Well, here it's February and I'm just now posting about Jake's second Christmas with us. Either we've been very busy or Jake just hasn't been that interesting. I think, mostly we've just been very busy.
Jake's first Christmas last year was kind of like having a toddler around. He didn't really get what was going on. A tree was in the room but he didn't really even seem to notice it. This year, Jake was the equivalent of a 4 year old. He saw the tree, knew something was up, and he was all nose and paws around it. He couldn't help himself, he just had to check it out!
When we first put the tree up, Jake walked by it and would take a quick side glance at it. He made a circle around the room and walked over to it again, this time a little closer to the tree. By the fourth lap, he actually rubbed up against it a bit but kept walking. I didn't say anything yet, I wanted to see where he was going with the next lap. The next time around, he kind of crouched down and walked under the tree. I didn't know what was up with that. Then, one more lap and he tried to crawl all the way under it. I don't know what kind of dog instinct led him to do any of this but it was interesting. All in all, it took him about 5 minutes to make all these laps.
After the tree was fully decorated and we started putting the presents under the tree, Jake got a little more bold and nosey. We would occasionally catch him running up, grabbing a present and running off with it. So fast! Then we would chase him around the room yelling, "Leave it!" (the command we learned in doggie school....he still doesn't know what it means) and eventually we would pry the slightly soggy gift out of his mouth. I only had to rewrap one present this year. On the other hand, he stole several ornaments and destroyed 3 of them. We would walk into the living room and see part of a snowman here, some pieces of felt over there. We would eventually figure out which ornament it used to be. Years ago, I bought a metal ornament shaped like a Christmas tree and had 5 glass bells hanging from it. I would put it on the bottom center branch of the tree so I could hear if Abigail was getting too close. She never did. This year I put it up so I could hear if Jake was getting too close to the tree. Even though he still snagged a few ornaments, the little tinkling of the bells usually sent one of us running and we saved many more.
So on Christmas morning Jake got to open a couple of presents too. Abigail insisted on buying him a couple of new toys and she did a pretty good job picking them out. The first one was a rawhide that's about as big as his leg. We thought it might keep him busy for awhile. She also picked out this rubber toy with a rope through the middle of it. Two of his favorite chewing items. I can report that he has chewed the rawhide in 2 but he still has both parts around here and he's working on them. The rubber toy no longer has the rope through it. He managed to chew the knot off and pull it out, but he still likes the little rubber thing.
The day after Christmas we took the ornaments off and put the tree up. I think Jake is still pouting about not having that little corner of entertainment in the living room. Next year we're going to save ourselves a lot of trouble and just put up rawhide and chew toy ornaments.
Jake's first Christmas last year was kind of like having a toddler around. He didn't really get what was going on. A tree was in the room but he didn't really even seem to notice it. This year, Jake was the equivalent of a 4 year old. He saw the tree, knew something was up, and he was all nose and paws around it. He couldn't help himself, he just had to check it out!
When we first put the tree up, Jake walked by it and would take a quick side glance at it. He made a circle around the room and walked over to it again, this time a little closer to the tree. By the fourth lap, he actually rubbed up against it a bit but kept walking. I didn't say anything yet, I wanted to see where he was going with the next lap. The next time around, he kind of crouched down and walked under the tree. I didn't know what was up with that. Then, one more lap and he tried to crawl all the way under it. I don't know what kind of dog instinct led him to do any of this but it was interesting. All in all, it took him about 5 minutes to make all these laps.
After the tree was fully decorated and we started putting the presents under the tree, Jake got a little more bold and nosey. We would occasionally catch him running up, grabbing a present and running off with it. So fast! Then we would chase him around the room yelling, "Leave it!" (the command we learned in doggie school....he still doesn't know what it means) and eventually we would pry the slightly soggy gift out of his mouth. I only had to rewrap one present this year. On the other hand, he stole several ornaments and destroyed 3 of them. We would walk into the living room and see part of a snowman here, some pieces of felt over there. We would eventually figure out which ornament it used to be. Years ago, I bought a metal ornament shaped like a Christmas tree and had 5 glass bells hanging from it. I would put it on the bottom center branch of the tree so I could hear if Abigail was getting too close. She never did. This year I put it up so I could hear if Jake was getting too close to the tree. Even though he still snagged a few ornaments, the little tinkling of the bells usually sent one of us running and we saved many more.
So on Christmas morning Jake got to open a couple of presents too. Abigail insisted on buying him a couple of new toys and she did a pretty good job picking them out. The first one was a rawhide that's about as big as his leg. We thought it might keep him busy for awhile. She also picked out this rubber toy with a rope through the middle of it. Two of his favorite chewing items. I can report that he has chewed the rawhide in 2 but he still has both parts around here and he's working on them. The rubber toy no longer has the rope through it. He managed to chew the knot off and pull it out, but he still likes the little rubber thing.
The day after Christmas we took the ornaments off and put the tree up. I think Jake is still pouting about not having that little corner of entertainment in the living room. Next year we're going to save ourselves a lot of trouble and just put up rawhide and chew toy ornaments.
