Jake



Jake



		Overall, this little girl is sort of the younger, female version of Jake. Active and smart, but a great dog with wonderful temperament, just needs some patient and positive guidance. I left Jake in the car and took Gracie to the Pharmacy School with me to use the computer. Tuesday, December 25, 2007 After I used the computer yesterday morning after we went to the dog park, Jake and Gracie and I went on an additional walk, 2 miles around campus. My plan was to tire them out, so I could get 30 minutes to myself to shower and eat breakfast. When we got home, I put Gracie in the crate, hoping I could get 20 minutes without her tethered to me and pulling after the cats, so I could wash the dishes. In the picture is Jake taking a nap on my bed, Tara lying down next to him, with Gracie in the crate and watching Oscar.

	About 30 minutes into it, Gracie tried to get Jake to play, she kept mounting him, I did try to intervene by pulling her off him twice, but she kept doing it. Finally he barked at her to tell her off. She got the message and did not mount him again after that. She did try to mount me once last night too, but I think it's part of her play, not dominance.




	Then I let Gracie out of the crate, and as I was doing that, Jake ran into the crate and sat down in there. So I decided to leave him in the crate, and let Gracie have some time out of the crate (I was still holding onto her leash). I don't usually let Jake and Gracie out of the crate at the same time, because every time I tried to do that, they try to play. I'm not sure if my downstairs neighbors are gone or not. Around 1 PM, I decided everybody should take a nap. I let Jake out of the crate and put Gracie in it (both dogs get a treat every time they went inside the crate). I could tell Jake was sleepy from the 3 miles of walk earlier and the dog park play, he climbed onto my bed and fell asleep immediately. Gracie was calmer than when the morning first started, but she was still looking around in the crate. I just ignored her, and got on my bed with Jake and Tara. Gracie put her head down and fell asleep about 5 minutes later. We slept until 3 PM.


		Then I took Gracie and Tara out potty. Then Jake and Gracie and I went to the dog park again. When we got to the fenced area, there were about 6 other dogs in there. One Chow mix, one Corgi mix, and I think the rest were Lab or Lab mixes. Jake and Gracie were friendly with everybody and got along. The first 5 minutes everybody was just sniffing around, then Jake went to check the area out again. The Chow mix kept following Jake, finally his owner called him back. Then Jake found some tennis balls and I played fetch with him.





	Then an older Boxer (gray around the eyes) and his owner came, and the other dogs and their owners left. So Gracie started following the Boxer and his owner around, while Jake and I continued to play fetch (I kept my eye on Gracie at the same time of course). After a few minutes, they left also. Jake and I continued to play fetch, with Gracie following Jake. We were at the dog park for 30 minutes, then we did the one-mile trail walk again before going home. When we were walking on the trail, this woman asked if the dogs are Springers and she asked if Gracie is a puppy. She said they are beautiful and petted them. Later, this guy passed by us and kept telling me what a pair of nice and handsome hunting dogs I have.

		Back at home, I decided to give the dogs their Christmas dinner. I put out three bowls (Jake gets Nutro Ultra brought from his parents; Tara gets a mix of Canidae brand Chicken and Rice formula, and Solid Gold brand Barking at the Moon formula), half what they would normally eat though because they've had treats throughout the day (treats I'm using are Old West brand freeze dried lamb lungs, Innova brand EVO biscuits, and Old Mother Hubbard brand treats from Jake's parents). So I put the kibbles in the three bowls, and then divided their special Christmas dinner among the three bowls (Merrick brand Venison Holiday Stew formula).





	I then mixed Jake's food and fed him in the crate (so Tara won't try to get to it), then went back to get Gracie from the hallway. All three finished very fast. I then gave them each a pig ear as treat. I locked Jake in the hallway as he chewed on it (he loves the pig ear), and I let Tara chew on hers in the livingroom.

		I then brushed Jake and then Tara. Then let Gracie out (and Jake in the crate) to brush her also. I haven't left any toys out for Gracie or Jake to play. Tara can get possessive of doggie toys. After the hair brushing, I turned off the lights and put Gracie on my bed with me. Jake got on my bed with us too, but Gracie still wanted to play. I think Jake was tired and was not really into it. I took the dogs out in two shifts to potty at 11 PM. I got up around 2 PM to eat some snacks, and I let Gracie follow me around without leash, and left Jake in the crate (he always goes in there very willingly). I know she adores Jake and likes me, but I think she's trusting more and more; this is a good thing. Anyways, after I finished eating, I let Jake out again and put Gracie back in the crate. Everybody was very quiet for the rest of the night until I woke up at 7:15 AM (I think Jake and Gracie woke up before I did, but they were quiet). It has been drizzling on and off all day today. But I decided to take Gracie and Jake for the morning 2-mile walk around campus (the trail around the dog park is probably muddy anyways). As I was getting my clothes before taking a shower, I suddenly heard some barking. At first I thought was between Tara and Jake. After I ran into the livingroom, the commotion had already stopped, and I saw Jake sitting by the front door, Tara pacing by the crate, with Gracie sitting in there looking at me. So I think Tara was barking at Gracie (most of the barking in the 3 seconds sounded like mostly was Tara's voice). I have no idea over what. Maybe Tara got near the crate and growled, and Gracie felt defensive and barked, and Tara felt the barking breath and barked back. I don't know. Anyways, Jake came up to me and I reassured him. Then I went up to Tara to let her know I'm there. Then I let Gracie out of the crate and tethered her to my waist, and again took her into the bathroom with me. Here we are at the Pharmacy School again, this time I left Tara in the car, and Gracie in the room with me. Jake stayed at the apartment. Wednesday, December 26, 2007 After we got home from school yesterday, I put Gracie in the crate. I was in the livingroom in front of the TV, when I saw Jake walking towards the crate, and Gracie barked at him. Jake got scared and came toward me for reassurance. I didn't understand why Gracie barked at him. About 30 minutes later, Tara was pacing around and got near the crate, and Gracie barked at her. Maybe Gracie was guarding her crate? Before we left for the dinner, I put Jake in the crate (on Monday after Gracie and I came home, I found Jake barking when I had left him in the livingroom, so I decided to leave him in the crate since he likes to get in there so much), and I put leash on Gracie. After Gracie and I got home from the dinner, I let Jake out and left Gracie in the crate. Tara got near the crate again, Gracie barked at her again, and this time Tara barked back. I thought I would do some counterconditioning this time. I had Tara down next to the crate, and I kept feeding Gracie treats. Gracie appeared to be perfectly fine with that. I then turned off the lights, and she fell asleep in a couple minutes. I think all the mental stimulation from the dinner made her tired. I took the dogs out potty at 11 PM. Since Tara was sleeping on my bed, I decided to test Jake and Gracie. I had them sit side by side, and I fed one treat to Jake, one to Gracie, one to Jake, then the other, back and forth, no problem. Then they decided I was too slow in feeding, so both of them stuck their noses down the bowl with the treats in it at the same time and started helping themselves. No problem there either. So think Gracie's treat guarding issue was mainly toward Tara. I also decided to take a shower, and I was too tired to go through the ritual of taking Gracie out of the crate, trying to separate Jake and Gracie while they try to play, put Jake in crate, tether Gracie to my waist, and take her into bathroom with me.

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