I was in California for one week, and my professor, Dr. Ravis, and his wife agreed to keep Jake at their house for that week. I've talked to Dr. and Mrs. Ravis twice since the start
of my trip (September 7). I would've liked to call everyday, but they told me that there's no need to. I know they are very loving and responsible people, but I still think about him everyday.
Tuesday night when I dropped him off at the Ravis house, within two minutes, he marked on their kitchen trashcan. I also taught them how to use the Gentle Leader, but they weren't too interested in using it. Samson (their four year old Basset Hound) is free fed, so they were thinking just leave Kibbles N Bits out all day for both dogs, but I told them that it's better to feed Jake just twice a day with the food I brought with him. I have no idea how they are dealing with it right now though, but they said he's eating fine and pooping normally. They also said he has not urinated inside the house after that first night, and the two dogs sleep in the living room at night. They said when they played fetch with Jake with Sam's toy (I didn't bring any of Jake's toys with him, because I didn't want him to guard over them), he loved it, but Sam likes to nip the sporting dogs' heel when they run, so Jake started chasing Sam, and Sam chased him back. But overall, they get along fine.
This weekend, their younger daughter, Julie, came home from Montgomery with her two dogs, a four year old yellow Lab (Abby with moderate hip dysplasia) and an one and half year old male white Pit Bull (Junior, as in Sam Junior, who is deaf and possibly half blind). They said Jake and Junior have become buddies, playing together all weekend. Jake also is fine with Abby. When they went to the football game, they left Sam and Jake in the spa room (indoor by the living room, tiled floor), and Junior and Abby outside on the deck. They didn't think all four can be left together unsupervised without the house intact at the end. Everybody did fine with their arrangement.
Dr. and Mrs. Ravis said about Jake, "You can't get a more affectionate dog." He pretty much became attached to Mrs Ravis immediately (he has met them for about five minutes on a previous occasion, and I think having spent three days with Sam over Fourth of July weekend also helped to familiarize him), following her everywhere. Dr. Ravis said when they sit down to watch TV at night, he would snuggle up against him. Only negative comment they have about him is that he pulls badly on leash, so they are using the Gentle Leader. They are thinking about getting one for Junior actually (Sam pulls badly too, but I told them before that Sam would not like it one bit, because of his personality).
When we got back to the apartment, his right hind paw was bleeding, and I thought he cracked his paw pad, but it turned out he grinded one of his toenails raw while playing fetch by the pool. It took me a while to make it stop bleeding (I used the powder that groomers use to make the nail stop bleeding when they cut it too short), because Jake would want to play fetch, even inside the apartment, and nail would start bleeding again. So finally I had to pick up all his toys to stop him from running around. And when we went on our afternoon walk, I made him wear a doggie boot on his right hind leg.
This morning we went to the vet (mainly to get a health certificate for Anastasia), and the vet said there's really nothing he would recommend doing about the toenail, and it doesn't look infected, but just to put some Neosporin on it for two days, and after that, the quick should recede. I also showed him a small red spot at where Jake got neutered, and the vet said that looks like a spider bite, and that should go away by itself also. The vet asked about how Brenna's doing; I think she's his favorite out of my four Springer fosters, because she looks so much like the Springer he had while he was a vet student.
Jake ate his dinner last night, but he still was not interested in his breakfast this morning. I think he misses the morning walks he had with Mrs. Ravis. She said she walked Sam and Jake separately in the mornings (about a mile walk), because both of them pull badly, she just couldn't walk them together. She took Jake out first because he always was so eager. When it was Sam's turn, Jake would bark and whine watching them leaving the house from the French door. In the evenings, she and Dr. Ravis each walked a dog, so the two dogs walked together at night. At night when they are ready to go to sleep, they left the two dogs confined in the living room. They closed their bedroom door (next to the living room) because Sam would stay in the living room, but Jake would try to sleep right next to their bed, and Dr. Ravis didn't want to trip over Jake when he gets up in the middle of the night. The put a baby gate on one entrance of the living room, and put a rubber band to close the door on the other entrance. Dr. Ravis said Jake tried to push the door open, and he said a firm "No", and Jake didn't do it for a day or two. They also put a stronger rubber band on the door, then Jake tried to push it again. Dr. Ravis told him "No" again, and Jake didn't do it after that. He said Jake listens very well. They didn't try any of the other obedience commands on Jake, but Dr. Ravis said Jake would sit automatically when they stop at a spot during a walk. Dr. Ravis said Jake would rush out of the door when they opened it, but I told him that he should've told Jake to sit before opening the door (actually with me, Jake would sit even with the door open, until I say "Let's Go"). Mrs. Ravis just loved it that Jake followed her everywhere all day, they said Sam only does that for the first couple hours of the day, then he would get tired of running up and down the stairs on his stubby legs, and lies on the bed rest of the day. But Jake followed Mrs. Ravis everywhere and Dr. Ravis when he came home, even to the bathroom. She thought it was so funny that Jake would lie down on the rug when she was on the toilet. Dr. Ravis didn't think it was so humorous, he locked the dogs outside while he was in the bathroom. About Jake and dog toys, I think he knew the toys there are Sam's, that's why he didn't guard over them at all, even though he played with them. It's the second day since he's back in my apartment, and he hasn't guarded his toys from Anastasia yet. Mrs. Ravis said it was no surprise that Jake got along with four year old Abby (Lab) and Sam (Basset Hound), but Junior (Pitbull) plays rough and they had to separate him from Sam a couple times before, and they thought they would have to keep Junior and Jake in separate rooms when Junior and Abby came over for the weekend, because Jake's a little rambunctious also. But they were very surprised that Junior and Jake became buddies and played together (the two older dogs were able to get away from the younger dogs and relax).
Right now I'm letting Jake having the run of the apartment when I'm at school, and it seems to be working well. I need to put on the audio recorder to check to make sure. I have to lock the bathroom though, or items in there would get dragged all over the apartment. No problem with other items in the rest of the apartment.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Jake had been shedding a lot less than before my trip. Before, I couldn't eat a meal without eating at least one strand of his hair too. He didn't receive fatty acid supplement for one week (I thought it would be too much trouble for Mrs. Ravis). So I don't know if the decreased shedding has anything to do with it. Or he has simply finished shedding off his rough hair after two months on fatty acid.
Jake made a new friend today! We were playing fetch on the grass in the apartment complex, and as Jake went to the other end of the grassy area to retrieve his Kong, he disappeared behind the apartment building. When I ran over to get him back, I found him and a small Basset Hound sniffing each other. The dog only looks about 30 lbs, but the dog's owner said Hula (female) is 16 months old. Hula's owner said she usually is a little aggressive with big dogs out of fear and dominance. But she seems to be immediately attracted to Jake; even when I lured Jake back to retrieving, Hula followed Jake and ran behind him back and forth after the Kong, and her owner had to run after her to get her back. Then five minutes later, she escaped her owner again and followed Jake around again.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
I audio recorded Jake for five hours while I was at school to make sure he's okay having the run of the apartment. He didn't make any sound.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Jake started eating normally again today, ate his full breakfast and dinner. I guess he finally realized that it's time to return to "reality".
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Jake is back guarding his toys from Anastasia again. Oh well. It's not that intense, so I just let it go.
