A Wonderful-Smelling Month

Today is Day 30 on the Canine GP and Jake is still enjoying being able to smell. For purposes of his daily journal, I took photos at Day One, Day Fifteen and then again today. As you can see Jake was busy smelling! We have continued to be pleased with the results of using the all-natural supplement. Jake is pleased that he can now eat hamburger, steak and tuna and not have an upset tummy or throw up. He loves being bribed with food that smells so wonderful.

Jake even finds his own balls that get lost in the woods and weeds so no more spider webs or snakes for dear old Mom (which I appreciate greatly). Jake puts his nose to the ground and keeps looking until he finds it instead of giving up and coming back to me for another ball.

Something smells really good over there!


Since you won't let me go see what smells so good, I'm just gonna lay down and make it difficult for you to take pictures.


Oh, well, that marshmellow smells really good...how about a close-up of my smoochy spot?

I think Jake just might have a future career ahead of him for modeling! Jake's very own No Worries Jake T-shirt came in the mail today and I just had to try it on him right away. The pictures aren't all that fantastic b/c it's pouring rain here but you get the idea...




I'm not talking to you, Mommy!


Well, okay, but only because you have marshmellows!


I'ts hard work looking this cute in some dumb T-shirt -- I think I'll lay down until you're done.


Jake's Puggle pal Frankie got a chance to model the Jake T-shirt, too! Frankie's mommy is the wonderful designer who made Jake his very own logo. Aww, how cute is that grinning face!

Jake Singing

Jake is laying on his favorite perch -- the window seat he stole from our cats -- and I was trying to upload video of him singing. It always gets him singing again to hear himself. If you are at work, you may want to turn your speakers down because Jake is a cattle dog and they only come in one volume -- LOUD! Of course, you'll miss the incredible ups and downs he can do but it wouldn't do for the boss to know you're not working, right?

Another Rained-out Agility Class

I always take Jake outside to play fifteen minutes of ball before agility class just to take that little bit of energy off the top. Armed with Hyperball Dog Launcher (NFI) and two squeaky tennis balls, I entered the mosquito-infested backyard with Jake who was doing his best impression of a Jack Russell Terrier, bouncing at my side. Jake immediately sits when we are in side the backyard gate because he knows the leash will not come off until he does. Then we practice our WAIT command -- Jake remains seated and I walk off. Theoretically Jake waits until I use my hand signal and "Jake, WITH ME" and he races with me to the normal ball launching site. The wonderful side benefit of Jake being able to smell again is that he can find his own tennis balls when they get lost in the woods or weeds. No more spiderwebs or snakes for Mommy (for which I will be forever indebted to Canine GP)! Jake used to give up searching for the ball even if I could see the ball from where I'm standing across the yard. Now he slaps that black, wet nose to the ground and doggedly (no pun intended) looks for that ball. Once he finds it, he comes bouncing back to me with his head held high, squeaking that tennis ball as often as his jaws can manage. So I launch the ball once, twice, three times and BOOM! Jake slapped his whole body to the ground and I wasn't far from doing the same myself. We raced for the house just in time for the lightening, thunder and pouring rain to hit the yard. The minute I hit the front door my cell phone was ringing to let me know classs was cancelled. Jake was terribly confused as I put away his agility class backpack. I couldn't leave my little man looking so downhearted so I pulled out his traveling contact board and we practiced using the steak pieces I had saved for class. I never would have thought that I could use steak to tempt Jake into showing me just how smart he is without facing the dire consequences of feeding him meat. I am happy to report that the steak test went very well -- no gas, no vomiting, no diarrhea, just one happy dog! And one happy Mom because Jake made sure to nail his "HIT IT" every single time I asked. Now if he'll just do that is class next week and show Miss Mary how hard he's been working to earn that steak and chicken.

Leaping a Major Hurdle

I felt so encouraged last night at agility class. The teeter totter was up first on the menu and Jake raced across it with no fear. Next we did a jump/jump/A-frame set. Jake actually sat and waited for me to get in position ahead of him before I released him to run the obstacle. We had some problems with him hitting the contact correctly but most of that was my fault, my body language. Jake was so mellow at the end of running this obstacle set that he actually rolled onto his back for our teacher to pet his belly. And then (drum roll, please) the class was hit with our largest obstacle set yet:



Jake was really confused in the tunnels for some reason -- he'd come all the way through, get one foot from the end and turn around and run back out the entrance. After the second try, Jake just had to show the new class assistants what zooming was all about. Jake zoomed around the yard once, twice, and into the woods to take a poop. He tamely came back to me after using the bathroom and we headed back to the first jump. Our first time on this set didn't go as planned but it's the first time we did so many obstacles with Mr. Short-Attention-Span. We had much more success on the jump/high dogwalk this week. Jake again approached another obstacle that he previously feared with much more confidence. We hadn't done the weave poles in a while so, after the initial confusion, Jake did show he remembered how to do this obstacle. Overall, though, I was really pleased with Jake last night, especially since we haven't had class for two weeks. He wasn't his wild and crazy self (he normally does air whirlies) when people stoop to pet him. He laid completely sprawled on the ground, chewing a stick or a piece of grass, when it wasn't his turn. Jake watched my face more intently than he usually does. Occasionally something smelled really good as a stiff wind picked up from an oncoming rain storm. Armed with chicken, though, I was able to easily get his attention back. And to top it all off, all the chicken didn't upset Jake's tummy at all!

Jake's Nose is Reborn

Nineteen days ago we began Jake on Canine GP. We had a couple of goals in mind when starting this canine supplement. Jake's always had an oversensitive stomach, he doesn't seem to be able to smell even the stinkiest treats, and his ability to focus is random at best. We chose Canine GP after hearing wonderful stories of recovery for horses and dogs in much worse shape than our young Jake. With Jake being an active dog we wanted to have around a long time, Canine GP seemed to be the perfect solution to all of Jake's physical problems. I began keeping a journal to keep track of Jake's progress as well as photos since it's hard to see changes yourself when you see your dog every day. Jake's tummy has improved to the point where he can eat cooked chicken and hamburger without dire results in the bathroom department. Jake has not thrown up his ritual morning bile but once at the beginning of the month. Jake has gone from not being able to smell sharp cheddar cheese right in front of his nose on the white kitchen floor to running into the kitchen with his nose in the air when I start cooking. Taking him out to use the bathroom and going for walks have become much longer processes since he wants to stop and smell everything but I'm just happy he can smell again.

Our first photo session was the previously listed "Jake the Uber Goober" pictures at the first of this month. On the 15th I set about to take Jake's picture again. Jake allowed me to take one head-on photo before he got totally preoccupied with sniffing our backyard. Our backyard is a protected wildlife habitat so it's full of lots of smells, including our landlady's many outdoor cats. I could not distract Jake from sniffing even with mini marshmellows:



Another side issue with Jake that we didn't expect to improve is the "feathering" on Jake's front pads. Feathering can be caused by a mineral deficiency (which we had ruled out at the vet's) or is purely genetic. While the feathering doesn't seem to bother Jake, the feathering is sharper than his claws and makes horrible gauges when it meets human skin. We were amazed to find that although the feathering is still there for the moment that Jake's pads have gotten softer and the feathering is no longer scratchy. Here's an example of the feathering:



Canine GP is also helping with Jake's focus. I have noticed he is calmer when we do our daily training sessions. Jake meets my eyes with a steady gaze and doesn't even notice when the cats saunter by begging for Jake's training treats. I can't wait for agility class tonight (we haven't had the classes the last two weeks due to rain) to see how Jake has improved in that area.

We are looking forward to what continued usage of Canine GP will do for Jake. I have a link to the Canine GP and Equine GP website to the right on this page if you are interested in learning more about these products.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Jake and I were playing ball outside when we got the news -- agility had been cancelled for the second week in a row due to rain. I know we desperately need the rain here in SC but there are six perfectly good other days in the week to rain. And why is it only raining where we hold our agility class? I don't live that far away and our backyard is hot, sunny, and a buffet for hungry mosquitos. I did my best to wear Jake out with his squeaky tennis ball. I think I did a good job -- what do you think?

The Blur Comic Hits Shelves

No, really, I was just playing with some blurry pics of Jake on Microsoft Picture It late one night. I loosely based the cover on the first cover of The Flash. Enjoy!

Jake accompanied me on a week long trip to my grandparents in the mountains of Brevard, NC. Jake loves these trips because the cows live at the end of their driveway. The cove is always full of baby cows and they are so curious about Jake. When we first got there, the cows were across the field. Jake looked so sad that the cows were WAY over there.



So we went for a walk in the cove to get Jake closer to his cows. The bull is one handsome fella, pictured here with one of his harem, and amazingly all the babies look like him!



Jake always gets to cool off in a side stream that runs off the water falls. It's ice cold water. My aunt and mother have no idea I'm videoing so they just keep talking, talking -- it's part of their charm! My mother was holding onto Jake's leash and I guess I should have warned her about the zoomies! Watch her hang on for dear life!





Jake's sense of smell has magically appeared due to the Canine GP supplement we have him on. Jake walked around smelling everything. Everything he smelled, he also had to lick. He smelled and licked roses, magazines, greeting cards, cabinets, rocks, ME and of course his baby cow fans. When the babies noticed Jake, they started moving over to the fence. Jake threw his head back and was sniffing the air. He got a look on his face that said something didn't smell so good. I had to agree that those babies were quite pungent that day.



Stinky or not, Jake just had to give them kisses!

Runner-up in the Beauty Pagent

Jake won Runner-up in the May Fancy Cross-Dress Photo Contest on AuCaDo! It wasn't first place but it was our first try! Jake's daddy came across some of his movie goddess pictures on the camera when he was taking some agility photos for me. He wasn't happy but Jake's forgiven me. He drags the boa around the house killing it!

Swamp Puppy

A couple of months ago I did a home visit for TVCDR and met a wonderful family that soon joined the ranks of cattle dog owners by adopting a blue boy named Ollie. They invited us to go kayaking with them in the Sparkleberry Swamp. Jake had never been canoeing but he's pretty game for everything as long as he's with his mom. We popped Jake in his lifejacket, only to have him immediately roll in stinky swamp mud and clover. We threw a quite pungent Jake in the canoe...



Our mini fleet consisted of two kayaks and our big canoe. Jake would start whining anytime his "herd" broke up. At one point the four-seater kayak with the three little girls disappeared around a bend. Jake began his howling song. He sounded so sad that the kayak came back to make sure he was okay. He immediately sat down rather satisfied with himself that we had come together again.







Jake did really well in general. He kept trying to "help" me paddle (i.e. I need to put my paddle in the water -- Jake puts his head smackdab in the way to see what I'm doing). At one point we figured out he had to potty but he didn't understand that there was nothing solid to stand on for potty purposes. We were close to a little "island" of floating plants and he took a flying leap out of the canoe. It scared me to death when I saw him panic and get all tangled up in those plants. We kept calling to him and he got more and more entangled. I was so thankful that he had his lifejacket on. Using the three boats, we were able to aim him back to our canoe. He decided he could hold it until we found land. This was my first time canoeing, too, and my arms were so ready to give out after paddling for five hours. Jake had been riding pressed up against my back but just when I didn't think I would paddle any more, Jake stepped up to help be my co-pilot:


Jake was exhausted working all day herding his boats and helping me paddle.

For all of you who have seen Jake going kamakaze in the Congaree River video from Memorial Day weekend, I thought you might like to see the video of Jake's first time in the water. We were at Folly Beach and Jake was six months old. We were playing with his new water dummy in a tidal pool.

Jake's First Jolly Ball

We ordered Jake one of the 10-inch Jolly Balls since he loves the soccer ball so much but it wasn't made to stand up to dog teeth and claws.



Attack!


I just can't seem to get my mouth around this thing!


I like this ball, Mom!

The Bucking Bronco Takes a Break

We left the Bucking Bronco at home this week and instead Jake the Amazing Agility Dog was at my side. Of course, I came armed with a new treat this week -- itty bitty chicken pieces from our dinner the night before. Our first obstacle set for the night was the biggest Jake had ever attempted -- A-frame, tunnel, 2 jumps and then the tire. We planted one of our teachers at the exit of the tunnel with the chicken. Jake scrambled up that A-frame, hit his 2-on-2off pose beautifully at the bottom, and then headed into the tunnel at the slowest trot I have ever seen him use. Mid-tunnel, it must have kicked in that he was in the tunnel and he came zooming out, only to put on extreme brakes when he smelled that chicken. Jake repeated his calm performance twice more, all for the sake of that chicken. The jump and high dogwalk combo was done with a bit of trepidation on Jake's part but by the last repeat the confidence was starting to appear. The teeter totter was a great success with Jake leaping onto the platform himself and not even noticing the slight bang on the other end. The chicken was really working. Jake started to go a little crazy when we began the jump/chute set. He was so proud of himself that he was running to the jump backwards while I'm struggling to hang onto his collar. I was really proud of Jake tonight for not zooming even once. Chicken may be on the menu every Tuesday night if it produces such good behavior.

Our classmates:
Gracie the Golden Retriever taking the jump

Buttons the Boxer showing no fear on the teeter totter

Cosmo the English Cocker Spaniel zipping through the tunnel