Happy Birthday, Gumbo!

We did it!  My husband and I managed to keep a very active Jack Russell Terrier alive to reach his first birthday.  Our house is still intact, as well as our sanity (although sometimes I wondered).  He gets an A+ on his report card for this month.  He is changing for the better everyday and growing into a fine adult doggie.

Here's what he looked like when we first brought him home at 8 weeks' old.  Awww...

Thanks for coming along as we followed our new Jack Russell puppy through his first year and watched him learn and grow to become part of our world.

Our First Year with a Jack Russell Terrier Puppy

This picture was taken when Gumbo, our Terrier, was only about 8 weeks old and we brought him home.  It's one of my favorite pictures of him.  It's hard to believe that our little Energizer Bunny was ever calm enough to sleep on my lap!  What have we done to him?  He used to be mellow.  I hope we've been good caregivers.  He couldn't have asked for more devoted humans.

This is what he looks like today, at 11 months old.  He is very good-looking!  Everybody loves the big black spot on his back.  The white on his forehead near the top of his head is shaped like a heart.

He has really shown a lot of improvement.  We have to remind ourselves of that whenever he gets into trouble.  He is now completely house trained.  YAY!  I can't remember the last time he had an accident in the house.  Since we first brought him home, he's always slept through the night.  It's amazing to realize how much he does sleep, considering how hyper he is when he's awake.  He lives mainly in the kitchen still; but I've been trying to lengthen the times he is in the front room, dining room, and bedroom.  That's working out well, for the most part.  He does like getting into my album collection, though.

See the linoleum floor?  Gumbo started reaching in the seams and pulling up the flooring.  My husband had to install this threshold strip.  It was meant to be under a door, so it doesn't stretch the length of our room.  Isn't it lovely?  Thank goodness Gumbo hasn't done any more floor stripping.

  

I really do want to give him a good report card for his 11th month, because he's still learning.  He has so much joy and spirit that it's fun to watch him when he comes inside from the backyard.  He has an extra spring in his step.  It reminds me of Bambi or any other Disney cartoon.  We could spend hours just watching him, he's so entertaining.  Someday, he'll be older and not have puppy-ways anymore. Only one more month, and we'll have an adult dog.  We really do enjoy every silly and funny thing he does and hate being away from him, even when it's only for a few hours.  We are truly smitten.

Valentine's Day with a Jack Russell Terrier Puppy

Question: What do I want for Valentine's Day? 

 Answer: A safe and healthy little dog.

We had quite a scare with our 9-month-old puppy this week.  We had left the house briefly to go get some Starbuck's and when we returned, we went in search of Gumbo, like we always do whenever we we've left him alone.  In the period of ten minutes since we left, he had jumped up to the kitchen counter and snatched a bottle of aspirin that was still in its box, since we hadn't used it yet.  This is what it looked like when we took it away from him.  He had managed to get the bottle out of its box, and chew open the bottom of it, totally by-passing the child-proof lid. Pills were spilled out everywhere.  In horror, we wondered if several had gone done his throat.

We rushed him to the vet's office where they pumped his stomach, made him throw up, and gave him fluid therapy.  They wanted to keep an eye on him for a few hours so we went back home and started counting the spilled pills, hoping that we could find all 120 of them.  They were pink, so they were easy to find.  It took an hour, but my husband was able to find 119 of them; which meant that Gumbo had only swallowed one pill.  The vet's bill was $440.00.  That's one expensive aspirin! 

"I told you I was okay!"

Does your puppy chew your walls?

My husband put temporary cheap paneling over the walls that our Jack Russell puppy was chewing. In this picture, hubby is painting the paneling the same color as our walls.  It's a good thing we had some paint left over in the garage.  You can hardly tell the difference.  Well...sort of.

It's a good thing Gumbo is so cute.

Gumbo is now 9 months old.  We are seeing some positive changes.  He's 99% potty-trained now. We've given him more access to the other rooms in the house.  Every evening when my husband comes home from work, we take Gumbo on a 30 minute walk and then let him be supervised in the front room for about an hour. That's where he is in this picture.  He likes to play catch and could do it for hours.  We bounce a rubber ball off of our coffee table and Gumbo jumps up to catch it. He would make a really good soccer player: move over Pele.

Gumbo is more affectionate and sweet, which is great since a little part of me was worried that because of his puppy biting, he would grow up to be a vicious dog.  His mouth is always going though.  Chew, chew, chew.  He no longer bites our clothes or shoes, which is a relief because I spent the summer practically naked to keep him from jumping up and tearing my clothes.  We bought some Bully Sticks and they keep him out of trouble for a few hours.  He is still up-rooting our plants. Hopefully, he'll get over that soon because my husband and I love to garden.  Sigh... Someday we'll have a "super awesome dog" which is how the breeder said he'd be at 18 months or so.

We bought another crate so that he can be upstairs with us in the room where we spend the most time. We never used a crate with our other Jack Russell because we thought it was a mean thing to do, even though the breeder said how necessary they are when training a puppy.  Gumbo loves being in his crate and we never use it as punishment: the crate is where treats come and good things happen.

He is a very finicky eater.  My husband wakes up early and tries to get him to eat his breakfast.  They have a routine: he throws a ball and plays catch with him, hoping that he will stop and take a bite between throws.   It takes a long time, but my husband is very committed and patient.

First Christmas with a Jack Russell Terrier Puppy

Gumbo's First Christmas:

Will He Ever Hold Still to For A Picture?

Well, we've made it.  My husband and I have managed to keep alive a very active and mischievous puppy for six months now.  We've saved his bacon so many times: we've kept him from chewing electrical cords; from causing a dangerous gas leak, from drowning in our koi pond; and from putting everything in his mouth, including knee-high nylons someone had carelessly thrown on the ground in front of our house.  My husband had to risk getting bit when he fished out the nylon out of Gumbo's mouth.  I can't abide litterbugs or people who don't clean up their dog's poop when they take them for a walk.  

This is a picture of our Jack Russell

who passed away in June 

It was a sad Christmas for us, since we are still grieving for our JR who died seven months ago.  We were lucky to have such a sweet dog for fourteen years.  Their temperaments are very different, but both dogs have been loving and a joy to watch as they go about their antics.  Maybe it's harder for us this time around since we are 14 years old than when we got our 1st JR?  We are both 61.  Gumbo is a real character and very funny and smart.  He reminds me of Milo in the movie "Mask."  Especially the animated version of Milo. 

Animated Milo from the Movie "Mask"

Raising a Jack Russell Puppy

Our little Gumbo is now 8 months and 2 weeks old.  He is changing for the better!  His play biting has really lessened.  We were afraid that he'd grow up and be vicious--just what every dog owner fears.

He likes to cuddle and sit on our laps with his favorite toys.  He doesn't like when we get up to leave--he wants more, more, more!  He is so soft.  He is a smooth-coated Jack Russell and it feels just like fleece or silk when we pet him.  We're happy that he finally holds still long enough so that we can pet him instead of constantly snapping at our hands whenever we'd tried to lay a hand on him in the past.

He has a funny new trick.  He gets his rope toy and spins around like a whirling dervish.  He stops midpoint in his rotation and goes counter-clockwise. He never seems to get dizzy either.

He's doing better with the house-training; but still has accidents every once in a while.  His new thing is that he likes to bring rocks from the garden into his dog bed.  He loves chewing on them; that is until we take the rock away from him, lest he choke on it!

He's gaining weight and is much bigger than our other Jack Russell.  Maybe it's because I give him a scoop of ice cream everyday--do you think?  He also gets peanut butter in his Kong Toy; plus lots of Pupperoni's.

We opened up another area in the backyard for him to run around in.  As everyone knows, Jack Russells need lots of exercise.  Every once in a while, he'll hear some noise he doesn't like and gets the zoomies, where he runs around the circumference of the yard at his top speed like a deranged cartoon character.  Imagine Milo in the "The Mask" and you'll know just what we mean.

We are slowly letting him into more rooms in the house.  We want him to be a companion dog and be by our side all the time, but he has such a problem with chewing still.  He loves chewing on table legs, floor boards, kitchen cabinets, and everything else he can get away with.  We're hoping this is going to end soon.  He's already gotten into a bookshelf of my husband's cookbooks and started chewing and shredding them.  He's such a little stinker.  Our kitchen is now stripped down and minimalist.  Speaking of cookbooks, here's one he has bitten into and it has his name on it, too!  No wonder he thought it was okay to take a bite.

New Orleans Cookbook 

Aptly Called "Gumbo Tales"

Gumbo Causes A Gas Leak

It's A Good Thing You're So Cute!
He's Now 7 Months & 2 Weeks Old

My husband and I never had children, so we're pretty clueless when it comes to baby-proofing your home.  We've had other puppies, but they never did this.  

Gumbo gave me quite a scare this morning. While I was on the stationary bike and watching TV, I heard this tic-tic-ticking noise and thought it was coming from outside. When it wouldn't go away, I went to investigate and realized it was coming from our kitchen. Somehow, he'd managed to jump up to the dials on the stove and turn one all the way to the highest position and it wouldn't ignite. The whole kitchen was full of gas fumes. I had to open all the windows and take him and myself outside. Now, we have to come up with a strategy to keep him from doing this again. Any ideas?

I asked this question to my Facebook friends.  Here's what they advised:

Sister:  Glad you were able to get out of the house safely! Here's a dog-proof and child-proof trick... Take all the dials off the stove, and only use them when you're cooking or baking.

Cousin #1: Sounds like he is learning to cook ... sort of ...

Sister's Best Friend: Try covering the kitchen counter with aluminum foil. He might not like the feel of it. Also, get some "No Chew" training aid and spray it on whatever you don't want him to touch. Failing that, close doors so he doesn't have access. You were very lucky today. Glad you're OK!

Friend From Work: You need to baby proof which it would seem is the same thing as dog proofing.
Try this product from Wallgreens: Safety 1st Clear View Stove Knob Covers
★★★★★
$7.99
Helps keep stove knobs off-limits
Fits most stove knobs
Durable and heat-resistant

Cousin #2:  Ask the utility to put the smell of a vet's office in its gas...

Husband: May not work - he loves going to the vet!

Cousin # 2:  lol - then how about psychiatrist!