Spring is here and Jake is out and about in the yard. There has been no rain, so the yard is dry and that means lots of running and running. He is very chummy with Guiness in the yard behind us. We had initially thought his name was Dennis as we could hear the owner calling him, but the lady talked to me last week and she said his name is Guiness as he is black and tan-seems to be a Rott/Lab mix. Big dog but very sweet. They love to run along the fence line together and once the lady clears away the debris and re-alligns her fence, they can have more fun.

I had to close off the garden area, though, because I planted seeds back there and he will trample the calendula and the echinacea in a moment. Hopefully, he will stay out of the raised garden.

The digging of the holes seemes to have stopped as well. I think he was angry about the cats moving in. Holly teases Jakey and Buddy tries to eat his food. So...Jake barks and growls at them from his crate. Of course, that scared the skittish Buddy away from his box, so he was pooping on the floor. I solved this problem by moving Jake up the living room when he is in his crate. Rather unsightly but I think I would have moved him anyway as the back of the house gets too hot in the summer with no shade trees...so, he will be far more comfortable in the long run. And Buddy is not afraid to go downstairs.

Jake is doing well with training. The kids confuse him when they come over by letting him jump on them, so I need to keep after them to not do that as it is inconsistant. But, we are able to go for our walks now and play ball in the yard. He has learned to bring the ball back when I throw it so we actually play ball. Kicking it is fine, too. He barkes and snarls and shakes the ball fiercely in his mouth.

His new favorite cookie is Harmony Farms Apple and Yogurt biscuits...

The vet needs to come soon for has rabies shot and the flea stuff...egads, $100 for flea stuff? I wonder if something made up of pennyroyal and whaterver else would work just well...that would make a good herbal medicine project.