12/10/your-pet-stressed?xid=nl_EverydayHealthPetHealth_20121206
It’s hard to believe that we’ve had Jake for a full year today! He sure has come a long way but still has lots of “Jake” left in his personality. For his gift I ordered him a new doughnut bed from RMYorkie Rescuehttp://www.yorkierescueme.com/ourstore.asp?cat=1. He has chewed holes in his bed and tries to get the stuffing out of the tiny holes. I’m surprised that the bed lasted a year.
Poor Jake was not himself this morning; very quiet, head down, a mystery. We went downstairs to eat breakfast. Gillie was ravenous as usual, Jake, not interested. Hum.
After Gillie gulped down her breakfast we went in the living room to watch the news and Jake started throwing up. There were bits of an unidentifiable substance in it, but I could not figure out what they were. Since he had not eaten any food today, I couldn’t figure out where he could have found anything to eat.
Well, after I cleaned up the rug for the third time, I found the culprit, but I still have no idea how Jake got ahold of this! I can’t wait for Tony to get home and maybe we can solve this mystery.
Tony’s Designer Soap
The soap must have tasted good to Jake as he did some damage to the bar. Yuck. I’m not too worried about Jake because after he threw up for the last time he inhaled his breakfast and has kept that down. He is snoozing now.
I’ve been away from home the last two weekends and Tony has been in charge of the pups. He has done a great job and he swears that Gillie only pees in the dining room when I’m home, darn.
Too Cool!
Speaking of Gillie she had picked up a nasty intestinal bug a day before I left and we had to start her on meds right away. It cleared up easily, thank goodness, and she is feeling fine.
The main topic here is the huge storm that is headed right for us and since it is slow moving, will be around for some time. Jake started to get aggitated with the wind sounds and would growl and bark at the front door. I got the bright idea to put his ThunderShirt on him and it worked! He is now at my side, quiet, and hopefully will be snoozing soon. Gillie is sitting on a pillow like a little queen and doesn’t seem to be bothered at all.
Jake helps me in the backyard.
Jake is quiet now so I’ll just keep the Thundershirt on him. I hope you all keep safe and are able to be at home during this weather event
I just had to brag a bit on Jake. Late last night when I let the dogs out in the yard for their final squirt of the day, Jake jumped into one of my rose bushes and started growling, barking and thrashing like he was fighting for his life! I was with my friend, Deb, and she said she saw a critter zoom out of the rose bed and under the gate to safety with Jake hot on it’s heels! Now, we get voles, but this was bigger, but not as big as a squirrel. We think it was a small rat! Brandy was pretty good at chasing furry critters in our yard and she even caught a couple voles and decapitated them before bringing the heads in the house. Nothing really compares to the force of Jake’s attack. Needless to say we had to use the front door for our nightly walk. Jake loves to spot bunnies in neighbor’s yards and try to chase them. I really think he had a good shot at killing the rat critter. He would love to have another crack at it. I now know what has been chomping on my tomatoes. Eech.
We are all posing for Deb’s camera.
Timing is everything when taking pictures of your dogs. Jake’s head tends to be a blur in most photos.
My long-time friend, Debora, from Johnson City, Texas, was sleeping over for a few days and since she is pretty handy with and IPhone, she caught this moment. Thanks, Deb!
Jake is getting better all the time at handling company to our home. He was pretty good about licking and jumping on Deborah when she sat down on the sofa. Probably didn’t seem too good to Deborah, but it was.
Take a look at the video I just got of Jake and Gillie. I’m still trying to figure out the best ways to do things in this blog, it’s not what you’d call super user friendly.
Just click on the link on the right side of this page that says Jake and Gillie have some fun.
Jake's and Gillie's Blog 