Today is J-Day!

[Winchester]

I think we'll go with once every 5-6 weeks -- pending unforeseen circumstances -- and see how it works out. I want her to be clean and I want her to feel good (not that I know if a dog feels better when she's clean

). I'm brushing her about once a week, checking/cleaning ears, etc.

Thanks!

 

[stewball]

My dog would hide under the coffee table when it was time for a bath. Silly big boy. He couldn't hide there.

 

[Winchester]

Our Miss J spent her first complete night in the bedroom. We went to bed around 9:30 or so and put the gate up at the end of the hallway like we normally do. Well! The Beast decided she wanted no part of that gate.....enough was enough.....and the gate came crashing down about ten minutes later. She came trotting back the hallway and into the bedroom, tried to get up on the bed, but couldn't quite make it, and flopped down on the floor next to the elliptical. 

I couldn't have her sleeping on the floor and Rick was going to make her go back out to the living room. That just didn't seem fair; after all, we're all back in the bedroom. So I went out to the living room, picked up her beds, plopped them on the floor, and she flopped down on her beds.

And that was that for the rest of the night. I heard her jingles during the night when she was trying to get the top bed out of the way. Other than that, she slept. She jingles because she has several years of dog license tags on her collar. When we get this year's license, we're going to take the other license tags off, so she doesn't jingle anymore. But then, I'm afraid I won't know where she's at! While her nickname is Miss J, the J really stands for Jingles. And I will often call her my Jingle-Girl. So now she has nicknames, too (The Beast, Miss J, Jingle-Girl)

(She has two beds. Her bed that we brought from the house. And her new Kong bed that is huge and comfy. She loves her Kong bed, but she likes to use her old bed as a pillow. So she'll get up and start pawing at the old bed to get it into the position she wants. Once she has it just the way she wants it, she flops back down.)

I"m not trying to be cruel, honest, I'm not, but she really can't be on our bed at night. Rick, me, and six cats are more than enough. She's tried to sleep with all of us, but the slightest move sends her off the bed anyway...and we all move way too much to suit her. Heck, when Rick moves around, BooBoo hisses at him! She's fine if it's just me and the cats or just Rick and the cats, but when we're all in bed, it's just too much. She seemed more than content on her beds last night. And she was right with us, so I think it was OK.

Baby....er, puppy....steps. 

 

[Columbine]

Perfectly reasonable not to want her in the bed with you. She'd probably get too hot and want to move anyway. Leah, like Brandy before her (both labs), has a huge bed on the floor by my mum's bed, and happily sleeps there every night (she starts out in her crate in dad's room, and moves at about 12-1am). If it's cold (mum likes a cold bedroom and dad likes a warm one) she'll be covered with a fleece blanket and/or an old single duvet. When Cali was alive, he had his own bed on the dog bed in mum's room, and he'd sleep there every night - he loved the labradors :heart3:

The greyhound, however, is the original heat seeking missile! Even now, at 13 with chf, he'll launch himself into my bed from the doorway, and insist on being wrapped in the duvet...with his head on a feather pillow. He's even been caught cuddling hot water bottles!

 

[Kat0121]

Bailey doesn't sleep in my bed. Never has. She has her own bed and she likes it. 

 

[larussa]

She seemed more than content on her beds last night. And she was right with us, so I think it was OK.
Baby....er, puppy....steps. 

That sounds so cozy with all of you in the bedroom at night.  I bet Jackie felt so good being with you all, if she is a good girl, maybe this can go on every night.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

You can use a dremel to cut her nails. It just wears down the nails and doesn't make them bleed. Black nails are the worst, I know!

Here is one we got my brother's dog for Christmas.

 

[Columbine]

You can use a dremel to cut her nails. It just wears down the nails and doesn't make them bleed. Black nails are the worst, I know!

Here is one we got my brother's dog for Christmas.

http://www.amazon.com/PediPaws-3269-6-Pet-Nail-Trimmer/dp/B001FMHZSC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452721695&sr=8-1&keywords=pedipaws

I'd be a little cautious about this - especially as Jackie's now keen on her claws being messed with. The noise it makes could spook her and make her more convinced that her claws should be left alone! My instinct is that this is something to try only with a dog who's happy about having their claws handled

 

[miagi's_mommy]

It's actually not that loud.  Most dogs don't like their nails messed with, that's normal...

 

[stewball]

My vet would cut candy's nails for free when b could here them clicking
On the floor.

 

[Winchester]

I'm probably going to call PetSmart for an appt for her claws as they're getting long again. The vet had just done them back in November when she went in for an exam for that urinary tract infection. We managed to get one claw trimmed last night and oh, heavens, she thought the world came to an end. It took both of us to do one claw. And such screaming and carrying on. It was Mollipop ten times! (And I can handle all 8 pounds of our Miss Pop. I can't handle 35 pounds of our Miss J!) So nope, not going there.

She's sleeping back in the bedroom now all the time. I stayed out in the living room with her last night while Rick was bowling.....she and I were flopped on the couch with Molli sleeping on my belly. Molli will not go to bed until I do. And Jackie will not go into her bed in the bedroom until Rick and I are both in bed. Last night, I brought her beds back to the bedroom. Jackie came with me, but she didn't lie down; Rick was in the bathroom and Jackie paced about the bedroom until he walked in. It wasn't until Rick got into bed with me that Jackie would lay down. It's like all her people have to be in one place. And then all is right in her world. 

 She went to bed and soon we heard her snoring. 

Columbine, that's adorable about your greyhound and the water bottle. Our Tabby has started to lay on the bathroom floor now with all four paws tucked under the register. She's figured out that it's really warm right there. I'd like to put a pillow there for her to lay on, but I'm too afraid the pillow will start a fire.

 

[Winchester]

Just a (not-so) quick update on The Beast. 

We are doing well. Jackie has adapted very well to our routines. She's not particularly happy when we leave in the morning, but she knows that it's what we do. We just deal with her barking when we come home; I have learned that it's what she does. She's a dog. Dogs bark. And it is more barking now than screaming. And she calms down fairly quickly now, too. It's worse if we come home and she REALLY needs to get outside and I can understand that. Even though we do take her outside right before we leave the house, sometimes dogs gotta go.

Got the claws trimmed. She's eating the chewies that are supposed to make her not want to eat the kids' poop; the chewies are not working. She makes a beeline for the litter boxes every chance she gets. So the gates are pretty much kept at the entrance to the bathroom and at the hallway and she stays in the living room unless we're in the other rooms and can keep an eye on her. So on Saturday mornings, when Rick and I are both in the computer room, she's right there with us....we bring one of her beds back and she'll flop down and watch from there. 

She's content to sleep in her beds at night in the bedroom; she makes no attempts at all to get on our bed anymore and I don't push it. Her beds are very comfortable, I think and she's OK there.

No more Composure and the only time she wears her Thundershirt is when we take her out on the Trail for her walks. 

No issues with the cats, except for Mollipop and we think that's jealousy. Molli is my girl and Jackie does have some problems with that. If Molli is in my lap on the couch, Jackie will try to root her off. It doesn't work most of the time because I will always stick up for Molli. Molli comes first. Jackie doesn't even try to eat their food at lunch. She's OK with waiting til they get their lunch and then she gets hers. If we could just get over that eating-poop hurdle.....

Muffin has some problems with Jackie. Muffin is very much a "Stay out of my purrsonal space!" kind of cat and she doesn't even tolerate the other cats being close to her, let alone The Beast. So she's always yelling at Jackie to stay away. Most of the time Jackie's OK with that, but sometimes, it's almost like Jackie likes to pick on her and she'll get real close to her, just so Muffin will yell at her. 

 Then she'll move away. The other day, Rick got a really good picture of all the kids....Jackie had flopped on the couch and all six cats were in the living room in various places. Nobody was concerned at all. They were either napping or just hanging about.

The cats take Jackie's beds whenever they can. Most of the time Jackie doesn't mind; she'll flop down on the couch. When she does want her beds back, she'll nose the offending cat. The cat will move (or sometimes not move) and Jackie will take her beds back or she'll sigh and hit the couch.(Tabby loves Jackie's beds and she'll curl up right in the middle. The other day, I was sitting on the couch. Jackie came in from getting a drink in the kitchen and Tabby was in her bed. She nosed Tabby, but Tabby wouldn't move. So Jackie came over to me and I knew she wanted Tabby gone. She kept looking over at Tabby in her bed. So I picked Tabby up and put on in the cat tree and she went back to sleep. Jackie flopped down in her bed and she went to sleep.) She has three beds. One is her old bed that's now on top of her big Kong bed that we bought when she first came here. She likes to move her old bed around and then flop down on her Kong bed and use the old bed as a pillow. Then she has her orthopedic bed in the kitchen and she'll flop down on that, so she can be with us while we're eating dinner. We take her two beds back to the bedroom at night for her and bring them back out to the living room in the morning.

I have realized that dogs are very optimistic creatures. Jackie will stay in the kitchen with me the entire time I'm cooking, hoping that I will drop something. I do my best not to drop anything, simply because I don't want her to be eating table scraps or anything like that, not with her bladder issues. I'm really careful. But the other week I was making Red Beans and Rice and I dropped one kidney bean on the floor. That thing was scooped up so fast! I mean, she was there in a flash! So she's always right there because you never know.....I just might drop something and she needs to be there to "clean it up". And you can almost see the way she thinks. She's very optimistic that one day, something's gonna end up on the floor. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow....but someday. And she needs to be there when it does.

She loves to investigate. She'll nose around in the open cabinets, in the closets when the doors are open. She's constantly checking things out. 

And that tail of hers? The entire time she's awake, that tail is wagging. The very first thing she does in the morning when she wakes up is come over to me, jump up and give me a slurp. I'm sitting on the side of the bed, trying to wake up and she's right there. She makes me smile. I give her a kiss on her forehead. And she makes me smile when we're outside and she's prancing around the yard with her tail going. 

We're not doing the PetSmart classes. At this point, I don't see the need. She's good outside, she's always known her manners. She's leaves the cats' food alone and lets them eat. She knows basic commands and she's really good to walk outside. She knows that she has to walk unless I say "Let's go!" and then we run. And that girl can run. Oh, I did teach her something. When somebody new comes to the house, Jackie always comes over to say hello. But one of the things she now does is that when I say, "Jackie, say Hello!" she will sit down and raise her right paw. She does that now with my sister all the time and my sister just loves it. Yeah, she barks and carries on when somebody comes to the house, but that doesn't bother me. Doesn't take her long at all to settle down.

I really think she's happy here. I think she has adapted well to us and to our routines. Part of that, though, is that I had to adapt to her, too. I'm still not a real dog person. But I am a Jackie person. 

Thank you for reading my posts about her. There at the beginning, I know I was frustrated and stressed. For a while there, my stress level was someplace up around the stratosphere. I've calmed down a lot and that helped Jackie to calm down, too. I swear that that girl gets a lot of love and attention from us. And she's doing really well. 

 

[artiemom]

I was so happy to read this post!  I had a big smile on my face the entire time--and it is still there.

you guys went through a lot with Jackie; she did also. I am so relieved that everything has turned out so well.

Jackie does seem to love everyone in the house. You are her 'people'; family....

 

[jcat]

What a great update! It sounds like Jackie is determined to make a dog person out of you, too. :lol3:

 

[denice]

I am so glad all of you have adjusted.  I personally am both a dog and cat person but circumstances dictated cats for quite some time.  I could have a small dog now but the kitties are almost 13 and have never been around a dog so I will leave well enough alone.  I also have a two pet limit and two kitties so no dog.

 

[larussa]

 

Amen to the Jackie saga, so happy for all of you.

 

[Columbine]

What a great update! It sounds like Jackie is determined to make a dog person out of you, too. :lol3:

A really wonderful update

Jackie reminds me so much of my Leah - she's exactly the same when we're cooking...we call cleaning up dropped food her 'housework' :lol3:

So, so pleased everything has worked out so well for you all Leaving the poop alone should come in time...it just takes a while

 

[handsome kitty]

Love the up-date.  Glad to hears things are working out for all of you.

 

[stewball]

Just a (not-so) quick update on The Beast. 

We are doing well. Jackie has adapted very well to our routines. She's not particularly happy when we leave in the morning, but she knows that it's what we do. We just deal with her barking when we come home; I have learned that it's what she does. She's a dog. Dogs bark. And it is more barking now than screaming. And she calms down fairly quickly now, too. It's worse if we come home and she REALLY needs to get outside and I can understand that. Even though we do take her outside right before we leave the house, sometimes dogs gotta go.

Got the claws trimmed. She's eating the chewies that are supposed to make her not want to eat the kids' poop; the chewies are not working. She makes a beeline for the litter boxes every chance she gets. So the gates are pretty much kept at the entrance to the bathroom and at the hallway and she stays in the living room unless we're in the other rooms and can keep an eye on her. So on Saturday mornings, when Rick and I are both in the computer room, she's right there with us....we bring one of her beds back and she'll flop down and watch from there. 

She's content to sleep in her beds at night in the bedroom; she makes no attempts at all to get on our bed anymore and I don't push it. Her beds are very comfortable, I think and she's OK there.

No more Composure and the only time she wears her Thundershirt is when we take her out on the Trail for her walks. 

No issues with the cats, except for Mollipop and we think that's jealousy. Molli is my girl and Jackie does have some problems with that. If Molli is in my lap on the couch, Jackie will try to root her off. It doesn't work most of the time because I will always stick up for Molli. Molli comes first. Jackie doesn't even try to eat their food at lunch. She's OK with waiting til they get their lunch and then she gets hers. If we could just get over that eating-poop hurdle.....

Muffin has some problems with Jackie. Muffin is very much a "Stay out of my purrsonal space!" kind of cat and she doesn't even tolerate the other cats being close to her, let alone The Beast. So she's always yelling at Jackie to stay away. Most of the time Jackie's OK with that, but sometimes, it's almost like Jackie likes to pick on her and she'll get real close to her, just so Muffin will yell at her. :lol3:  Then she'll move away. The other day, Rick got a really good picture of all the kids....Jackie had flopped on the couch and all six cats were in the living room in various places. Nobody was concerned at all. They were either napping or just hanging about.

The cats take Jackie's beds whenever they can. Most of the time Jackie doesn't mind; she'll flop down on the couch. When she does want her beds back, she'll nose the offending cat. The cat will move (or sometimes not move) and Jackie will take her beds back or she'll sigh and hit the couch.(Tabby loves Jackie's beds and she'll curl up right in the middle. The other day, I was sitting on the couch. Jackie came in from getting a drink in the kitchen and Tabby was in her bed. She nosed Tabby, but Tabby wouldn't move. So Jackie came over to me and I knew she wanted Tabby gone. She kept looking over at Tabby in her bed. So I picked Tabby up and put on in the cat tree and she went back to sleep. Jackie flopped down in her bed and she went to sleep.) She has three beds. One is her old bed that's now on top of her big Kong bed that we bought when she first came here. She likes to move her old bed around and then flop down on her Kong bed and use the old bed as a pillow. Then she has her orthopedic bed in the kitchen and she'll flop down on that, so she can be with us while we're eating dinner. We take her two beds back to the bedroom at night for her and bring them back out to the living room in the morning.

I have realized that dogs are very optimistic creatures. Jackie will stay in the kitchen with me the entire time I'm cooking, hoping that I will drop something. I do my best not to drop anything, simply because I don't want her to be eating table scraps or anything like that, not with her bladder issues. I'm really careful. But the other week I was making Red Beans and Rice and I dropped one kidney bean on the floor. That thing was scooped up so fast! I mean, she was there in a flash! So she's always right there because you never know.....I just might drop something and she needs to be there to "clean it up". And you can almost see the way she thinks. She's very optimistic that one day, something's gonna end up on the floor. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow....but someday. And she needs to be there when it does.

She loves to investigate. She'll nose around in the open cabinets, in the closets when the doors are open. She's constantly checking things out. 

And that tail of hers? The entire time she's awake, that tail is wagging. The very first thing she does in the morning when she wakes up is come over to me, jump up and give me a slurp. I'm sitting on the side of the bed, trying to wake up and she's right there. She makes me smile. I give her a kiss on her forehead. And she makes me smile when we're outside and she's prancing around the yard with her tail going. 

We're not doing the PetSmart classes. At this point, I don't see the need. She's good outside, she's always known her manners. She's leaves the cats' food alone and lets them eat. She knows basic commands and she's really good to walk outside. She knows that she has to walk unless I say "Let's go!" and then we run. And that girl can run. Oh, I did teach her something. When somebody new comes to the house, Jackie always comes over to say hello. But one of the things she now does is that when I say, "Jackie, say Hello!" she will sit down and raise her right paw. She does that now with my sister all the time and my sister just loves it. Yeah, she barks and carries on when somebody comes to the house, but that doesn't bother me. Doesn't take her long at all to settle down.

I really think she's happy here. I think she has adapted well to us and to our routines. Part of that, though, is that I had to adapt to her, too. I'm still not a real dog person. But I am a Jackie person. 

Thank you for reading my posts about her. There at the beginning, I know I was frustrated and stressed. For a while there, my stress level was someplace up around the stratosphere. I've calmed down a lot and that helped Jackie to calm down, too. I swear that that girl gets a lot of love and attention from us. And she's doing really well. 

Last week blighty was sick under my bed. When my ex went down to clean it up, Whisky was eating it. I wanted to vomit. Why did he do that? Dogs I know but cats?????

 

[artiemom]

Last week blighty was sick under my bed. When my ex went down to clean it up, Whisky was eating it. I wanted to vomit. Why did he do that? Dogs I know but cats?????

I know.....Artie scared me and grosses me out when he vomits...He eats his own vomit!! I never heard of that until I asked the question...I do not understand why....My last cat and the cat when  I had when I was about 4 - 8 yrs old never did..

it is gross...I have to shoo him away each time he does upchuck....shivers....