JAKE Starting June 2006

June 10, 2006

Jake, Molly and Glennie in the Clematis

Jake has turned into a very healthy, happy little boy. He is being kept very busy by going to school for both obedience and agility. He is also going to take a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) class soon. He does very well in school although the teenager is starting to show a bit. He isn't quite so obedient as he used to be.

Jake weighs just under 12 pounds now and that hasn't changed in a bit. It just fluxuates around that level. He is about 10 inches tall. Hopefully he will gain another 1/2 inch or so but no more because we want to compete in the 11 and under class in agility.

Jake hasn't learned all the agility obstacles yet because he is in the "obedience for agility" class but he has loved those he has had a shot at. He runs through the tunnel SO FAST! I am going to have to learn a whole new way of running a course because he is so much faster than Molly and Glennie. But that is GOOD!

Jake is getting a very heavy coat now and will have to have fairly frequent grooming. He still looks and acts like a baby and hasn't yet grown into his ears. He goes everywhere with us and behaves very well when he has to wait in his crate. He is also crated at bedtime and can't get there fast enough because he knows it means a cookie! He now sleeps through the night and his housebreaking has finally "taken". At least for the most part. His worst habit is eating everything he can get his mouth on. That has gotten him in trouble when he has picked up things outside especially. A chestnut made him very sick. This week he ate a baby bird! But he always comes through after these episodes and is fine. He has now received his ILP papers from the AKC which will allow him to compete in AKC events. His name, John Jacob, Jumpin' 4 Joy, is now official.

PHOTOS

Shirt made with the "kids" on it.... click here to have one made for your own kids!

Lazy days...the kids relax a bit (Jake and Molly; Glennie)

June 15, 2006

He finished his Fundamentals for obedience class last week and his teacher had nothing but nice things to say about his progress. Last night he finished his Obedience for Agility. They set up a "Rally/obedience" course which was really cute. There were stations at which they had to do what was posted, each something they learned in class. I put Jake into a stay in front of the jump chute and walked to the end of the third jump and called him. He HELD his stay easily and when I called "jump", he flew through the three jumps, called TUNNEL and he was through it in a flash and then TABLE/SIT and he was there in a sit before I could blink an eye! I am so used to having tons of time...I would have had a hard time running that with him...good thing he let me lead out! Then he again held his STAY and came to do the LEFT HAND TOUCH when called and SCOOT SITS(not so great but he got through it) and MOVING DOWN. The first time through he left me in the pinwheel to investigate a dropped cookie on the floor and wasn't paying attention on leaving the ring and pulled but the 2nd time through he did his PINWHEEL and the GO OUT TOUCH and when I put his lead on and told him to watch, he did and HEELED nicely out of the ring. I was so proud of him. His scoot sit wasn't great but the rest was excellent!

Jake starts the next agility class in another week and will be entering earthdog. I hope he will do the tunnels but so far he hasn't gotten into barking at the quary. Hope that will develop as he gets older. He has his APDT card so, if it isn't filled, maybe we will do APDT rally over the holiday weekend.

See photos of him and his siblings at photos

June 17, 2006

Jake tried his hand at earthdog on Saturday. He went right into the tunnels and, for the first time, went all the way through the junior tunnels to the rat. But then he was confused because he is used to agility tunnels which let him exit. He showed a bit more interest in the rat than in the past but still doesn't "get it".

June 24, 2006

This was supposed to have been Jake's first try at an official AKC leg in anything. We were going to go to Dayton for earthdog this weekend but his sister, Molly, hurt her knee and will be having surgery next week. Since she couldn't compete, we didn't go. She would have known where she was and been totally frustrated. And Jake hasn't developed any real critter instincts yet. So instead we have been enjoying the backyard.

July 1, 2006

Just some family photos to share. Jake is very busy at school and generally the pest a 7 month old should be!

JAKE

MOLLY

GLENNIE

Miss Molly injured her knee and had surgery. When she came home, she had her very own guardian angels watching over her!

The garden is blossoming and the weather is fine. They are spending a lot of time in the yard these days.

Jake's rescue story was published in the Summer issue of Imprint, the official publication of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America. Click here for the story.

July 21, 2006

Jake is now 8 months old. He is a very spirited little boy. Very different than my other two Westies. I'm sure some of it is his age but he does still have a different personality. He continues to enjoy school although his "come" has certainly gone to pot! He tries to turn it into a keepaway game which I have to work hard not to fall for. you can see how thick his coat is...it hasn't been quite a month since he was last groomed but he is looking pretty ragged! He is now 13.5# and is probably not going to get much larger....but he fools me every day so who knows!

August 13, 2006

Jake plays on the teeter. He is beginning to act a lot like a young teen....or a two year old. He likes to say "no"!

But he can be charming when he wants to be.

Jake will be 9 months old on Tuesday. He went to earthdog yesterday and had a lot of interest in the rat. He worked above ground but not underground. There was a lot of maturing that happened in this last month though. This is the first time he has been truly interested.

Today a baby robin managed to end up in our yard. Both boys spotted it and ran after it. I thought it was a goner. I yelled "leave it" and went into the bushes expecting to find it dead but instead I found both boys just sniffing it! I never thought they would obey my command since they had seen it earlier on the other side of the fence and were barking at it. I managed to pick it up and dump it over to the other side of the fence again so they couldn't get it. I was so impressed with them!! And so was mama bird who was flying back and forth and screaming!

I keep checking to see if he might stay under 11". Some days I think he will and other days I think he won't. This is Glennie in the back at 12 1/8; Molly in the middle at 10.5 and Jake in front. Looks like he is still going to make it! I am afraid it is more conformation than anything since his front end is short. But I'll take what I can get!! LOL

August 14, 2006

Jake passed the test for the AKC Canine Good Citizen today. He had to pass 10 tests to show that he can behave nicely in public.

August 26&27, 2006

Jake went to his first earthdog test. On Saturday, he passed Intro. I'm not sure he was working the rat; he may have been working to get out of the tunnel but the judge can't tell "why" he is digging! On Sunday, he got to the rat and worked 15 seconds before leaving Junior; When we put him back in, and I encouraged him, he did begin to chew the bars and tried to stick his nose between the bars. Pretty encouraging. He is really getting interested in critters now. He just has to put it altogether.

While he was waiting in the pen, he did manage to escape a couple of times! He had to be hooked to a long line as well as being within the pen. He can get out of most anything! Mom was working and he thought he should be with her! One time he got out and ran down the road (on the private property...not a public road) and headed towards the test area. Someone chased him down; Jake waited at the turn until he was almost there and then took off again! But he was caught and returned. I sometimes wonder how this boy is ever going to live to be a year old!

August 28, 2006

Jake is a foster brother for the first time....he helped welcome home a new little foster girl who needs a new home! So far, so good. All has been calm; actually calmer than I expected. Everyone is on their best behavior while Tinkerbell settles in.

September 23, 2006

Everyone is ready to start their earthdog weekend. By the end of the weekend Jake had passed intro once. He went in the junior ground both days and got to the rat but came back out fairly quickly. At 10 months of age, it is a little early for most boys to be able to earn this title. We're just happy that he is going into the tunnels so quickly. His brother, Glennie, also passed intro and his sister earned an Irondog Award by passing both Masters and Senior on the same day! Jake has big shoes to step into!

September 29, 2006

Jake has had a great time playing with his foster sister, Tinker. She is nearly 7 years old but loves to play with him. Jake is such an easy going fellow, that all the foster dogs seem to gravitate to him.

HALLOWEEN

Jake and his friends (sister Molly, brother Glennie, and foster sibling Tinkerbell) got dressed up for Halloween. They even won some toys for best costume.

November 4 and 5, 2006 APDT RALLY

Please excuse the rain bedraggled look...sometimes you have to take what you can get!!

We went to an Association of Pet Dog Trainers Rally Trial this weekend. It was our first one ever. We went because we wanted to try Rally in a Trial environment but one where there were no AKC titles at stake so I could relax and experience the ring without stress. If this happens, my dogs will not "feel" my stress and hopefully relax themselves. For Molly it is just practice to keep sharp as we wait for her attempt to complete her AKC RAE title in December; for Glennie it was to see if we could get him to relax in the ring and enjoy the experience and for Jake it was a "gentle" way to introduce him to the ring in a real trial environment. For him, we did not anticipate any Q's (qualifying runs) but were hoping for some level of attention.

What a wonderful experience it was! I DID relax and so did my dogs. Molly did the best job ever and qualified on every run including one where, because we had moved up a level, I had to teach her two of the exercises on the lunch hour! Glennie was so relaxed he asked for a belly rub Sunday morning while waiting for his run and he ran to the gate to get in on Sunday afternoon...and he took first place on that run! Jake surprised me totally by actually qualifying twice and he even placed once. (The last time out he was totally puppy and wanted to go visiting the judge and audience but by then I think he was pretty tired.) Jake only needs one more leg for his APDT Rally Level 1 title! More importantly, he showed me that he is able to work in the ring with much less distraction than his siblings had when they started out. He just needs to do some growing because there is no way he can work off lead yet! What a fun weekend we had.

You are invited to Jake's first birthday party. His story continues HERE