But right now he's at the vet's for neuter surgery. I took him there first thing this morning after he marked the cat tree and the door frame last night, and pretty much every tree when we go outside. He's very good in the car.
Medically, overall he's healthy, other than the ear infection that's clearing up. Fully vaccinated. Reading from the vet's notes from NC, he's heartworm and fecal negative. They gave him Advantage because he had a lot of fleas (I found a lot of dead fleas and flea eggs on his collar area and ears also). It's also noted that he can climb a chain link fence.
He already knows Sit, but is really bad about pulling on the leash, and he's a big boy, weighing at 55 lbs; his optimum weight should be 60 lb. So I will probably give him some basic obedience lessons. I'm thinking about fitting him with a Gentle Leader. Jake seems pretty dog and cat friendly, so we might not have to attend group classes. When we were at the vet's this morning checking in, we met both office cats and an intact English Bulldog. Jake wanted to meet the Bulldog, who growled at Jake. Jake ignored both cats. They will keep him overnight for observation, but I will go in this afternoon to give him his dinner and ear medication and just to see how he's doing.
Ron emailed to say that he and his wife think Jake is a great dog and wanted to adopt him themselves, but they already have a female dog, and she and Jake started getting jealous of each other after a few hours. Ron also said he already roughly groomed and clipped off a lot of hair and mats and removed fleas and ticks, and that Jake had no problem having his fur and teeth brushed and ears cleaned. He said Jake had no problem having his face touched. But Jake did mark territory several times in their house. And he didn�t eat much food at their house either, just some raw hides and drank lots of water. When it was time to sleep, Jake decided to leave his dog bed and slept right next to Ron and his wife�s bed. When they were dropping Jake off at Leslie�s parents� house, Jake would try to snuggle with him as he was driving, and he also stuck his head out of the window. And when Jake and Jeremy met in North Carolina, Jeremy growled at Jake several times, but Jake never growled back.
Jake doesn't seem food motivated at all. Need to think something else to obedience train him. But that probably also means he won't counter surf or going through the kitchen trash or the cat's litter box. Also, just judging from last night and this morning, he doesn't get on the couch or my bed either.
I am feeding Jake various canned foods that I got from Red Bandanna at Atlanta (all brands approved by the Whole Dog Journal). For dry food, I feed him Nutro Ultra Adult Formula and will only feed dry starting this weekend.
Jake hasn't pooped with me yet. But maybe he did with the vet techs today. At least I haven't seen diarrhea yet.
I will visit him at the vet's again tomorrow morning and will pick him up by tomorrow afternoon (maybe the vet will let me take him tomorrow morning). My professor's Basset Hound, Samson (four-year old neutered male), is going to stay with us this weekend. I got to dog-sit Samson for one day this past weekend too, and my professor said they can't wait to meet my new foster (Samson has met all my dogs). Both dogs seem very friendly, and neither boy is very into food, but I will feed them in separate rooms like Heather suggested. Will also take away the toys until they get used to each other. Jake tried to play with the fuzzy ball and to chew the Nylabone that I left in his crate last night, but I think he was just too tired and just did it for a few seconds.
I'm giving him four cups of dry food mixed with one can of wet food today.
He doesn't jump on me either, and he doesn't mind when I touch his food bowl or chew treats or biscuit treats.
Jake is sort of like a combination of Dudley and Lexi, with a little bit of Jake.
Went to pickup Jake this morning. The vet said there's some bruising, which is not unexpected because Jake was an older intact dog. He said it doesn't look like Jake's in any discomfort right now, so he didn't give us any medication or E-collar. But the vet said to bring him in if he starts licking on it too much.
Had to go to a class this morning, so I was in a hurry. Jake was very good and ate a little bit of wet/dry mix food and went into the crate by himself. I left him in the crate by the window (floor to ceiling length).
Samson is coming over Thursday morning and is going to stay until Monday night. Two big boys who pull on leash...we'll figure out someway to walk them together.
When I came home after two-hour class around noon, Jake was howling, not loud howl like Lexi did , but luckily both apartments next to me are empty right now, and the guy downstairs with three cats loves animals too and has been very nice about all the dogs. Jake's behaving a lot better today. I was able to touch him all over the face and he's now okay with it. I don't know what happened on Sunday. Maybe he was just confused and scared with all the changes. Obedience training wise, I had a hard time teaching him "Down" on Sunday, as he's not food motivated and I didn't want to force him to do it on the first night. Today he's much more responsive, still not food motivated, but he seems to know "Yes" and "Good Boy" means he's done something good. And we've been going outside for five minutes every two hours for potty breaks, and just after a few lessons, he's pulling 50% less. I just stand like a tree when he pulls. He Sit on command outside too, but I haven't tested him with distractions yet. He was very interested in a bird we saw.
Jake pooped the first time with me this morning. Both times diarrhea. I will add rice to his diet.
His incision site looks a little red, so I took him to see the vet this morning. I told him that I was a little worried especially with the rain, even though I do dry him every time after we go outside. The vet said a little redness a few days after surgery is normal, but I can put some Neosporin on it if I want.