Jackpot is fine. I let him in the living/dining room this morning, after his now very reliable morning poop and with frequent trips outside to pee if needed. He LOVES having more freedom and the extra space. And I love moving back to the dining room table!!
It is cleaning morning, too. Clean sheets!
Doors to the bedroom and bathroom will remain closed for a bit more time. He can (and has) go upstairs to investigate, but I’m pretty sure he won’t have a pee accident up there as I’m taking him out frequently.
Look what I noticed yesterday:
The maples are turning color.
Our Maine woods are layered with the most beautiful ferns and mosses. With the turning of the seasons, they will turn brown now and be gone very soon. It has been such a pleasure to be out in the woods again as I wasn’t walking in them without the puppy.
The last of the wild flowers are filling hedgerows and road sides: purple and white asters and goldenrod among them.
With some recent rains, it has been a big fall mushroom year, too. Dry weather curtails the mushrooms, so I couldn’t get any decent pictures on our walk yesterday at Erickson’s as the current crop has shattered and dried. But we had a little rain last night, so I’m sure with the wet, we’ll see how the mushrooms can cover the forest floor in places. Mushrooms present with the most amazing colors that include vivid reds, yellow, and purples. They are interesting and beautiful.
It’s a beautiful day! But it is going to be more humid than I like. But a cool, fall spell is coming right along.
This morning I slept until the radio alarm went off at 5:40 am. Jackpot sounded an immediate alarm as I usually wake up and dress before the alarm goes off.
I showered last night, so I got dressed and went down to him. He is ridiculously happy to see me in the mornings, so it is hard and funny to get his collar and harness back on so he is ready to go out and pee, which he does immediately and without fuss. Soon I’ll be able to take him out off leash for this morning outing, but I still need to see his poop and I don’t want him to do it in the woods. The draw back for him is he knows he’ll get his breakfast as soon as we go back inside.
I seem to have lost yesterday in terms of posting. We had a good day. There were two good walks, ONE good poop (no more diarrhea), no accidents in the house for many days now—and I’m learning when he needs to go out. He’s started giving me “the look” that says “I need something.”
I’m close to moving back to the living/dining room table with him if he’s pooped in the morning and if I continue to take him out frequently, which I will. He still has to have my eyes on him though so he doesn’t get into mischief. He loves the big dog bed in that room, and the long hall allows for a ball to be rolled down it. He would love having the extra space, I know.
The blood work yesterday at the lab is still too low—but after the hookworm infestation and so much of the antibiotic metronidazole, it is going to take some time for him to regroup and replenish red blood cells. AND it’s going to take even longer to reorient his gut flora and fauna as antibiotics kill the good and the bad. And this antibiotic also wipes out the mucus lining of the stomach, etc. He’s on his nourishing raw food from Rebel Raw, and I have the food I made for him using some ingredients from My Pet Carnivore. And I ordered, yesterday, the complete raw chicken food from Rebel Raw. The food variety is needed in his diet so he doesn’t start up any food allergies. And different proteins bring different sets of goodies to the table.
The blood test at the vets is $85 a pop! And they wanted to do another one on Friday. That’s too soon. He needs some time. I cancelled Friday’s vet appointment until the already paid for DNA kit comes in—at which time I might consider another blood test since they will be drawing blood. He is anemic right now, for sure. As a result, he tries to eat dirt and goes after any of the wild animal poop he can find up in the neighbor’s meadow. I stop him if I can, but he does often get some. He now grabs and runs, as if it is a very fun game.
It is interesting to me that he totally ignores whatever dog poop he passes, so clearly he’s trying to heal himself with wild fecal matter—and I’m not sure that is such a terrible idea given what we know now about fecal transplants for dogs who have intestinal issues. BUT, he also picks up rocks and carries them in his mouth until I remove them. That part I don’t like. And I don’t like the dirt eating—which is a clear sign of nutritional deficiencies. Dogs DO need soil bacteria though—and most city dogs don’t get sufficient soil bacteria as many are always walked on pavement.
I’ve stopped the Slippery Elm now. And he’s getting a daily probiotic from the vets and from Glenna at Sweet Pups. He’s also getting small amounts of dried colostrum, Saccharomyces boulardi (a GOOD yeast that helps repopulate the gut and drives out bad yeast created by too many starches in industrial dog food), a short course of milk thistle powder to detox all the chemicals he’s had, a Four Leaf Rover organic mushroom mix that will boost his immunity (mushrooms are magic), and the last of the organic bone broth.
Next week, I’ll give him the second dose of the dewormer from the vet and will follow up with another fecal sample. And in mid October some time, I’ll give him the second Heartgard to clean out any heartworms he brought from Texas. And that will be it for the winter, assuming his fecal test is clean. In the spring, I’ll test for heartworms—that’s a blood test. If he is clear and he is healthy, likely I’ll not use more Heartgard, which is a double-edge sword for dogs, in that yes, it can stop heartworms and other parasites, but it is hard on their bodies and they never develop an immune system that can handle these issues—which animals in the wild can do. Fecal tests and a yearly heartworm blood test would be an indicator of trouble.
You know, one reason that we have these toxic business models in all our medicine now is that we have been conditioned to be afraid of everything and to “protect” by using a lot of chemicals that promise prevention, but which also have significant unintended consequences, especially when they are all mixed up together. It’s a tough line to walk today, for sure. And we all just have to do the best we can with our informed consent decisions. For me, it is better to have a dog who can run free on my property and on most walks, a dog who is a team member with me, a dog who is happy because he can be a dog in most every sense of being “dog.” I’ll accept the risks that come with that decision. And I’m so lucky that I live where I can have a dog in this way. I’ll be happy when I can train JP on the outdoor radio fence, so I don’t have to worry if he runs down the front hill or out into the woods. But right now, JP has enough to manage on his plate.
Yesterday I tried out the quilt room for a short period. I put down the beautiful dog bed I’ll use and brought in the toy bucket, and after a struggle to figure out the door gate got that up, sat quietly to see what JP would do. He fussed for a bit and then laid down on the floor and rested. He’d had two walks/runs, so he wasn’t antsy. So…. I think that will work for piecing and cutting, but not yet for the longarm. Soon.
I left the door to the quilt room open last night, and he went inside in the dark several times, and I think his trips were to check out the dog bed.
There’s a whole lotta beagle in that puppy. But I see the terrier too. And I still say there is some retriever some where as he carries things in his mouth and brings back things thrown to him without prompting.
Have a great day everyone!
We’re off for a morning walk soon, and the afternoon will bring thunderstorms and rain. That might make a good time for the quilt room.
After a really bad afternoon of lots of diarrhea, I made a Slippery Elm syrup for Jackpot last night and gave it to him with some of the crappy canned industrial crap the vets sent home with me. This morning his crate was DRY and CLEAN.
I almost fainted with joy.
I’ll give it to him 3 more times today—and begin giving him real food, which he really, really needs, at noon—starting with the bone broth, some cooked carrots and winter squash (firms up poop), and some raw chicken I will cook in the broth and whirl into a slurry with the veggies in the food processor. If that holds, I’ll start giving him bits of the balanced raw food that is right for puppies that is currently living in my freezers. I defrosted a patty I had cut from a whole bag over night.
Jackpot has had too many meds over the past month. Not avoidable with the hookworms, but now it is time to build him back up. And industrial fake food isn’t capable of that task. If you want to understand more about feeding a dog so they are healthy, THE FOREVER DOG by Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib is the place to go.
After I gave him the second metronidazole antibiotic late yesterday afternoon, in about 30 minutes he went completely NUTS. Running to the end of the leash—crazy and dangerous—and I’m so glad he didn’t hurt himself. Or me. I could hardly hold him, and he’s a puppy. And, again, bad diarrhea. BUT, no blood. It is very clear to me that this drug is NOT good for him. It’s been overused on him in the last month anyway. I felt like he was telling me that his insides were scalded and hurting.
Here’s a discussion I found online that references recent studies and is written by qualified people. Among other damages, metronidazole can harm the mucus lining in the gut and kill the “good” gut critters needed for proper health. It isn’t a good choice for intestinal issues UNLESS sepsis is involved. It will cause dysbiosis that will to a bad place.
I am so sick of this toxic vet business model with its industrial foods and medicine-based one-size-fits-all solutions and no knowledge of nutrition. But I need them, so I will check in as planned on Monday and, maybe, quietly, they will see what I see—a dog who is (prayers!!!) over the hump and moving forward without the Metro.
The day went well. JP only pooped twice, and it was the consistency of pudding and not pure diarrhea, and had no blood. He’s hydrated ok too and pees when taken out. But he’s clearly not peppy. I think he is just enjoying maybe not being in pain. And maybe he’s just catching up on his sleep too. Pooping all night and day for days has got to have made him tired.
Here he is, napping in his crate while I ate lunch.
This morning we went for a stroll (and he didn’t poop which was great), ran some errands which included getting some fresh chicken breast for his food, and rested on the downstairs couch for a bit late morning. Then I gave him the Slippery Elm again and made the fresh food for him. He inhaled it, and it has stayed down well.
We both had a long nap—2 hours. Then we had another ride in the car (a trip to the dump). He loves riding in the car.
I’m hoping tonight will be another dry and clean crate night. I am hoping we are over the worst hump and that good food can build him back up again.
But I now know what has been wrong with Jackpot, and I can see a clear way forward to returning him to solid, robust health.
Jackpot didn’t have a viral colitis. Jackpot had HOOKWORMS.
I could go into much more detail, but everything boils down to both Glenna’s and my reliance on a fecal test done in Texas by a local vet that totally missed the Hookworms—which gave them a really good start on tearing up JP’s intestines and stealing his blood and causing dehydration and weight loss and terrible bloody diarrhea.
To really be sure about any fecal test, a vet should perform an antigen test, which, I believe, is done in a lab, not in a vet’s office by a technician. It is way too easy to miss parasites that are so tiny or if they are not in the sample one has.
Add in that one of the 5 sick pups on the transport that had to turn around and return to Texas (Otis) DID have a viral colitis (diagnosed by the A&M vet hospital) and you can see how with a “clean” fecal test that was in error, eyes would turn to the virus and not to worms. It’s kind of a classic case of correlation is not causation.
As Jackpot was NOT getting better, Glenna got super skeptical about the fecal test and started looking toward some kind of parasite, and that’s when we got on the better path. She still thinks Otis had the virus, but now wonders if hookworms were a factor in spinning him into hemorrhaging. Likely, that will remain a mystery, and Otis has been dewormed again, too. She has now also dewormed the transport puppies still in her care, and we are kind of holding our breath that she, too, has her puppies on a clear path forward.
The adult dogs never get hookworms as they are on preventative meds monthly. Hookworms are much more of a problem in the South than here in Maine, which is also true of heartworms.
Glenna is a healer at heart and has stayed in very close touch with me every day to try to sort out Jackpot. We are both feeling much better about this whole situation. Glenna cannot bear to not be able to save a dog who is suffering, and she puts her whole body where her heart is, often treating a sick dog through the night if that is necessary. She did that for Buster Brown, Jackpot’s brother, when she fed him for 2 months with a syringe because he would not eat. And that cute boy has now been adopted by people in New York.
(Remember the very funny video I shared of Buster Brown doing “give me five”?)
So, Jackpot went back to the vet hospital this morning as I didn’t like the amount of blood he was losing after I dewormed him on Wednesday. And I had learned the day before, late in the day, that the new fecal test I dropped off Tuesday was lousy with hookworms. I needed to get a plan from the vets of the best way to move forward.
Hookworms are tricky to get rid of—in that the dog can pick them up again from one’s yard when eggs discarded in poop hatch into larva. So repeated dewormings may be needed until we get to winter and our normally really cold temps, which will kill any larva in the yard. Meanwhile, we’ll stay on top of the worms with fecal tests, etc. The monthly Heartgard pill for heartworms also protects against hookworms—and I gave that to Jackpot this afternoon.
So, Jackpot came home with a med to help his intestines heal, more dewormer to be repeated in two weeks, and prescription kibble and canned food that will help him build back the weight he has lost. **I’ve promised myself I won’t even read the labels as to what is in it. And when JP is healthy and worm free again, I’ll start switching back over to the really good REAL food that is filling my freezers in the garage.
Jackpot has been so good. He’s needed to go outside frequently, and he’s learned how to tell me he needs to go. He pee pees on command outside as well. So, we are forming a language we both understand.
I’m not looking forward to tonight—as the deworming meds and the hookworms being expelled have meant lots of trips outside since I collected him from the vet hospital early afternoon. I’ll decide later if I need to stay with him in the kitchen so I can get up with him. Otherwise, there could be a total blowout in the crate, and I don’t want that for him. That already happened this morning, and he had to have an immediate bath, all his bedding went to the washer’s sanitize cycle and then got washed again to be sure, and all the clothes I was wearing got washed too. Plus I washed the kitchen floor between the crate and the door. And, of course, the crate.
I AM looking forward to the time in the hopefully near future when he can expand from the kitchen to the dining/living room, where the big dog bed lives. He’s decided he really likes it. He hasn’t had any accidents in the house for some days now, but I keep a very close eye on him too and take him outside a lot.
And we both enjoy the couch downstairs where, when he winds down after playing with his toys, he snuggles and falls heavily asleep.
So, thanks to all of you for staying in touch and joining me on this “Jackpot Journey.” It’s been a wild ride, hasn’t it?
But puppies are, often, a wild ride. I got a great one, that’s for sure.
I’m not going to complain about rain. We need it too bad. But I wasn’t looking forward to pouring rain all day with a new puppy in the house.
We did fine. I raincoated up; we went outside; he ran and played and chased sticks and got toweled off. He even pooped and peed in the rain without noticing it much.
The poop was better than I’ve seen since last Thursday’s terrible scare. The color is much better, the logs are forming, it isn’t diarrhea, but it still has blood in it. He also has more energy today, but we didn’t take a longer walk.
I’ll see what tomorrow brings and will stay the current course, as there is improvement.
Here’s a little video that shows how he thinks coming when called is fun.
And here’s one with him playing with a stick. He brings everything I throw or roll to me, unless he forgets along the way, drawn to something more interesting. I had to work hard to teach AC to bring back the ball when we were outside.
A dear local friend here has noticed the white lightening bolt in the middle of his back. And Rita P, who reads the blog, says this marking on his side looks like a dog’s face with an open mouth.
It does, you know. I can’t get that idea out of my head anyway, LOL.
He loves his toys and hunkered down with them for a lot of the rainy day—content to be near me while I am at the desk near him.
Our local Camden adoption organization, Paws, sent their van to pick up 9 of the 15 (I think) beagles rescued recently from a Virginia lab.
The beagles have arrived now, and you can see some pics of them if you are interested in this story on the PAWS FB page and its web site. Their little faces are so sweet. I can’t even…. How can anyone misuse a creature with so much soul showing in their eyes? Only someone with no soul at all.
The beagles will need a lot of socialization before being ready to adopt. But I’ll bet they will fly out of PAWS when they are ready. They are beautiful dogs.
Also, when I shared this story with Glenna Tucker of Sweet Pups today, she told me Sweet Pups delivered 40 fully vetted dogs a month to PAWS for about three years. That’s a 4,000 mile round-trip made once a month. It got to be too much, so she stopped.
Rescue work is really hard and relentless. I don’t know how Glenna does it.
I did sleep next to him, with added floor padding. It was fine.
Thinking to return to my bed tonight—depending on how things go today.
I gave him the dewormer the vet told me to use last night, and it made him totally crazy.
I went against my best instincts in doing it too. Pancur is for ADULT hook worms, and he was clear last Thursday of everything in his fecal sample, including any eggs. Pancur is also very strong, and he would NOT need 6 or 7 days of it. Parasites are NOT the problem here—it’s a novel virus where best treatment is not yet clear. I’ll take him in to retest the fecal on the 16th and to have his blood checked again—and hopefully won’t need more help from them until then. But I am profoundly grateful that the vets were there to help me last Thursday.
Basically, Glenna is/was dealing with 5 puppies who came down with this horrible novel virus. She says no one is exactly sure how to treat it yet. But she knows what she has done that is making a difference. And she knows the adult dogs have not gotten it.
This morning Jackpot didn’t want to eat, and I had to force him to swallow the anti-nausea and the antibiotic. Violent and stressful. He DID eat his breakfast after a bit. And he did poop finally a bit later. It still had some blood in it, and some mucus, but was trying to form up in places. And it had a nice brown color except for where the blood was.
So, the rice/chicken, antihistamine, and probiotics are working.
Oh to have this kind of flexibility again!
We just came in from a lovely walk up at my neighbor’s property which he really enjoyed. (Me, too.) He was bouncing around pretty good by the time we left, and he was not letting me get too far ahead when he stopped to smell things. I cut the walk short as I didn’t want to overtire him. He would have happily gone for much longer.
I am including these videos so you can see he is doing much better.
Today he explored a drainage/wetland area filled with plants. It was a favorite spot of AC Slater’s. He always thought there were critters in there.
Below he played “critter in the bushes” in the middle of the lowest part.
He’s starting carrying sticks for long distances. Maybe there is some retriever in him?
We came in downstairs, and I went to move the dehumidifier from the bedroom to the quilt room, and he took himself off upstairs. I stopped to round him up, and get him back downstairs, and while I plugged in the dehumidifier, he peed the rug!!!
Some loss of communication there—he may think he has to go out upstairs to pee. And maybe that’s why he took himself off upstairs. It’s the first accident in many days now, if we don’t count the poop/pee in his bed Thursday morning when he was sick.
He’s my shadow. If I move, for the most part, he’s right on my heels. Except for getting loose in the house outside the kitchen—territory forbidden to him for the moment. He is especially fascinated with my bed upstairs, which we visit for me to shower or change clothes.
And in the kitchen, he asks to be picked up for belly rubs and cuddles.
After his post lunch quiet time, he asked to go outside by scratching at the door—unfortunately the screen—but REAL progress. And, he peed when he got outside.
Yesterday morning when I came downstairs, I saw that JP had pooped and peed his crate. The irony is that the poop was nicely formed. BUT, I could hear his stomach rumbling all over the kitchen, and he refused to eat, which was alarming. He loves to eat and loved his food.
After a bit, he threw up a lot of liquid—no particles in it. It was a dark red color in places that I thought was from his beef food—but now I don’t know. And then he was lethargic and not himself at all. I started worrying about dehydration, so gave him a little syringe of water, and before long, he threw that up as well.
Time to call the vet hospital.
And time to whirl around with what could be wrong. No blood in poop, so maybe not the virus. I caught him trying to chew on an old dead stalk at the base of one of the Annabelle hydrangeas when he went back into their deep shade to explore. Oh my heavens! All parts of hydrangeas are poisonous and can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but are not deadly toxic—just enough so that maybe the poisoned dog will need vet help with dehydration and nausea. And then, there are the local horrific stories about the blue/green algae that is present in some Maine ponds due to the drought and low water levels. That stuff will flat out kill a dog in a few days—and not much can stop it that I could see. He went swimming the day before with Boo doggie.
AND, we’re heading into a long weekend where my local vet hospital will be closed.
I still wasn’t thinking of a return of the viral colitis as there hadn’t been any problems that I could see in that morning poop. But around noon, the vet found fresh blood in his rectum and low red blood cells, but no Parvo. And by late afternoon when we got home with an antibiotic, anti-nausea pills, probiotics, and a decision and supplies to feed bland food (boiled rice with bits of white meat-no fat chicken) for at least 4 days before trying to add tiny bits of his real food, he had a horrible squirty, fresh blood, smelly diarrhea. I almost fainted at the force of it coming out of him.
It’s the viral colitis. It’s come back.
I messaged Glenna at Sweet Pups, and one of her previously sick pups had just passed some blood too. Not much, she said, but she was “on alert” with the puppies. She was as distraught as I was. It is a really nasty virus. It hits hard and fast—and, obviously, can come back. Glenna thinks it might be a mutation from something else, and she is thinking/investigating on that now. Viral mutations don’t always become more benign; they can and do get worse. Her vets are saying this virus is new, and they are not 100% sure how to best treat it.
Last night I did not want to leave JP all alone in his kitchen crate with the possibility of that bad diarrhea returning in the night. So I made a quick palette and slept beside him, and he could touch my hand with his nose through breaks in the crate. It comforted us both.
I woke at dawn, a little after 5. He was dry and clean, and he went right out to pee. And he’s been peeing on a regular basis all morning. He’s eaten two rice/chicken meals and taken all the morning meds—and he is clearly feeling much better. He’s been bouncing around the yard and clearly sees running to me when called is a fun game as he’s bouncing to me while grinning. But he’s also resting between being taken outside.
I think I got on this pretty fast, and I’m grateful for that.
He’s going back to the hospital at noon for a “run back” check to make sure he’s doing ok—before the long weekend arrives. The hospital will be closed for the long weekend. But the emergency clinic in Warren is open this weekend.
But, I think he’s doing better. And I’m hoping that with really careful handling, over time, he can be fully well. I will do my best for this adorable, precious puppy who is now snuggling and cuddling and sitting on my lap off and on to have a belly rub.
No poop yet today—and that’s probably a good thing. The state of the poop will be a good indicator of how he is doing. And, will determine if I sleep on the palette again tonight. If so, I’ll find another blanket for the under layer!!! But, mostly, sleeping next to him was a good decision. It comforted us both.
This morning, he tried jumping on the bed when I took him upstairs so I could shower and change clothes. He did master jumping from a chair I have up there to the bed, and back off. But until the diarrhea is under control, he’s better off in the crate. That stuff…. I’ve never seen or smelled anything like it. One thing “we” did this morning was to drag out the hose and wash down that part of the yard thoroughly.
Going forward, we’ll still have outings—he loves those. But I’ll keep them short and we’ll just stroll. He gets bored with the yard now. It just isn’t enough to keep him interested as I keep him near me and don’t let him off the grass. He is longing to run through the woods. But, he’s too young to handle the rocks and too young to learn the boundaries dictated by his radio collar. The latter would traumatize him this early in his life here.
And this morning, while sitting in my lap where he can see out the back windows, he spotted and alerted me to TWO huge deers just looking down at us sitting in the kitchen. One had little antlers, about 8 inches tall. We went right out (with me holding him so he didn’t try to chase them) and scared them off with a lot of yelling at them to “go away.”I hope the smelly deer spray is working.
PS: the vet visit went well. His blood counts are still low but have risen. They added 6 or 7 days of a wormer to make sure there is nothing parasitic in his gut. He had these tests before he left Texas, but Glenna says, too, that some parasites take time to develop and show up. Thus Glenna gave us all some worming tablets to give the dogs in a few days after arriving to make sure. I hadn’t given JP these tablets yet as his poop at the time was soft, and I wanted them to become more normal first, which they did…until…BAM!
It’s almost 4, and I was going to take him for a little stroll, but he’s been asleep now for about an hour. So, when he wakes up, we’ll stroll the yard, and then he’ll have a little dinner around 5.
Maybe I should start looking for that other blanket.
Jackpot met my beloved friend Linda early yesterday morning. She came in quietly, and he didn’t hear her until she was at the inside kitchen door. Oh my goodness! There is no question that he’s going to set up an alarm when someone comes. And he braced and barked in front of the kitchen door, all set to protect himself, me, the kitchen, and the house.
Of course he warmed up to her in no time at all. She is a darling, how could he not?
Our morning walk after the rain was at a neighbor’s property on the road above me. There are horses and trails, and the neighbor has always been so generous to share the trails with neighbors and friends.
Jackpot went off leash this visit right out of the car.
I let him go at his own pace most of the time, so he has plenty of time to smell everything. The walks are about us both having fun and are not meant to be about me exercising, though I am getting exercised I can tell you. There are many places where we both pick up the pace.
He found his first stick and proudly carried it around. I threw it ahead for him a few times. (There is now a paved drive to a newly built house that curves away from the trails.) I had wondered if he would chase a thrown stick. AC loved that game. Jackpot will learn to follow a thrown stick’s flight as the days pass. Right now I just threw down the road.
And guess what! He does all the stairs now. He went up earlier this morning, but I got this video later in the day.
After lunch, Jackpot had a quiet time in his crate while I paid some bills. Eventually, we went to pick up some fresh raw cream that I get each week, and on the way home, I think he graduated from his front seat hook-up. Here’s my new co-pilot. (There is a chain rigged to the back seat so he can’t get thrown forward.) And I desperately need a haircut—it got postponed until Jackpot came and had dedicated time with me.
Maybe the best part of the day happened on our second walk. We went over to the Snow Bowl again, and he met “Boo,” a favorite dog friend last seen last winter. Boo and Pete/Paul (I have to get that name sorted) thought he was seeing me with AC Slater, and Boo ran to greet us. She took Jackpot right down to the pond’s swimming hole and right into the water. She doesn’t go deep, but Jackpot followed her on the ramp and wherever she went. I wasn’t quick enough to get a better video. They were moving too fast. I’m sure we’ll see Boo (a rescue from Arkansas) and there will be more swimming along the way.
Here’s a picture I took of a stand of cat tails blowing in the wind. There is always a breeze in this “bowl” that is surrounded by hills/mountains. You can see the pond on the other side of the road. It’s a beautiful spot.
I had a VERY tired dog after he ate his dinner!
There were NO potty accidents all day. That’s a first.
We had a strong downpour this morning, so I took him out before and after that event. Early morning was a soft, misty rain, which did not stop his morning pee and poop. The turkeys were calling in the woods, and that distracted him at first.
He has learned to come and touch my open palm when I call “Jackpot, come here.” And I’ll always use those exact words combined with a hand signal. Of course he hasn’t been 100%, but mostly he is now. Accomplishing his ALWAYS hearing my voice and coming is a process that involves specific training actions on my part that make his behavior a fun game where he gets a lot of praise for doing this work WITH me, like a job. When he is 100%, we will be a team that works together reliably.
Yesterday I was able to mow and do all the laundry—either with him or when he was napping (which he is doing right now as I write). I was able to hang my sheets on the line while he napped and retrieve them with him at my heels. He was fascinated with my moving the mower to the back of the house and was happy to stay on the deck while I mowed that part of the lawn. I did the rest of the mowing after lunch when he was napping, exhausted, in his crate. That’s the only time I crate him during the day—and that will be just while he is a puppy who needs constant watching right now in order to learn the rules of the house.
We hiked the Erickson Trail again yesterday—and he was off leash all the way until the end, when he decided to take an unapproved excursion into one of the meadows at the edge of the trail. It was an opportunity to reinforce that he could not ignore my voice. BTW, there is NO punishment of any kind involved. The method just insists that he hear my voice when he is nearby or away from me. Eventually, he will run to come touch my hand with joy, as it will be a fun thing to do.
I learned this method from an older book called SMARTER THAN YOU THINK (Paul Loeb). My last three dogs ALL came every time, anywhere when called, and could “stay by me” at my side. AC Slater could also “back it up” when I needed him to do that, like at the door or at the edge of a street.
Here’s a little video I took this morning. This little boy is a happy creature. He brings the ball back to me and “drops” it when I say, unless he “puppy” forgets when he drops the ball away from me. Eventually, he’ll bring back a ball thrown outside and will “drop” on command. It’s all play for him and meant to be totally fun for both of us.
He’s also learning to receive and give affection. I get more and more kisses every day, and he always naps near my chair or my feet.
He tried to jump on the bed yesterday—but isn’t big enough yet to make that leap. And he’s too young and too new here for me to use his radio collar. He’s too puppy to handle the rock walls—AC used to go up and down the sheer drop of the front wall boulders like a goat. JP needs to get much better control of his body to attempt anything beyond the grass. So I keep him with me when we are outside.
It’s a bit after 10 am now so I’ll close and see if the storm bands have passed and we can go out for a walk.
PS: the WordPress theme I had been using was very old and had been retired—so I suddenly started having all sorts of trouble. The WordPress help people helped me find a new theme—and I think it is mostly installed now. I will need to do some more editing along the way maybe, but the posting problems are now gone.
Louisa Enright's Blog 