Jake's First Day of School

This past Thursday was Jake's first day of school. I don't think he had first day of school jitters or anything, at least not as bad as I did. I actually considered getting a picture of him in the front yard in the traditional spot where we take Abigail's picture on the first day of school every year. Then I realized that would be, well, stupid.

When we got in the car, all Jake knew was that we were going for a car ride. He didn't care where we went, he was happy. I was getting more nervous the closer we got. I'm not sure why. Lots of things were going through my mind like, "I hope he gets along with the other dogs" and "I hope his teacher is nice". We got to the parking lot and there were 2 really cute dogs already there. You know how you look at your dog and you think he's the cutest one ever? And then you get around some other really cute dogs and they make your dog look not so cute? Yeah, that's what happened. These dogs should be in commercials with their cute faces and smooth coats. Here's our Jake, all scruffy and tongue hanging out. I had given him a bath in the afternoon (I wanted him to look his best) but he jumped in and out of the pool several times after that and didn't get brushed so his coat was having a bad hair night. The Dog Trainer (DT) came over and looked at Jake, held his hand out and patted him on the head. Ok, sigh of relief, Jake didn't bite, bark or pee on him. He passed the first test. Way to go, Jake! Other dogs got there and we went around back to the fenced in area where we would be working for the next several weeks. After we were told a few basic rules, we let the dogs off their leashes and let them "socialize". Yup, Jake was going to like this. I do have to say, Jake is a friendly dog. He wants to be friends with everyone. Even when dogs don't want to be his friend and they let him know in a rather forceful way, he just doesn't get it. I mean, why would anyone not want to be his friend? He ran around with the other cute little dogs and at one point ran to us and looked up like "hey, thanks guys, this is great" and then ran off to play with his new friends. Our dog made his first friends on the first day of school. I was so proud.

Then it was down to work. We sat down and listened to DT talk. He gave us some exercises we need to work on and, while it all made perfect sense, I kept thinking "this just isn't going to work with our dog". At one point, he asked to use Jake for a demonstration. It's a leadership exercise (I thought only people in big corporations had to do those) where you have to hold your dog on his back in your arms and keep him there. I cringed when he took Jake because I thought, there's no way Jake will do this. He's going to claw DT's face, we'll probably be sued and there goes my hopes of Jake's future in dog food commercials. DT sat down, took Jake, flipped him over and stared at him in the eyes. Who would blink first? Jake squirmed a bit but got a firm uh-uh from DT and then just stayed there. He looked away and then just....relaxed. What?? He held him a little while explaining the procedure and then let Jake go. Wow, can I really do that? Abigail and I couldn't wait to get home and try it. Jeff just took it all in I think, waiting for the class and, most likely, the whole seven weeks to be over. He just wants a dog that will behave.

We learned a few more things and then the question and answer session. We all got to ask questions and our question was about Jake chewing things. DT asked how old Jake was and I told him 11 months. DT said, "And he still chews things?" Wait, what does that mean? Is my dog exhibiting behavior that is not age appropriate? Will he have to be held back? Will he not be in the GT group of dogs someday? Ok, Cindy, reign it in a bit. DT then asked if we have enough toys for him. Jeff was sitting next to me and I could actually feel him smirk on that one. We have more dog toys than most kids have. Of course, some of his toys didn't start out that way. Like Abigail's purple slippers and the tupperware lid but after he got them, what else was I going to do with them? Now, they are dog toys. Anyway, he told us what to do when he chews on things he shouldn't. Again, I thought, ok, makes sense but it will never work with this one.

Never say never.

The very next day, Jake was chewing on something and I did what DT told me to do. About 15 minutes later, Jake had something else he wasn't supposed to have. I went through the same procedure and this time, Jake dropped it right away. Are you kidding me?! Ok, that was a fluke, I'm sure. About an hour later he got something else and again, he dropped it right away! Wow! DT is brilliant! Someone call the papers, call Animal Planet, call Oprah. This guy knows his dogs!

So, our homework this week is to do the leadership exercises we were taught. We've all been doing them with him and if nothing else, he seems to tolerate it well. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't seen Jeff do the exercises yet. I'm not sure if he's not doing them or if he just doesn't want us to see him cradle Jake in his arms and stare into his eyes.
We'll see how it goes next week.

Jake's surgery

Well, Jake survived his "procedure". He is now a neutered pup. Neutral pup? He has been rendered harmless to all female dogs.

His wonderful vet did such a great job. He calmed me, reassured me that I was doing the right thing, listened to my questions....oh, and he did a great job with Jake, too. When I picked Jake up that afternoon they brought him out with the funny little cone head thing around his neck. He warned me that when he starts to walk, if he held his head too low, the cone would catch on the floor. Basically like stubbing his toe only he would be stubbing his neck. I put him down on the floor and he looked miserable. I was sure he was accusing me in his eyes and I could swear I heard him sigh like, "ok, let's get out of here before you let them do anything else to me." Then he took 2 steps and stubbed his neck. Poor baby. On the drive home, he did something I've never seen before. He stood on the floorboard and put his head on the front seat and dozed off. Oh well, at least he wasn't looking at me with those eyes anymore. The vet said I could take the cone off as long as we were around to make sure he didn't lick his stitches (ewww) so I took it off and he slept. Yup, just slept and slept. We were going to let him sleep in our room so I could listen for him so he was nice and comfortable in the bathroom, just sleeping away....until midnight. Then he was awake. He wanted in, he wanted out, he wanted to play (sort of) then he wanted in again. He wanted to go out and potty but couldn't lift his leg or squat so he just stood there and let it go. I would have laughed at the sight of it if it hadn't been 2 in the morning. I gave up and decided I would just stay up with him. I had begged Jeff for this dog and everytime The Dog does something or needs something or destroys something, I figure I had better tend to it. Jeff isn't one to say "I told you so" or "why did we get a dog" (he's much too nice) but, like Jake, I can see it in his eyes. So I stayed up until 4:30 am when Jake finally fell back to sleep. I crawled in the bed and slept until 6.

Then it was time to get up for work and get everyone out the door. Before I left, I put the cone on Jake and put him in the bathroom. I forgot something in the closet and went back in just about 2 minutes later and Jake already had the cone off and was dragging it around the bathroom. Abigail and I tried putting it back on again, a little tighter this time and closed the door. I waited and listened at the door and could hear him moving around a bit. I opened the door and he had it off again. Since he was still bandaged pretty good, I just decided to leave it off and see what happened. Hopefully, he wouldn't chew his stitches off. When I got home, he was fine. But the cone quickly became a favorite new chew toy. A very expensive chew toy.

It's been 2 weeks now and I think Jake has finally forgiven me. Did it calm him down? Maybe a bit. He's not any smarter so he still is getting into things. Like...everything. Sooooo, he starts obedience school Thursday night. We'll see how that goes. Stay tuned.

Going through the change...

Poor Jake will have a life changing experience this week. He's getting neutered Tuesday morning. I have such mixed feelings about this. I know, like Bob Barker would say, all pets should be spayed or neutered. We don't need more stray puppies running around. However, Jake is an indoor dog and never gets out. And I know he could get out sometime but there aren't an abundance of female dogs around here that Jake has access to. The ones that are around here, aren't his type.
I have mixed feelings about it because I'm afraid it will change our Jake. What if it changes what makes him Jake? I'm pretty sure Jeff is counting on it changing Jake. Hoping it calms him a bit, settles him down. I think he's hoping it will make Jake smarter but I'm pretty sure that's not in the brochure.
I'm not a vet, but why can't they just do a little vasectomy and snip the vas deferens to make him shoot blanks? Everyone rolls their eyes when I ask this. Why do they have to do something that's so visual and will change him hormonally? I'll let everyone know how the procedure goes.....if I go through with it.

Calling Dr. Doolittle....

When I was a kid, I loved my grandpa. He stood about 8 feet tall, always wore khaki colored pants, cowboy boots, a Stetson, and, if he was dressing up, a bolo tie. He wasn't a drugstore cowboy, he was a country vet and I thought he was the greatest. When we would go visit my grandparents in their tiny, tiny town in Oklahoma, Grandpa would let me go on visits with him once in awhile. I can still remember my amazement when I saw him roll up his sleeves and put his arm inside a cow...and I mean waaaayy inside the cow. At his house, I would always check out all his really cool tools and the glass syringes with really long needles and look inside the refrigerator that was just for all his different medicines. When I got old enough, I thought I wanted to be just like him. I was going to be a vet. I eventually started reading all the James Herriott books because he symbolized my grandpa in so many ways.

Then one day I realized animals can't talk. It was one thing to treat cows and sheep, they never really seemed to care what Grandpa was doing to them, even when his arm was way up there. But I had a dog and when he was hurt and whimpering, I didn't know what was wrong with him and I felt very helpless. It bothered me that we would to take him to a vet and hope the vet could figure it all out without my dog ever saying a word to him. I decided I didn't have what it takes to deal with hurting dogs and that ended my veterinary career.

Which leads me to Jake. This past week we were walking in the park and he was being his usual nosey self. Suddenly he yelped, tucked his tail between his legs and started running off on 3 legs. He was trying his best to drag me and when I finally got him, I was sure he must have been bitten by something. We were in short grass so I didn't think it could be a snake and I didn't think ants or a bug could cause the reaction he had. Maybe he stepped on something. I looked at his paw but anytime I moved his leg, he whimpered. I kept asking him what was wrong and of course, he just whimpered. I got him home and called our wonderful vet about it and they told me to bring him right in. Abigail and I got him in the van and took off. I kept expecting his foot to swell from whatever bit him or from whatever was now lodged in his foot. If only I knew what was hurting him! The vet watched him walk, put him on the exam table and pulled and poked. I'm still fascinated by the way a vet works. Looking, checking, and zeroing in on the problem. Abigail and I kept whispering to Jake that everything was ok but I'm sure if he could have talked, Jake would have assured us that things were, in fact, not ok at all. After his exam, the vet told me that Jake had injured a ligament in his knee. What?! His knee? He showed me how everything pointed to a knee injury. Not that I didn't believe him, but I asked how a knee injury could cause this reaction and how could it happen so fast. (I think I asked that because I couldn't believe I was so far off on my own diagnosis) He said just like an athlete will suddenly start limping while running, dogs can do the same thing. Wow. I never thought of Jake as an athlete. So, 2 shots and a bottle of pills later, we left with instructions that our athlete was not to jump or run off the leash for at least a week. He's doing much better now and I'm grateful to his vet for his ability to know what's wrong with my dog by reading all the subtle signs. But I still wish Jake could tell me when something hurts.

More things that Jake does...by Abigail

Since Jake is Abigail's dog too, she wanted to be a part of the blog. So this is from Abigail:

So I am sure that if you read my mom's blog then you know that her name is Cindy. ( I think you should know ) Well I am her daughter, Abigail. Jake is my dog too. Well here are some things that he has done. ( Mostly Idiotic! )
Once there was a possum in our backyard. Jake didn't even bark! But whenever he goes outside to do his business, and he sees his shadow, He barks!!!
I think you know Freddie the Doxie, one time when he was over I invited a friend over. Well we gave Jake and Freddie nicknames. Jake was Doofus, the name sorta stuck cause the next day he was my "DoofieBaby".
I have seen that movie Marley and Me and I guess that Jake is half a Marley. Not as big, still alive, not so much of a dog that eats as much as he chews. Once he actually ate a razor blade though. Jake once chewed up my laptop, my mom's slippers and her cellphone, both of my old slippers are chew toys. Now he will trot up to my mom and she will play tug o war and then throw it, I shout go get Slipper! I could not use a small blog to describe all of the things that has ever been through my dog's mouth!

I've read that one of the worst things you can do as a dog owner is to assign human characteristics to you pet. We all do it. We take turns talking like the dog, using the voice we assume the dog would speak in, saying things we think he would say if he could talk.

Our first dog, Snoopy, was brilliant. Really. He was just a very smart dog that seemed very human. Maybe it was because we got him when I was 5 and I basically grew up with him. When I was crying for whatever reason, Snoopy would come over, sit next to me and endure me throwing my arms around his neck and boo-hooing. He wouldn't budge, just sit there and wait for me to cry it out. Then he would go about his own business. But it was as if he realized that comforting me was part of his job in our family. I always thought when Snoopy was born, a dog angel told him he would earn his dog wings after he took care of our family for a few years. I believed if Snoopy could talk, he would have let us all know that he was so much smarter than the rest of us humans. But he took great care of us for 18 years. He was always there when I needed him.

After our angel dog, we had Rosco. What a vindictive little dog. He was a daschund that really didn't like me at all. He did most things out of pure spite. He always reminded me of that cartoon dog Muttley, the dog of Dick Dastardly. Remember them? Rosco could have easily belonged to him too. Muttley always did mean things and then had a wheezy little laugh. Yup, that was Rosco.

My dad now has a cute doxie named Freddie. He's a cute little thing but his personality is something else. If you've ever seen the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Freddie would be the Frenchman that insults everyone from the top of the castle. Freddie can look at me and honestly, I hear him say in a heavy French accent, "I blow my nose in your general direction." I know doxies are supposed to be German but for some reason, Freddie is French in my mind.

Then we have our little Jake. To me, he is Mr. Haney from Green Acres. All he needs is a straw hat. I hear him saying things like "Well, folks, today I have a fine deal on a used rawhide. Why don't we sit down here and talk about it for a spell?" He never meets a stranger and if he could, I have a feeling he would want to invite everyone over for dinner or coffee. He might not be the brightest dog out there or the most empathetic but he's very loveable. And not once have I heard him insult me in French.