You've got mail!

Well, maybe you don't, but Jack got some this week! From Aunt Jill all the way out in Barrington, Illinois!


(Hey look! A package!)

Guess what was inside!



New Chuckits! Two of them! Yay!

And a really nice card:




(You have very pretty handwriting Aunt Jill, I'm jealous!)


Jack was super excited! And honestly hasn't really played with any other toys since their arrival:


(Moments after opening the package, reading the card and taking the tags off...happy boy! Er, old man that is...)

Jack seems to think that now that the Chuckit has made its triumphant return, that it is playtime, all the time. Including when I'm reading on the couch:


(Hey mom, lets play!)


(Um hey, lets play now.)


(Is this close enough yet?)

Jimmy also wanted to play apparently, Jack didn't seem to want to share though:


(Nope, Aunt Jill said nothing about sharing...sorry dude...)

He was worried for a while that Jimmy was going to steal it, even after he went away:






I'm much better at throwing these than I am at throwing the weird triangle frisbee thing (that I keep forgetting to take a picture of...). So our midnight frisbee sessions have been much smoother since the Chuckit's arrival. Jack can also see these much easier, and can pick them up with ease too because of the raised sides. All in all, they are pretty amazing. Thanks Aunt Jill! And keep us posted on your search for your new furry child!

Hey Jack, say thanks to Aunt Jill!:


(This good?)

No, put a little more effort into that wave for me:


(Thanks Aunt Jill! Oh hey, Jimmy is sniffing my Chuckit!!!)

Close enough!





So, the other night, there was some picture taking opportunity gold...GOLD I tell you! And by some miracle, my camera was right next to me, when does this happen? Never. Did I manage to get a cute angle of what was going on? No. Here is what I was able to capture...just imagine these with better lighting and angles:







You get the point... They were not told to do this...at all. Jack was napping on one couch, while I was reading on the other. Then Jimmy hopped up, and curled up. Very cute. Stupid lack of camera skills...


The next morning though, the cats were enjoying the sunlight coming into the kitchen, and I got some semi-decent shots (please ignore my ugly 60's flooring):


"Here comes the sun...do do do do"


"Here comes the sun, and I say..."


"It's alright!"

Max is weird and slept next to the sun beam, my little nonconformist:





Well, that's it for tonight everyone. Off to bed we all go. Hope everyone is well!

Hey! A post!

Alright. I've been pretty lax with this blog due to being sick and having a bustling social schedule (weird, right?) suddenly. But I'm finally updating again, and I'm sorry for being so late!

So lots of things have happened since my last post. Most importantly, I have come to trust Jack 100% with Jimmy. Not with Max though. Max still hasn't figured out that if he runs, Jack chases him. It's gotten slightly better...but not really. The other day, I was getting Jack's breakfast ready, and Max was over (begging, he beg's worse than most dogs I know, including Jack...). Jack was sniffing him and raised his lip. Needless to say, Jack had his breakfast in his crate. I was talking to Ruth about this (I had asked her if she had any ideas why he would be fine with one cat, and not with the other) and she thinks its an alpha thing. That because Jimmy doesn't mind him and neither does Jack (Jimmy doesn't run away from Jack, Jimmy actually rubs up on him, Jack licks him...they really get along wonderfully), but Max still flees at the sound and/or sight of Jack...that Jack feels like he can be bossy and alpha over him, and get away with it. I've been trying to work with Max on this, like I did with Jimmy...but Max isn't nearly as clever and self confident as Jimmy is...so its taking a lot longer. Hopefully with more time, things will improve, I just hope there is no bloodshed in the meantime. Alright, next topic...



Jack got some stairs! They were a present from Uncle Mark and Aunt Nanette!!! Thanks so much you guys!

It took Jack only a couple tries to realize that the stairs a) aren't scary and b) are much easier than trying to jump up on the bed. He does still jump to get down, but that never seemed to bother him, so I'm not too worried. I think my next day off, I will teach him how to go down. Here are some pics I took tonight...It was interesting trying to make him only do it a little at a time, but we managed:


(They were already assembled, all I had to do was put the carpet things on)


(Why am I not allowed to go up, I don't get it...)


(Hey mom, stop being weird, let me go up the stairs, that's what they're there for...)


(Ehn! Why can't I go all the way?)


(I do not like you right now...)


(Yay! Bed!)

Jimmy thought he would help (more examples of them being good together):


(Ritual butt sniff)


(Buddies! Wish I had caught it when Jack was actually licking him...once again, poor camera skills...)


(See ya Jimmy! Notice that Jack isn't chasing after him :) )

Oh, and Zander loves the box the stairs came in! He loves to run inside of it, chew on it, sit on it. It was a good addition to his cardboard box collection! He, in sharp contrast to when I usually try to take pictures of him, was amazingly uncooperative:


(No one shall see proof of my love for the box!)


(This was staged...sorry for the horrible-ness of the flash...)

But really though, he does like it!


I also got Jack microchipped! It was very quick, and he immediately forgave Lena (who was the one who did it) when she threw him a toy after, its pretty easy to please Jack! Here is his tag:


(Front side)


(Back side with his number)



And more excitingly, Jack's spiffy new name tag came in! It looks great!


(Cute, no?)


(Hey look, its my name! Spelled correctly! It's a miracle!)

Jimmy felt the need to be in the picture taking session again:


(Oh heyyy! Pay attention to me too!)

And then returned to his favorite spot:


(MMM, comfy...)



Max didn't feel like making an appearance in this post either, but I told him "Tough":


(Max, on my laundry bag...)


(And Max lurking outside of my bedroom during the stair photo taking session...)


And Jack got more presents! From Grandma Winter, yay! His favorite being a new squeaky toy:


(I believe its a hot dog, my friend and I had a long discussion about it...they believe its a hamburger though, Grandma, what is it!?)

Whatever it is, Jack adores it, and hasn't killed the squeaker yet!


And remember that big bag of toys my landlord gave Jack? Well, he did in fact pick a new "go to" toy (besides his frisbee...). It would be his hippo. Which he knows by name.




(I said "Jack, get the hippo!")






(And he got it, yay!)


I can also randomly tell him to "Find the hippo" when he wants to play, and he will go root around for it, and bring it over to me when he wants to play. He is a very smart boy.



Alright, I am sure that I am forgetting something, but I am pretty tired and am going to wrap this up. I will try to be better about posting more often!


Jack says "Goodnight":









P.S. Keep those comments coming, I love them! To leave a comment on an entry, click the little thought bubble near the title of the post, then go down and type up your comment, and where it asks you "comment as" select anonymous, but please let me know in your comment who you are :) I think you can also select "name/URL" but I'm not sure!

P.P.S: This post was brought to you with help from my furry friends:


(Max, on my lap, helping me type)


(Jimmy watching from the back of the couch)


(And Jack, being a bum on the couch)

I am a horrible...

Daughter/niece/friend/blogger. Sorry about the lack of an entry over the past few days, I've been pretty busy. I also haven't been bringing my camera outside with me because its been below zero, which makes my camera angry to say the least.

So, as I said, its been pretty cold. One day in particular was around 16 below zero. That is wayyy too cold, thank you very much. Jack agrees. Jack however, does not agree with what I put on his feet that morning:



Yup. Those would be socks. Of course it was that cold the day before Jack's booties arrived. So because I bring him to work with me, which is about a mile long walk, Jack needed something on his feet. So some old socks, bag balm on his pads and a little duct tape made up those little numbers. They worked like a charm, and only started to come off right before we walked into the door at work. Jack didn't think they were quite in fashion, but he just had to deal. He was very good about me putting them on, and even good about me rubbing some bag balm on his pads.


(Hey Mom, these are stupid...and no, I will not sit still for you to take a photo of me in them either)

Happily enough, his booties came in that day while I was at work, so no more ghetto sock booties for Jack! Here are his new duds:







They stay on great, Jack doesn't mind having them on, keep his feet warm(er), protect them from sharp ice and also buildup of ice and snow between his pads, which can be very painful. I am 100% happy with these booties, and if you are interested in where I ordered them from (very cheaply too!) it was dogbooties.com. A big thank you to Deb for suggesting them, and helping me figure out which ones to get!


(Thanks Deb!)



Jack officially became mine as of Friday! According to New York State that is. I licensed him in my name:


(Shiny new tag, yay!)

And speaking of tags, I also ordered Jack a new name tag:



(The paw print one)

It's from Luckypet.com. Snowy has the heart one. That company is great, very quick. We got Snowy's tag about five days after we mailed out the check. I'm thinking it will be even quicker this time because I did it online. I also think I am going to get Jack microchipped this coming week too, although I haven't made up my mind. At work I preach the benefits of microchipping to people who don't know what it is or are skeptical, but then I think about Jack's age, and the fact that I am 98% sure that he would never ever go away from me when we are outside together...I'm not sure I want to do that to him. We'll see.

Jack also had a mini tooth scraping today. We had a great vet in that all the staff loves. She is young, nice and strongly believes in spaying and neutering (which makes us happy!). She was in to spay a female beagle mix we have. She hadn't met Jack yet and when she did, she noticed he had a bunch of tarter built up on his (remaining) teeth. She asked if I wanted to have her scrape some off. I said sure! Jack was pretty wimpy though, and Stacey only got a little off, but hey, every little bit helps right? I see a real tooth cleaning in Jack's (very near) future...his breath could kill! Does anyone know anything about this product?

Also, when I got home from work the other night, there was a bag on my door handle. My wonderful landlord gave Jack some gifts!


(I like my new toys!!! Thanks Brenda!)

This would have to be my favorite out of the (very large) bunch of toys in the bag:



Apparently Paige (her very old Lab) only plays with rope toys, and she had gotten lots of toys for Christmas that were being ignored...so Jack got them! Yay!

Jack is very grateful and happy with his new toys, but I still don't think that he has forgiven me for losing his beloved chuckit. Maybe out of this new batch he will find a new favorite, fingers crossed!


Alright, that's it from me tonight. Jack and I are both pooped. Off to bed we go!





P.S.: To leave a comment on an entry, click the little thought bubble near the title of each post, then go down and type up your comment, and where it asks you "comment as" select anonymous (for those of you who don't have a blogger account). But please let me know in your comment who you are :) Hope that helps with any confusions anyone is having!

Woo, new layout!

Alright...unless you are a night owl, or suffered from insomnia like I did last night, you missed all the weirdness and photo size changing. I also changed some things, including who can comment. Now my family members (or whoever) who don't have blogger accounts should be able to leave comments. Please let me know if that isn't true!

I had a mini post up that was just for testing purposes. Here are the pics (that are nothing new or relevant...) that were in that post, plus some extras. Enjoy.


(Jimmy apparently likes that squished feeling...)


(At the time I took this, this was quite a milestone...the two of them peacefully coexisting...)


(When my betta, V, was still alive, Max loved to do this...and no, Max did not kill V, V died of (very) old age)


(This was the view outside of my kitchen window during peak, gotta love the Adirondacks!)


(I just like this...)


(One of Max's favorite things to do ever, is to lay on my clean clothes after I come home from the laundromat, and am folding things...little pain in the butt!)


(For those of you who met Emma and Elliot while I was fostering them, this was them right before they went back to the shelter. Elliot got big, huh? They have already both been adopted :) )


(Zander and Jimmy are buds)


(An example of how weird Max is... He enjoys getting in Zander's cage (which is always open, by the way, he has his own room that he free roams in) and taking naps on the shelf. Zander doesn't mind because he is a "saintly bunny" as a close friend of mine says...)



(Hey look! It's my first dog! Snowy. She is still around, younger than Jack at 11 years old. She is still with my mom, and doing very well.)


(And there is Skiba. My first cat. She was part of the first litter of (motherless) kittens that I fostered. She was bottle fed by me. This is her in her signature position: the meatloaf. She, like Snowy, is with my mother.)


(It's Jack!)

Jack was wonderful last night while I was out (at least I am assuming so!). There were no accidents in his crate, and no notes saying he had barked (I had asked my landlord (who lives directly below me) to let me know if he barked while I was gone). So yay! I am going to be brave again and leave him home when I go to work in the morning (don't worry, I only work around four hours on Thursdays). Hopefully we have a repeat performance. I plan on stuffing as much of his breakfast as I can into his kong to give to him when I leave, and give him the remaining portion before I bring him out to go potty and go to work. Hopefully that will keep him happy and quiet for a while.

Also: Rest in Peace Chuckit. You were great while I didn't lose you. Last night after I got home (around 10pm...) I wanted to give Jack some fun after being in the crate for a while. So we went outside and played with the Chuckit for a while. Much like my last post...I lost it. Except this time, it was dark out and I had no chance of finding it. And even worse, it snowed during the night. So I am afraid we wont be seeing our green friend until spring. Oh well.
Real post tomorrow.

Time for attempt #2 at going to bed.

Goodnight!

To attone for my laziness...

Lots and lots of pictures!

Today was my day off, first one since getting the Old Man* dog. Nothing really of note (except for today...more on that later) has happened in the days that I didn't update, so I don't feel too guilty...

The other animals feel that Jack is taking up too much of the lime light and would like to have some. Funny thing is, the only one who really cooperated was Zander:










(Cute, no?)

Jimmy is still protesting, but is getting better! The past couple of days he has been coming out and visiting me when I'm at my desk:


(Hey Mom, is the big thing gone yet?)


(Oh my god! Its that friggen dog! ACK!)

But he is still mostly hanging out in his two favorite hiding spots:


(Behind the microwave, on the fridge)


(On my boxes o' crap in the bunny's room)

He also popped into bed with me last night when I was reading (Jack was on the bed too, talk about being brave!), alas...I didn't have my camera handy, and I didn't want to ruin the moment by running to get it.

Max has been uncooperative with the whole picture taking thing (he has changed his mind on Jack, and has taken house under my bed...). So no pictures of my funny eyed** little weirdo in this post.




Jack coming to work with me is still going well. I learned the other night while being bored at home, that if I say "Who/what/where is" coupled with any word, he barks. So I need to train myself not to use those words while at home. At work though, everyone seemed to find my little discovery funny and cute. Ruth especially seemed to like to get him to speak.

Here are some pics of where he hangs out at work:


(Mom, crate=dumb)


(Hi, I'm very handsome.)


(Chuckit time now, please?)


I ended up staying very late at work last night (11pm) due to some plumbing issues...and he was an angel!!! I really couldn't have asked for a better dog!

He got to meet Deb (a local dog groomer/trainer) last night too, and I asked her for some tips on trimming the hair on Jack's feet (to help with snow/ice buildup, and also to give him more traction on my hardwood floors). She gave me some awesome tips and thought he was a great dog, and a fantastic first dog to have. She also thought I did a good job trimming up his nails (hey, I've had lots of practice at work!), and have done a great job (with my rudimentary knowledge...) trimming the undersides of his paws so far. Woo! I just need to take the nails on his back feet down a little more, and then he won't be click-click-clicking on my floor anymore, and will also have better footing because of it. All in good time.

I've decided that I also want to get some stairs so he can get up to my bed easier. It's pretty high up, and I don't like him jumping with his back the way it is. But I also like letting him up with me, but he likes to get down now and again to get some water or whatever, and I really don't feel like helping him up/down each time (fine...I'm lazy, I admit it...). I've looked at some online, and am also thinking about asking someone who regularly volunteers at work if I could hire him to make some. Anybody have any suggestions?


(Hi! I like bedtime!)

Jack also got to meet my amazing landlord Brenda last night (at midnight...we were on a walk, and so was she with her ancient black lab girl, Paige...who is actually younger than Jack...9, but Jack is in much better shape, she even commented on that). She LOVED him! Thought he was quite charming and handsome (well, duh!) and even threw his chuckit for him a few times, which of course made her great in his book. I asked her if everything was still fine now that he was here, and she said she hasn't heard a peep out of him (haha, guess she isn't home when he decides to go barking after the cats...or when I am dumb and say "who/what/where"), and he is absolutely fine, and I need to stop being a worry wort (she knows me too well!). She was even laughing at the fact that I was training him (successfully!) to wait to go pee until we are across the street (so he doesnt pee on the porch, or the lawn), and told me to "let him pee where he wants!!!". Silly landlord...we are going to keep peeing across the street...its good to know though, that if he cant hold it, and stops before we get there, that its ok. I'm really relieved that she liked him (even though she told me countless times that it was ok for me to have him...), it takes a big weight off my shoulders. Tonight I am even going to be brave and leave him crated home alone while I go out to dinner and a birthday party, lets hope he doesn't bark! I'm going to give him a peanut butter and kibble stuffed kong as a peace offering...fingers crossed!

Alright. So, for today's big adventure. I was planning on going for a big walk today, but decided against it, because the snow is in its weird snowball forming phase. So since his booties are still not here, I decided to forgo that and play out back of my apartment. There is a nice big back yard which is (seemingly) perfect for throwing the chuckit around. Things started out great:










But, then my true talent came through...completely sucking at throwing:


(Weren't you just telling me not to go pee over here?)


(There are things stuck to me now...)

It got so bad that I did this:


(Look inside my nicely drawn red circle...shape...thing)

That would be the chuckit...which I managed to throw over the Big Wall out back...which is a good ten foot tall rock wall. Thank god Jack listens so well and didn't jump to go get it!!!

So, since we are supposed to get more snow (great...), I couldn't leave it there and get it at a later date (that, and I don't think Jack would have ever forgiven me if I did that). So we went bushwhacking:


(Found the end of the Big Wall, and what looked like animal tracks (not Jack's) going down, so I assumed it was safe)


(My trusty dog, watching to make sure I didn't fall down and die... In reality I had him in a stay, I wanted to make sure it was safe before I let the Old Man down there...)


(Oh look! The Big Wall!)


(Once I knew neither of us were at any risk of death, I let Jack come down with me (much to his chagrin!)


(Bushwhacking is fun Mom!)


(Oh my God! YAY! Chuckit is alive!)

Jack swiftly recovered the Chuckit once he saw it, and then seemed to know that the adventure was over, and beat me back up to the back yard...


(Mom, hurry up...you're too slow)


(What do ya mean, "Stickonmyface"?)


(Yay!)

And then we went inside, because we were both cold and thirsty.

Once inside, I discovered these:


(Stop it Mommm!)

He however, really was very good about me combing those out...stupid stickers:



And thats it for today, more soon!



* Did you know Jack is somewhere between 12 and 13??? He sure doesn't look it, does he?

** Max has what is called Eyelid Agenesis. Basically, his upper eyelids weren't fully formed. To help with this he gets ointment in them everyday to keep his eyes from getting dry. If you would like to see a close up of what this looks like on Max, click here and here, but please be warned its not pretty...not gross, but not pretty. His eyesight is fine, by the way :)

Still going (really) well!

So, after work yesterday, Jack and I went on another walk (sans camera, I still don't dare take it out when its this cold...). And when I got home I did take a few pics, but nothing blog worthy...not to mention I was tired. So today's post is from yesterday and today :)

Yesterday was Jack's first day going to work with me. It went better than I expected. Other than some issues with another dog who was in the office (a shelter dog, who we are trying to do some behavior modification on...), he was perfect! Only woofed a couple times, but listened when told "quiet". He did very well on the walk to work, but those dog booties I ordered need to come in. His feet hurt for some parts of it (can't say I blame him...it was only 4 degrees!). He didn't make a big fuss, but I could tell they were bothering him. He still has yet to mark/pee on anything at home, or at work (I was worried with all the smells at work) and I am very happy with that. He is crated most of the day, coming out to go for potty breaks and some play time.

He is making lots of progress at home with the cats. Max in particular. He has been coming out at random times (near the dog!). And Jack isn't doing anythign to him! Look! They are (kindof...) coexisting!



(And yes Dad...that would be Jack on my furniture. I'm teaching him some bad habits. He also enjoys sleeping in my bed :P )

I think Max secretly likes him...don't tell anyone though!

Jimmy on the other hand, is still protesting. Realize that he did the same thing when I took Max home...he was mad at me for about a month. Then got over it. He remains in hiding. At night though, I stick Jack in his crate (which is in my bedroom), root around for the cats and kick them out of the bedroom. I then spend some time with them, which they enjoy. Here is Jimmy, much happier with out the dog's presence... (I apologize for the blurriness...):





Tonight for fun (because yesterday there was torture after work...which was in the form of grooming him up a bit) we played a rousing game of "Find It!" in the house (because it was cold out...and we had already played chuckit out back of work when I got done today). He seems completely entranced with the cat's toys. I couldn't tell you why. This one in particular seems to be his favorite:



So. I put Jack in a "Sit, stay":



And walked away...







And then "hid" the mouse in various places in my living room. Like these:


(on top of the cat scratching post)


(on the radiator)


(by the T.V.)


(under a blanket on the couch)


(under a pillow on the other couch)


(on the book shelf next to some pictures of some familiar people...)

And then I released Jack with a "Find it!" command.

Needless to say, he found it each time without delay...his favorite "hiding place" seemed to be under the blanket...





He would faithfully bring it back to me and chuck it at my feet:




After some treats for being a good boy (he is getting better about sitting when I tell him to...not that he wouldn't before, he just did it very, very slowly, we are working on that) we tried to do a little self portrait. Tried being the operative word:


(fail)


(fail again)

And those were the best out of the 10(ish) I tried to take. Oh well. I need to work on my camera skills!



Jack thinks that we both look much better our own. Especially him:



Handsome devil.



Thats it for tonight. Jack says "Goodnight"



(yup, him on the couch again!)

First day

Today was Jack's first day at my apartment. So far so good!



No accidents, basically no barking and learned to leave the cats alone:





The cats however, remain unimpressed (Note only one cat even made an appearance...and the giant angry tail):



And also no obsessive water drinking!



This bowl was filled at about three this afternoon, and it was about nine at night when I took this. And he hasn't had access to the toilet to get a drink. Pretty good I would say!

Zander has no comments:



It was a learning experience for me too. I learned that treats do not work nearly as well as a ball does when I want him to look at me.

Example when using a treat:



Using a ball:



Also had a fashion show (this is a rain jacket...for when its raining on my way to work...):



There was also a really nice walk (by the lake, then downtown) and an hour long chuckit session. It was too cold to bring the camera though, sadly. His fetching skills are impeccable, my throwing skills however, need some improvement (kept making it hit the back of the building...oops!).

All in all, I think he is settling really well, all things considered. Tomorrow should be interesting though, first day he comes to work with me.

Jack says goodnight!



More soon!