My poor dog

Is scared of balloons. I'd thought we'd gotten him over that, but nope. Little sister was playing with them this evening, blew one up then let it go flying across the room and Jake leaped into my lap on the couch(he knows better) in a violent shaking shivering fit. Sigh. Put him outside so hopefully he'll get over his fright, in the meantime she continues to play with her balloon.

On another note, apparently last weekend a lady at the local craft fair wanted to buy Jake! My Grandma was selling scrapbooking stuff, and for the frames she'd made I'd let her use a picture of him as an example in a pet themed one.

According to her:

A lady and her husband were walking by. They didn't seem particularly interested, just glancing over. Suddenly the woman stops, backing up and picking up the picture. My Grandma was telling her how it was an example of what you could do with it, and the lady said:

"I figured that... who's dog is this?"

"My Grandaughter's."

"Is she looking to get rid of it?"

A bit confused, my Grandma told her no...

"I'm not really into scrapbooking, but I'd sure like to have that dog."

At this point the husband had picked up the picture, and chimed in, "Yeah, that looks like a dog worth having."

So my Grandma told them "no, she loves her dog, I don't think she wants to get rid of him" and they left. The lady in the booth next to her told her she probably could have made a good sale if she'd let the dog go.

I was baffled when I heard that story, and kind of flattered too, that someone else would think that about him by just seeing one picture, lol! This was the picture:


Anyways, a Bella update: it appears that they're taking her in at night and at points during the day now that it's getting so cold. My Grandma doesn't see her coming out of the woods every morning now.

Apparently though when she sees the car she comes looking for me. She never used to run up to my Grandma's car, but since I've started befriending her she seems to have connected the car to my presence. It's interesting.

Anyways, that's pretty much it. Oh, I got hired! They said that they'd probably call me in to start training on Monday. I'll be working at the local movie theater, yay!

The Scary, Scary Car; Playdate; and Bella Again

Well, now that I'm mobile, I intend to start taking Jake places. Whether it's just to Chels's to meet up with his buddy Kali, to the beach, or for a hike somewhere, I want to be able to travel with him.

Problem being, the car terrifies him. I understand his aversion to the back of the truck(it's enclosed, don't worry, no risk of jumping out); Buck gets overly excited because he LOVES going places. Half the time Jake won't get in by himself, he has to be lifted; rather than hopping in he'll hop up to put his paws on my back and just stay like that. It's quite odd.

But I went to see how he'd do in my car, which is what I'm posting about. Note: I WILL be buying him a seat belt harness before I take him on the highway, both for his safety and for mine. Anyways, the first time I tried to get him to in I had to crawl in back first, and he'd inch in after me, pressed as close to me as he could manage. He gets very clingy in the car. I sat with him a while, then went inside and got a clicker and some ham and cheese.

I clicked him for hopping in of his own volition, and he caught onto that quickly. No problem getting IN the car now. So I shut the door, get in front with the heat and radio on, start feeding him ham and cheese. First any time, then only when he's sitting, as I'd rather him be seated while riding in the car and I want to reinforce that.

He shakes and trembles and pants and sheds visibly MUCH more than usual, whines, and is obviously stressed out. He'll take food that's handed to him, so that's a good sign.

I want to get him used to riding, even if he never LOVES it, I just don't like seeing him so stressed out. Any suggestions? When I get him a car harness I think I'll take him through McD's a couple times and get him a hamburger. A lot of the coffee places and banks and such have dog cookies to hand out now too, so that will help once I can take him along.

__

Chels brought Kali over this weekend for an overdue playdate. Jake was jazzed. So was Buck, but I wasn't willing to let him run after her and wrestle her too much because he seemed to have hurt his paw on Saturday(we took them both to be in the family pictures we were having done) when he was getting out of the truck. He was favoring it a little bit(it seems to be fine now though, so no worries).

Jake is quite a bit shorter than her...



Kali apparently claimed Jake's hole to China, lol! That hole is really deep, like a foot and a half deep by 3 feet wide... but Kali was obsessed and kept standing in it and ducking into it , like so:

I just really like this shot.
____

Continuing to gain Bella's trust. Saturday when I went over to help make some cards she was out, so I hung out with her. She followed me to the sliding glass door, and Grandma took some pictures. That made Bella nervous at first, but she didn't run away. Instead she stuck by me, and relaxed when she realized that my grandma wasn't going to come closer or threaten her. Just gives a bit of a size comparison. I'm about 5'3, so here's Bella and I.

And this is how she reacted when my grandma first appeared in the door; a less severe form of that head thing that she did when first approaching me.

She ran to me when she saw me going to my car to leave today. I hung out with her a little bit. I would steal her in a heartbeat... honestly, I think somebody needs to just whisk her away or call animal control. It was -10 this morning, I don't know about this afternoon, and she was outside. She was shivering when I was with her. My Grandma's watching to see what they do with her this winter... I'm worried for the poor girl.

Bella Update

Bella let me pet her yesterday! After walking around with her for a while and having her come up to sniff my hand once, I crouched down and she ran over to me and started wagging her tail. She's such a sweetheart, and rolled over to let me rub her belly and stuffed her nose in my face.

Pictures or it didn't happen, so here you go:
That's all I have to share, I'm just thrilled~ and that I got pictures. Isn't she beautiful? She's such a sweetheart.

New Toys!

"This is just cruel..."

Not really much of an update, but the other day I got the Jaker some new toys! I know better than to buy him squeaker balls, because as soon as they lose their squeak(not long...) he rips them to shreds. He does, however, love squeakies... and the last stuffy I let him have lasted a few months- he babied it! So on an act of good faith, I bought him two stuffingless stuffies. Isn't that contradictory sounding, lol! Anyways, one is a pheasant, and one is one of those skineez squirrels. He loves them, especially the pheasant! I had him pose for the above picture... he was not impressed, obviously!

"Must... have... squirrel... oh come ON mom!"

"I gets the squirrel! RAWWWR!"
And humoring me... I love that cross paws trick, I think it's my favorite. he just looks so dignified... hard to do with him. Anyways, that's really all I've got. I was going to take some shots outside... but I had gotten the camera, got shoes and a coat, amped up the dog...

Looked outside...
It was pitch black at 7 o clock. lol! The joys of Alaska. You get used to nearly 24 hour sunlight, then BAM! You want to go outside to do something at an hour that would have been great for it all summer and you can't see at all.

Anyways, until next time.

PS: Thoughts on the new banner? Just finished it.

This just breaks my heart.

Well, I decided to try to approach the dog belonging to my Grandma's neighbor today, after my interest was piqued by something she said.

Her neighbors have had this dog since... sometimes around July. She's a beautiful dog, definitely an ACD mix of some sort. Her name is Bella. They let her run(sigh...) and she's only let inside- into the garage- at night. You never see anyone out with her unless the kids there are on their snow machines or four wheelers. I hadn't approached her before now, but then my grandma mentioned that whenever anyone tried to pet her, she cowered and ran. It’s not as if they try to approach her to pet her, she’ll follow them around. My grandma said that it was as though someone had beaten her.

So, curious and concerned, I went outside just to see, since the dog was out in front of the house. I had expected her to cower and move away of course, but not quite to the extent of what I saw.

She spotted me and moved further away, sniffing at the pavement in the driveway across the street, walking parallel to me. I crouched for a while, and she watched me, then when she was about 40 feet away paused and just watched me. Seeing she wouldn’t come any closer the way I was, I stood and turned my back to her, walking down the street. When I moved away she sniffed where I had been standing. She wears tags so I was able to hear her get closer to me as I walked. Near the end of the street, when she was maybe 6 feet away from me, I crouched down again and shifted my hand out, careful not to look at her.

What astonishes me is the way she moved. She obviously WANTED to come closer to me; she moved forward on her own, but it was very slow, and she nearly bent in half as though to guard her side, head turned. Her tail was tucked tightly the entire time.This first round she stayed a fair distance away, so I got up. I moved too fast, and she startled and cowered. I quickly turned and started walking with my back to her again. I did this twice more, and she seemed to grow a little more confident each time. I stopped in the driveway and crouched down, and waited. This time she approached enough to sniff my hand, not touching it. She disengaged and moved a little ways to walk in an arc, sniffing the ground before coming back and sniffing again. She then sat a little ways away and peered at me. I talked to her for a moment, then stood up very carefully so as not to startle her, and stood still again. She walked over and sniffed my shoe and pants leg, then again moved a little ways away to watch me. I had to go inside then, but she followed me to the edge of the garage and watched me go.

I wish I could have taken a video of how she moved, but really watching it just broke my heart. I didn’t try to pet her, because I didn’t want to mess up what little trust she seemed to be placing in me. I think I might start doing this when I’m over at grandma’s(quite often) and see her out… I want to help her so badly.

Oi What a Week...

Title says it all, really. I've had a very bad ear canal infection all this week. Woke up on Sunday with an ear that hurt to the touch. Got done with school Monday, went straight to bed with a hurting ear and just not feeling right. By that evening it was throbbing. Woke up at 3 AM and woke my mom up in tears, spent Tuesday moaning in pain or sleeping, woke up three times that night and vomited Wednesday morning, went to the doctor that afternoon and got a lovely shot of antibiotics. Like... a gram of something which the name of I can't remember. After they debated about sending me to the hospital for IV antibiotics. I just know they kept describing how my ear looked as 'very angry' lol. The nurses were very gentle but the doctor kept poking and tugging while he examined it.

Thankfully, because of the pills and ear drops they have me taking(as well as painkillers) I am feeling MUCH better. The swelling in and around my ear has gone WAY down, as has the redness. Yayy.

Unfortunately that means I haven't done much with Jake, and the poor guy is going kind of stir crazy. He however took advantage of my illness as I let him sneak up onto the couch with me once even though he's not allowed. It was a one time thing though, lol, and Buck looked at me like 'you traitor, he's not allowed!'.

I'm behind on my writing assignments now because of it, due to immense pain and therefore a lack of ability to concentrate; however I have a REALLY understanding teacher who told me when she was emailed about the situation not to worry about turning my things in a bit late, just to get better soon and turn them in as soon as possible.

Also I start drivers ed courses on Wednesday, and before too long I should be mobile and able to get a job. It was killing me when we drove past the theater(where I would REALLY like to work) and they were taking applications. Can't apply for anything until I'm able to transport myself to and from though. Soon!

So yeah, unfortunately not much dog related to report due to illness. Hopefully I'll have something to share soon.

Training Vid

My little sister volunteered to get a video of me working with Jake a little bit. Nothing serious, I was just having him do some tricks and wanted to get a video of him heeling anyways.




His heeling certainly isn't the best, but it works for us XP And I didn't want to work hard this session. He offers eye contact all on his own so I just reward him for it. And he heels on the right because that's where I'm comfortable having him walk. This is a non-cued heel. Also at the end we're working on learning Rollover.

Freestyle

So after looking into freestyle some more(Thanks Sam/Missmutt) I've gotten rather enthused about trying to put together a routine. I'd actually looked at it before, but I could never think of a song that fit the way Jake moves in any way... or that I would want to work with. I found two that I think we would have a lot of fun with, I would just need to cut them down...

Kryptonite by Three Doors Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8gEIBs5CU

and Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsmRuRp4cM

I like the beats and lyrics of both, and they'd be easy to work with. I especially like the beat in Kryptonite... I'm torn.

I've also been thinking about tricks I could use for a routine. + means he knows it already.

Spin +
Sit +
Down +
Play Dead +
Pony +
Cross(?)+
Weave between Legs
Back Up
Beg +
Circle
Heel +

I know Spin will definitely be a key in any routine, he loves that trick. I haven't quite figured out how to easily teach that Weave between Legs... I've tried before, but he never seemed to get it. Sigh. We'll get there.

On a depressing note, my best friend's Cockatiel Snickers passed away last night. Fly free little guy...

Happy Birthday, Jake Boy. 5 Months to 2 years...

Petfinder; before February 24, 2008

Early Days

Summer 2008

Winter 2008-2009
Spring 2009

Summer 2009

Last WeekendYesterday

Today

Where to start... I can't believe he's two already. It feels pretty crazy. The way I got him isn't as dramatic and heart wrenching as others, but I do often feel that it must have been fate... my dad and I were out looking for a puppy. First we checked bulletin boards, checking for 'mutt puppies free to good home' ads... I'd already bought the little collar and a set of bowls for what I had assumed would be the eight week old fluff ball I'd bring home. It wasn't to be the first dog in my life, but the first dog to be gotten specifically for ME. I was excited. To my dismay, we found no ads for puppies. I could have waited, but we decided to check the shelter... first one had no dogs. The second, and only other shelter in the area had three.

One was a small, yappy puppy, probably around 12 weeks. He was cute, but can you blame me for being put off by the barking? Aside from that, the two across the aisle from him had my interest more.

The first was a 5 months old husky mix. Incredibly handsome, and friendly; constantly licking my fingers through the bars.

The second with a 5 month old 'shepherd mix', with sad eyes, a nubby tail. He was called 'Peanut', and I was in love with him instantly, I'll admit. I'm embarrassed to admit now that I thought he was a girl at first, but the way he sat made it hard to tell, and it didn't say on his card. One of the workers came, and we asked about both dogs, about personalities etc. Both were good dogs, they said, but they really pushed the one called Peanut. One of the shelter workers had fostered him with his brother(whom the worker kept) until he was a little older, so he knew 'Peanut' quite well. That's also how I know Jake's birthdate; the worker knew the family who had the oops litter. So we took the nubby tailed dog into a different room to meet him, and he had my heart immediately. We signed the papers, went and bought a much larger collar and a crate(that he never slept in except for the first night), and went home. He was also promptly renamed. Like I said, not heart wrenching or eventful.

But he wormed his way quickly into the whole family's heart, especially Buck's. They've bonded so much, and they're just like brothers. Buck has a ritual of almost every evening washing Jake's ears, and they are best buds.

Jake is my boy; he's smart, and fun, and he makes me smile. I look forward to living with him through many more of his birthdays.

I'm bad at writing stuff like this... but that's his story.

Today, since it is his birthday, I attempted to do a retake of one of my favorite pictures of Jake of all time...

Late August, 2008

Picture taken today, September 4, 2009Happy Birthday, Jake boy. I love ya.