The Jack News Network

I know you have better things to do. I know you'd like to see a craft thing or two. It seems like they should be here. But all I have right now is all Jack, all the time. Surely he'll calm down soon....
I have this video. It wasn't the one I intended because I was trying to get him barking at the curio cabinet. Instead, he dragged the things I had covering it up off and then brought in a few other things too (looks like a t-shirt and a pillow case that I've been trying to wash for weeks now). Ignore that. Also ignore the snorting laugh at the end. I can't help it: week two of the mucus attack continues. TMI? Maybe.

And then, when he's all done with that, he does this:

Seemed like a good idea at the time

On Saturday I got home and tried to get a picture of crazy Jack and me together. I wanted to post it on this other blog I'm editing/writing for with the ministry I work with. Jack doesn't cooperate. I have a very cute picture of the World's Best Dog and me. But she could be still. Jack cannot. Unless he's absolutely 100% still (because he's asleep, snoozing soundly on my pillow).

Here's what I got. I'm going to use the first one anyway. Clearly I need to get a better photographer (not my own hand and my iPhone, you have to shoot way to close for my face when you are limited by the reach of your own arm) and a stylist too. They need to get to know me as well as you guys do. When it goes up this week, I may post a link but it's my story of Darcy and Jack and you guys have lived it with me!

Big plans?

Today I'm leaving a smidge early to take Jumping Jack in for his booster shots. That means his address has been my address for three full weeks. To celebrate, I'm posting my pictures of my dog!! Sorry. I hope your patience hasn't run out just yet (because he's still stinkin cute and I feel another video coming next week).

Tomorrow I'm going to a small writer's conference just around the corner and over the river and hop and a skip and a jump. I'm looking forward to it. They're having Chick-fil-a for lunch. It really doesn't take more than that for me.

What about you? Big plans?

I call this one: Jack, Resting.
It was after I picked him up on Sunday (in a Chick-fil-a parking lot, no less, to complete the handoff).
He was pooped from his sojourn in the country.

I call this one: Jack, Resting...Again
And it shows the strength (color's good) and the weakness (too far away) of the iPhone camera. Plus, he's cuddling his toy while he just hangs out in the backyard.

And I call this one: Jack, Resting ON MY PILLOW
Yeah, it's cute until it's 4:03 a.m. and you find a warm nose in your ear. Technically, it's still cute but slightly less entertaining then.

Hope you're all planning fun weekends!

A very good jumper

At least 1000 words

Sometimes you go beyond the photo. Sometimes you get video. Here is Jumping Jack, enjoying his dinner. Seriously, people, it's what is happening at my house. Tomorrow I'll do something else. Promise.

Jumping Jack enjoys his dinner.

Would I do that?

So...Jack was home alone all day yesterday. I walked in from the garage, braced for the worst. I had puppy proofed as well as I could but if you've ever done that, you know how it goes.

And he did pretty well. Except...the curtains over my kitchen sink were down in the sink and about half of what was on the windowsill had joined them. Now, if I hadn't already seen what he did to my bathroom mirror, possibly attacking the dog that appears in it occasionally, I might have thought that the curtains in the window just fell. It could happen. One of the toys that I bought him and left on the counter because he has very little interest in toys right now was also in the floor. I think he might be guilty.

As I think it's hilarious, I don't really care. I am concerned about what it means that a dog is on the counter and how you correct that. Still, right now it's funny.

(And the picture is old...by 3 whole days, but man, it's cute. Jack's now a blue-collar dog and it fits and everything.)

Cindy-the back of the couch is one of his favorite spots. Also, the back of the loveseat, the loveseat itself, the back of the chair, the bed and the rug in the kitchen...he relaxes a lot and at every chance he gets.

Regina-the vet says 8 months because he has his adult teeth (thank goodness because I remember my horror at finding Darcy's puppy teeth here and there many years ago). And his feet are actually pretty delicate. He's delicate, compared to others I've known. He weighs 25 pounds and needs to gain about 5 more according to the vet. Luckily, he's an excellent eater. He's well on his way!

Pat-he is pretty sweet, bad habits and all!

10 things

So I hope you aren't surprised by another dog post. After a trip to PetSmart where my dog's manlihood was besmirched more than once by being called a girl (and I've done it a couple of times too but I have my excuses), I'm sticking with Jack. It's a good, strong name.

Here are 10 things I've learned this weekend:
1. Jack is unfazed by rain, hail, thunder, or lightning.
2. Jack is freaked  by every mirror. He saw a glimpse of himself in a tiny slice of mirror on the curio cabinet and really let himself have it. I laughed.

3. Jack knows how to work a dog door.
4. Jack is very, very close to house trained.
5. Jack has very little sense of personal space, particularly when there is food involved. I don't know what his past life was like but I suspect it involved people food. Not a lot of people food, since he's underweight, but enough to form bad habits. It's okay. He pouts when he's disappointed but he is getting the hang of treats quickly.
6. Jack is very patient. I knew this from the de-ticking but I've seen it also in the the pill taking that has commenced. This is good.
7. Jack is also freaked out by the ceiling fan, not when it's running but when the electricity goes out and it stops, he's concerned. Then, when it comes back on, he heads for the dog door, barking and growling. I laughed. It was funny.
8. Jack doesn't do well on a leash, but he got a little better at PetSmart. If I could have beaten away the salesman who kept hounding me (get it?) with so much "help" we might have done better. I do think he'll get the hang of it. Note to PetSmart: Seriously, you can see I am having trouble coaxing this dog along. Leave me alone with the sales pitch. And for reals...three times is three times too many, dude.
9. Jack is staying home today. All by himself. I am worried. This is just the tip of the iceberg about why I didn't want a dog right now. I'm already exposed nerves, trying to figure out what to do about my trip to Quilt Market next week.
10. Jack is very, very sweet. I've done the best I could not to compare him to Darcy who I miss. A lot. I could give you a long list of how he's not her, but he is sweet. He's warm. He's happy to see me. He's 50% tail that wags when he wakes up. He's a good dog. I might have gotten lucky again.

No Name Johnson

You may or may not know this about me but I am a dog person. Oh, and also, you are all enablers.
This was what I saw yesterday when I got home.

My aunt said, "He's destroyed your bathroom!" I look at and shrug. I've seen way worse in my lifetime of living with dogs. This on Day 1 I call success. I am a dog person.

This was Dog's pose after a little time outside yesterday. He really knows how to relax. Dog has been to the vet today. He got a clean bill of health (in a shocking turn of events) and enough prescriptions to cure the minor skin ailments currently bothering him. Dog also got his first round of shots because apparently Dog is going to live with me. Crap. He is so Stinking Cute and we're going to fall in love and he's going to leave too soon and my heart is going to be broken again but I'd rather do it that way than leave him somewhere to an uncertain fate. I am a dog person. And also, not as bright as I thought I was, but that's not the end of the world either.

So Dog needs a name. He has a follow-up appointment card with "No Name" at the top.
Someone mentioned Lucky to me because apparently it was a foregone conclusion that this was my dog.
I think Noodle fits his personality because he's quite often limp as, but he'd never be able to hold his head up in the dog park.
I found him in the middle of the street, Congo-Ferndale Cutoff, but that's a mouthful for a tiny dog.
Salem was where he was but that seems a little ominous.
Naming him Max would be funny (cause he's small in everything but legs) but I don't think that's it.
Ideas?
Stilts because he had long legs or Stretch.
Goose because he has a long neck.
Thumper because his welcome involves a whip-like tail.

Right now, I'm leaning towards Jack as in Jumping Jack because he has an excellent and effortless vertical leap (just ask the counters in my bathroom). I think pet names are supposed to be two syllables (so they can differentiate them from commands, maybe?) but I'm from the South and make everything at least two syllables. Am I right? What do you think about Ja-ack?

Dang. It.

This is a picture of what my bathroom used to look like. There is a dog sitting in it. There is a dog sitting in it because my mind is unhinged. I took the back way home yesterday and he was sitting on the double yellow line, right in the middle of the road.

I had every intention of taking him somewhere today. That was before I watched him scarf down three helpings of food, suffer through two baths and hours of de-ticking (which is not complete yet) sweetly and patiently, and had been cuddled within an inch of my life.

Crap.

I'm not ready for a new dog.