The Continuing Adventures of Jake

Okay, first a disclaimer: There is nothing not appropriate for all ages in this post and certainly NO pictures to prove it happened this time. =) That being said, on with the story...

With my husband and myself being the only people who live in our house, the bathroom door being closed is always just a personal option during a shower. If you close it, it will probably be opened at least once if not four or five times to let all the warm air out of the bathroom. After several sessions in the shower hearing Jake shriek at the top of his lungs like he was dying being shut up in his kennel during shower time, Jake is always invited to join the festivities. He slinks into the bathroom and lays down slowly on the dark purple bathroom rug and tries to appear camouflage to his arch enemy Mr. BathTub. He doesn't move except to slink a little closer to the air conditioning vent in the wall when it kicks on. Sometimes Jake even brings Mr. Cow in with him to give him extra courage to face Mr. BathTub. We've had this routine in place for a good five months now. Jake doesn't lick you when you get out (as I've heard other people's ACDs do) or even try to steal one of his favorite toys, Mr. Towel.

So...last night I am in the shower and rinsing my face off in the hot jet stream. I jumped sky high and about drowned screaming in the shower spray when something licked the back of my leg. As soon as I could wipe the water out of my eyes, I saw Jake standing completely in the bathtub with me. He's wagging his tail and drinking the water fountain running off my elbow. I stood aside to let the shower hit him and he was done in a flash. Back to showering. Of course, now this has become a Game. Jake jumps back in the shower and I repeat the shower blast. Three times is a charm and Jake dives under the shower curtain but not out of the tub. The little booger walks forward in the tub using the shower curtain liner to shield him from the water and sticks his long pink tongue out from under the liner into the shower stream to take long, satisfying laps of hot water. After I scooted him out of the tub for the final time, he spent the last few minutes of my shower wiping his wet face off on my dry pajamas. He is way too smart for his own good. I told my husband we need to re-evaluate just how much the shrieking bothers us during shower time.

Jake's ACD Friend Pepper

All of the cattle dogs at the herding party were definitely unique in look and personality. One of the female blues named Pepper was almost an amazing match for Jake, especially from behind! She's, of course, taller and sleeker but in some of the blurrier herding pictures even I was hard-pressed to tell the two apart. Pepper took to the sheep just like Jake did and was proud of herself enough to check and make sure her momma was still at the fence waiting for her. I felt comforted that Jake was not the only wild child there.

Jake 9 Months Old -- Giving the Sheep a Run for their Wool

Since Jake is a herding dog, we've always wanted to be able to give him a chance to use those cattle dog genes. We live in the city and our backyard is not big enough for stock. Fortunate for us, we know people who have sheep and a herding party was arranged. We belong to a local cattle dog club and one of our members has the perfect scene for this party. Up early to beat the heat, my husband and I drove to the member's farm. As I opened up the back door of the car, Jake took a flying leap out, almost hanging himself since he was still attached to the seatbelt harness. Once we got Jake untangled, he only had eyeballs for the wooly creatures in the pasture. We were shortly joined by many other ACDs and their people. The sheep were terrified of the gathering of those intense dogs. Jake was second to try his paw at the herding. My husband and I had gone prepared for #1 Jake to not be interested and #2 for Jake to embarrass us totally (you never know with ACDs). Our boy did us proud though! Jake took to herding like a little pro. Jake was moving so fast that it was hard to take pictures of him. Do you know how hard it is to take pictures of your dog when you are jumping up and down and yelling, "Good boy, Jake"? Luckily for us, everyone else brought their cameras, too.

Jake's new ACD friends all had a chance to enter the pasture and scare those sheep to death. A few stared blankly at the sheep and looked at their owners, "You want me to do what?" Others hung onto those wooly coats for dear life with their teeth. My favorite was Posey -- she ran the sheep in one good go-round and then ran right back to her momma waiting at the gate. The cattledogs were glued to the fence, trying to squeeze body parts through so that they could help out whatever dog was currently working the sheep. Jake even gave it his best imitation of a mole, trying to squeeze under the bottom of the fence. I am always in awe of the wide variety of coloring that comes with this breed and the group gathered for herding this day was no exception to the rule. And as soon as I can get the picture uploading to behave, I will add some more photos of Jake's friends.


Jewel


Rosie


Axel

When the Carolina sun became too much to bear for all the two-legged and four-legged creatures, the humans headed in for some much needed lunch. The dogs were left to explore in the fenced backyard. Jake couldn't help himself and taunted the other dogs to play chase. He would get in the sandbox and kick the sand out and pounce at the closest dog. He was a little bit surprised when all of a sudden three of the adult dogs decided to take the young whippersnapper up on his offer at the same time. Jake was so tired by the time we put him back in our car that he didn't even care if he had to wear the seatbelt. He curled up on my sweater and passed out. What a great day to be a cattle dog!

How to Make Sure Your Teeth Aren't Loose -- ACDs are good for many useful things, such as making sure your teeth are really attached to your jaw. After having the Holee Roller ball recommended to us by a fellow ACD tugger, Jake has been giving the toy a run for our money. He doesn't care what you use to pull the other end of the ball as long as somehow the ball is being tugged upon.

Jake 9 Months Old And Not the Only Baby in the Family Anymore -- On July 25, my parents finally gave me the baby sister I always wanted (I only had to keep asking for 30 years to get one). Of course we all loaded in the car to go visit and spend some time with the new sibling. Jake always loves to visit with his Border Collie Uncle Ian (who could live without the cattledog). They spend hours playing in Ian's favorite creek where they dive for heavy rocks and practically drown trying to get the best ones out. They were so exhausted after hours of rock diving that Jake finally got his wish -- Ian was too tired to notice that Jake was curled up next to him! With all the baby holding, Jake crawled into his daddy's lap and wanted some human cuddle time, too!