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| Jake
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This
is just a quick message to let you know that Jake and his sisters are
adjusting wonderfully. He is learning about the invisible fence,
although it caused him a little stress. We will just take it slowly,
and soon he will be romping around, digging holes in the woods, and
playing with Luna
Jake is doing
so very well! He is enjoying his time romping and wrestling with his
sisters outside, and sometimes inside! I trained him so carefully on
the invisible fence, but early on with his off leash time he had an
unpleasant reminder of the boundary location. I think he just lost
his head running out with Keely and Luna and forgot everything. I
heard him yelp quite a bit, poor guy, and he came running back. So
for some time he was afraid outside even though I continued to show
him the boundaries. I know he understands the boundaries because he
did not want to even see those little marker flags. But now he is
venturing farther, running and playing, and having fun. I just love
to spy on him when he's playing outside with Keely and Luna.
Jake is a funny, sweet guy! He and Keely are working some things out
regarding his place in the pack. He has had some aggressive episodes
with her, but we are really on him when it happens. It's usually
during play when he escalates into some aggressive behavior. I'm
pushing discipline with him: he has to do something (sit or wait or
lie down, etc.) for many things like going out, coming in, getting
treats/meals, etc. That's a start for curbing aggression at least to
keep me as his 'alpha'. He is SO TRAIN-ABLE. Great listening. great
eye-contact, especially when food is involved. He is catching on to
much of the safety routine for our runs on the road. Also, he is such
a youngster. Things are so new for him, and he will behave better and
better. Yes, the horses in the neighborhood still are such a
challenge for him. So we're continuing to work on sitting calmly and
watching them from a distance.
Update April '15
He loves the snow!
I'll try to keep this short because I know I tend to go on and on!
I am so VERY HAPPY to report that Jake has learned better manners with
my girls, Luna and Keely! You might remember that we were having some
aggression problems between Jake and Keely. It was caused by Jake
being very excited running outside, being too rough, making Keely mad,
then the 2 of them fighting. With advice from good dog people, I
decided to go back to square one with Jake socially. He and Keely did
not run off leash at the same time. I would have one of them on leash
in order to reinforce good behavior, scold when necessary, and just
have them experience each other and get used to each other.
Update August '17 Just sending some photos of Handsome Jakee! We are all doing very well, and Big Jake is such a popular guy with everyone. He is very social and always wanting to say "Hi" (and be admired!) by people we run into. I am SO HAPPY that time, patience, and good advice from knowledgeable dog people helped us solve Jake's troubles adjusting to his new home. He likes to play with his sisters, and I can see that he really shows care not to be too overpowering with them. Oftentimes, he will lie down during play so as not to be so much bigger than Luna or Keely. It's very remarkable how he has figured out how to keep the peace and have fun at the same time! I'm very proud of him and happy that */he/* stuck with /*me*/ (and vice versa). I've been doing some clicker training with my three. It's fun, and Jake catches on very quickly, probably because there are treats involved. While he is not (yet) the best skijor dog, we love him for all his other natural talents. He does enjoy skijoring, and he really likes the snow. However, during skijor outings he always has to pull over multiple times to smell things and pee! Oh, Jake is just a sweet, handsome, silly "boy" dog! I hope all is
going well with everyone at the shelter. Thank you so much for our
handsome Shake 'n' Jake!
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Update
November '14
at
about 67 pounds, AND he's a bit underweight! Anyway, at the vet's,
Jake was entertainment for the day when he jumped up (attacked with
kisses) one of the vet techs. She made the mistake of making that
kissing sound, and before I knew it he was happily in her face.
Everyone was very amused!
Jake
and I go out running along the road with him in front in harness.
Well, I attempt to run with him. He is SO STRONG! He's learning over
(move more onto the shoulder when a car approaches), on by (no, it's
not time to stop and smell something!), and gee and haw (right and
left) will come eventually. We have very little traffic, so it's
safe. And he is becoming road/car savvy from this activity. It was
so fortunate that Keely was road savvy when she went AWOL once. Such
a scary thing to experience, but we got her back safely. And she
was less likely to be hit by a car because of her road knowledge.
Update
December '14
Our
Jake is too smart for me. Ha, ha! He figured out when his invisible
fence collar stopped working (battery was new) and went AWOL for a
couple of hours one early evening. We put out the All Points Bulletin
to neighbors. So where did he show up? On our good friends' porch up
the road.....uhmm, the friends who have the nice (male) dogs Jake
attacked once. Apparently, sweet Jakee jumped up on the porch, in the
dark, just as our neighbor stepped out of the house. 'Scared the
be-jesus out of me!' he said. No aggression involved, just Jake's way
of saying 'Hi'. What a NUT!
Update
July '15
I
am so happy about this!!!!! And so happy for Jake!!!!! Jake is such
a sweetie. He is always a favorite with people he meets! And what a
smart guy he is. Jake just has an innate sociability. There are times
when he has his own time to run around outside, dig holes, try to
catch chipmunks, etc., but he'd rather come back inside to be with
his family. He and Keely must have been stressed out with each
other's different way of dealing with things. So now he has outside
time off leash with all his family!
