Popular Puppy

Holla to Mike’s sisters, Kate and Erin, for getting Jake Mizzou stuff (tiger toy, Mizzou collar, and leash). He is already playing with his new toys and wearing his new collar.

Jake loves his trips to Petco, especially on Saturday mornings when the SPCA is there and he can look at all the other dogs and puppies and long for the day when he too can be on the ground sniffing, licking, and playing with them. Jake loves his trips to Petco because he knows that mom cannot turn her head from those sad little eyes without getting him a toy or some other little treat. Most of all, Jake loves his trips to Petco because on the way there he can stick his head out the window and take in all the wonderful smells of the world. The best trip we have had yet is when we got Jake his pig ears. This is how we get a couple hours of peace and quiet when we need it

Mike and I have begun clicker

training with Jake, so far he doesn’t understand what it means but we will see where this goes (as long as Mike and I can remember to do it every time he does something good).

Mike and I have started taking Jake on the Memorial trail. We try to go once a day. On Saturdays and Sundays, Jake is sure to get lots of attention-both from dogs and humans. We even had a father and son due run up to us all smiles and tell us that he is their favorite dog they have seen on the trail.

Jake has become a beggar and stealer. He definitely has the look for the begging part and the slyness to be a stealer. Morning is Jake’s and my favorite time because I get to have my morning cereal and Jake gets to try to steal it. One time, he got a couple licks of milk but as he gets smarter, so does mom J

Jake has also made a habit of sleeping next to me with his head on my pillow. I’m not sure whether he is copying me or it is honestly the most comfortable position for him. I don’t know, but I am going to try to break him of this habit because as wonderful as it is to wake up to puppy breath now, as he gets bigger, that will make the space on my pillow for me much smaller

Vote

Please vote on the left about which breed the DNA test will say Jake primarily is! You have two weeks to vote and then we will post how the DNA test came back!

Bad Habits Die Hard

Yesterday, I spoke with two training specialists at training facilities here in Houston. I actually am really embarrassed because I kept calling one of them and she finally called me back. She was sick and could barely talk, that’s why she was not calling me back and I felt terrible. I really like this training facility, Urban Tails, though because they have a swimming pool where you can teach your dog to swim and they have a function on their website where you can go and watch a live video feed of the facility. That way when I have to leave Jake there, I can go and watch his progress and what is really going on there. The training supervisor said that we could get started immediately, but after thinking about it, I am going to wait until Jake gets his third round of boosters. I would also like to go see their facility and meet them before I get tied down to a situation I don’t know anything about.

Jake has started some new habits (although I can’t blame it all on him I have to admit). One is that apparently Jake’s whining in the middle of the night was bothering our neighbors so we moved his crate into the bathroom, well then we let him sleep on our bed once because we were both so tired, we couldn’t bear to be up with him for an hour in the middle of the night. Well now somehow he has been sleeping with us on our bed every night since we got back from Dad’s. I know many of you are saying “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!” What can I say, I love having the little guy close. He doesn’t go potty on the bed (at least not yet). He wakes up and gets us up. We take him to the potty pad for him to do his business and then we all go back to sleep, much better than playing for an hour at 2am.

Another lovely habit he has started is sitting down to pee. He actually puts bum to ground and does his business. Well this habit has started the constant worry for Mike and I that every time he sits, he is peeing. We are constantly jumping up for no reason… “Don’t worry, he is just sitting this time.” I hope he grows out of this one.

The last habit and certainly not the best is that he has started bringing our dirty under ware to us to play with. The sight of little Jake trotting across the floor with my under ware in his mouth is very unsettling I must say. Of course this is one of those times when I should be getting a stack of newspapers, rolling them up, wrapping a rubber band around them, hitting myself over the head, and say “ummm hello, what did you expect when you left them somewhere he could get them!” I was warned about this habit from my friend Alexandra who had to buy under ware every week when he dog would find them and rip them up. I hope I grow out of this one and start watching where I put that personal item from now on… IE behind a closed door!

In other news… We have created a twitter account for Jake. For updated information on how Jake is doing and what he is doing, please see the left panel of this blog for a live feed of Jake’s twitter. Now some of you might wonder why I am making Jake’s life so social media friendly. Well I’m glad that you asked. I am writing my thesis on social media and customer loyalty so while this blog is fun for me, it is also a ploy to make myself as savvy as I can be with all of it. Mike just goes along with it to entertain me because he is a trooper!

Snow Puppy

After long anticipation, Jake’s vet appointment brought wonderful results. Jake was out of the woods and ready for action! The one downside however was that the DNA test that we were told would cost $60 apparently costs $185!! What! No we will not pay that! Never fear though, we found a much cheaper option online that is being shipped to us and we will be able to get this sorted out in less than a month. Yay! Also in a month, Jake will be long done with his third round of boosters and we will be in the clear as far as that goes.

The weekend went great although Jake had some potty problems. We were proactive though and had pulled up all the rugs so we didn’t have any major oops.As some of you might have read on Jenny’s blog, with all the snow this weekend, we had to push our cars up the hill to dad’s house. This was kind of fun for all of us but not fun for Jake, who really needed to potty after the long car trip. He was crying the entire time. I felt bad for the little guy. Jake was greeted with warm and friendly arms this weekend. It was nice to see how my family thinks he is as cool as I do. He is a very cool dog, and not just because he is the cutest puppy ever!

Jake loved playing in the snow. I guess we introduced him to his calling (that Siberian husky in him). He would have stayed out all day and night. Mike and I would have to trek into the snow ourselves to get him out.

My family threw a small birthday party for Mike and I because Mike’s was on Monday and mine is this Sunday. Jake gave Mike a tent, blow up bed, and some other camping supplies. What a nice puppy Jake is. Here is a small token from our celebrations.

Jake followed Capri around all weekend. It was definitely like follow the leader except Capri was not interested in being the leader. She definitely showed Jake what its like when a dog is not interested in your company. I think its just because Capri is older and more set in her ways. I hope that they will be the best of friends.

Our Valentines Puppy Announcement

Did you get yours?

New Tricks for a New Puppy

Well, Mike and I have successfully taught Jake "come" and "sit." Of course he has to be in the moment in order to follow the orders, if he is wrapped up in his toys, food, sleeping, or water, he will not follow the commands. However, if we can get his attention and he knows we have something he wants (ie toy or treats), then he is the perfect student! Sometimes I think that Jake and I have similar characteristics in that way. I need pretty perfect accommodations in order to be the perfect student in my fullest capacity.

Jake has also become more comfortable with going on walks; in fact he whines and stares out the window longingly. I think it is just because he wants to see the giant water bowl or maybe he needs a certain amount of fresh air a day. We have come a long way from that first night when he could hardly walk. He still doesn’t like the leash much and is scared to go down the stairs, but we will work on it. I can see how it would look scary to a little pup.

If the vet gives us the go ahead tomorrow, we are venturing to dad’s this weekend so Jake can meet the family including Capri! Also, on Sunday we are going to go into Dallas so that Jake can play with Atticus (Alexandra’s dog) and Lucy (John’s dog). I really hope we get the go ahead from the vet because I want to socialize Jake and until he is completely vaccinated, I won’t be able to have him around dogs I don’t know. He likes smaller dogs but is scared of big dogs, which isn’t surprising. I wish that my friends had bigger dogs. HMM… Also at the vet tomorrow we are going to get the test that will tell us what breeds Jake is mixed with. We are really excited! If you haven’t told us what you think, then you need to hurry up and guess. So far we have had guesses of Siberian husky with these types… Border Collie, German Shepherd, Chow, Rottweiler, Lab, and Saint Bernard (I sure hope not). My guess is that he is Siberian Husky with Chow and German Shepherd. Mike’s is Siberian Husky with German Shepherd. That was my original guess but his face structure and ears look like Chow to me. We should know in about 3 weeks I think.

Puppy's First Bath

We gave Jake his first bath tonight and besides the little whining, he seemed to enjoy himself!

He is such a cutie isn't he? And look how much smaller he looks when he is wet!