MJ Kind of Day

MJ's not a big fan of the rain, so instead of wandering around in the backyard and laying out in the grass, he's inside, squeaking one of his favorite toys. He loves this snake. The other day, he and I played fetch with the snake for about 10 minutes. That's the length of his attention span. Then, instead of bringing the toy back to me, he runs up onto the porch and stands at the door to be let in.

He had sort of a breakthrough yesterday when he leaped up on the tailgate of my Honda Element to get in the back. He's been willing to jump in via the side door, but hopping up on the tailgate is the preferred method of entry here. Of course, he hasn't repeated that performance, but I'm going to work with him tomorrow, if it ever stops raining.

Roach a Rama

MJ's favorite position. He sleeps like this at night in his crate to take maximum advantage of the ceiling fan blowing on his belly. Don't you wish you could relax like this? This boy is very easy going...always wants to be involved in whatever is going on, but is content to just generally hang out with the human and four-legged pack.

We had some greyhound people over for dinner on Sunday night and he was the hit of the party. Spent his time going from person to person to get petted. At dessert time, we found out he has a taste for watermelon and strawberries. Who can blame him? Despite lots of people in the house and food out everywhere, he behaved well...no actual countersurfing, tho you can some times see him thinking about it.

His coat is finally beginning to shape up. He's had some skin issues that have led to lots of scratching and bald patches, but we've got it under control and his hair is filling in nicely...not much worse than a bald black dog.

Dog Days of Summer

Summer's tough on a black dog. MJ wants to go out and lounge around in the sun with the girls, but his black fur just sucks up the heat, so he wants back in quickly. He and my three hounds are getting along really well...so far, zero disputes and he's a bit afraid of my cats. We think of that as an asset. Not so good with dogs under 35 pounds, especially if they're yappy and jump around. I'm not good with those kinds of dogs either!

He's developed a real passion for toys and seems to have a gift for not killing the squeakers. Too funny. He runs from room to room with them in his mouth. Or, he'll lay outside on the deck with one. Last night, he felt compelled to test drive every toy in the basket. Now, if we could just teach him to put them back!

Yesterday, I came back from running errands and went into the back bedroom where the dogs stay when we're away. MJ was sitting very quietly in his crate and wouldn't look at me. I thought that was sort of odd. Then I noticed the side gate of his crate was standing open. (Two-gated crate. One in front, one on the side.) Apparently, I hadn't latched the sidegate and he'd figured out how to open it and let himself out. When he heard me coming, he jumped back in his crate. What a good boy.

Jar's New Hobby - Relaxing

The many positions our hounds get into to sleep is amazing. Does this look comfortable to you? Me neither, but Jar is perfectly happy twist himself into a canine pretzel in the interest of a good nap.

He continues to be very affectionate and interested in everything going on around him. He rides so well in the car it's easy to forget he's even in there. He jumps in just fine from the side but hopping up on the tailgate still eludes him. We're going to work on that this week. His leash walking technique continues to improve and he only pull when the walk first starts. He's settle down by the time he reaches the end of the drive.

Jar spent part of Saturday at the 100 Oaks M&G where he did really well. The previous weekend, he stayed with Liza and Paul Downey (Bugs and Lana) while we were out of town. He did really well there, attaching himself to Liza so she was always in sight. He did great with the girls, too.

This weekend, he'll be out at the Bellevue Picnic in Red Caboose Park from 10- 12:30, so please come meet this handsome guy.

JarJar Discovers Toys

Jar is in the midst of another transition to pet status - he's picking up and playing with toys. It started last night when he took up with a couple of toys that Athena had left out in the yard. Indoors, he dragged around a big orange snake toy for a while.

This morning, this plush oversized imitation of a jack has had his full focus, odd since the squeakies are dead all the way around on it. Not to worry, Jar periodically takes it to a different bed and munches on it, just to be sure it's dead. This is a vast improvement from last week when he kept dragging things out from the bedroom - shoes, socks, pillow, the tv remote, a roll of toilet paper. This way, we don't have to take the victim of his attention from him.

Jar had a great time Saturday at the Borders M&G where he hung out with Nicole Melton's Tree, Steve Finkel's CeCe and fellow foster, Fischer. All the dogs got lots of attention from Borders customers and staff. His leash walking is getting much better and yesterday I trimmed his nails and he just stood there like the old pro that he is.

It's a wonderful day!

Jar is such a happy boy. He loves his daily dash around the backyard. And the way he runs. We're used to that long stretch-in-stretch-out style of running that is the signature of the racing greyhound. This guy runs like he's just doing it for fun, tucks his butt up and zips this way and that. His favorite thing is to chase low flying birds. So far, the squirrels have eluded him but we figure it's just a matter of time.

Indoors, he's fine with my cats. He was never particularly interested and after Buster, the resident cat tester explained the situation to him a couple of times, Jar's gotten to wear he cuts the cats lots of slack, and space.

On Saturday (April 23,) Jar and I will be at the Brentwood Borders to do the Meet and greet from noon -2. He's come a long way since his M&G debut two weeks ago, so we're expecting he'll attract a lot of attention and get a lot of treats from visitors. He's a very good boy and will do well.

Every day's a new day

Every day Jar is with us, he reveals his personality a bit more. This weekend, his "collect" switch got flipped and he's been busily bringing our socks, shoes, towels and everything he can get his mouth on into the den...no destruction...just collection. He also picked up my knitting. Fortunately, while he unwound a lot of yarn, he didn't get around to pulling stitches off the needles.

Loves going outside to wander around the yard, though he mostly follows the other hounds. In fact, this guy seems to be the consummate follower. He pretty much lets everyone else have their way. While at 100 Oaks M&G yesterday his nosey nature was in full bloom. He kept pulling toward the fish department to watch them...sort of like dog TV! And he wanted to prowl the store, likely for spilled food. He was okay with kids 5+ and had no interest in the little dogs. Of course, he meeted and greeted all the greyhounds and their owners.