Locus Online Features: Cory Doctorow: Writing in the Age of Distraction

Here’s a great article which sums up most of  the reasons I haven’t posted here in a while.  Of course I’ve made a resolution–on to ’09.

Joel

It’s been a while.

Off raising a pup and learning how to use a video player.  I’ll have some to share soon.

Joel

lost history, found.

Wow.  We got lucky this week–not just because my daughter was born (both mom and new baby Hannah are doing great!), but also because we got a chance to see a little history we never thought we’d see as AJ’s adopted family.  We got him last year at seven months of age, so we missed out on some of the “early (dog) years” that make having a puppy so great.  Anita, one of AJ’s saviors, found the picture below lurking in her hard drive and sent it up for us to enjoy.  So, enjoy!  My guess is he’s a month or two here.

Three “Irish” Jack Russell Pups Available

Today A.J. is helping his neighbor and her Jack Russell, Morgan, find *GOOD* homes for three of the five pups Morgan had about seven weeks ago. I posted a couple of shots of the “kids” last week but some of the people who said they’d take dogs have pulled out. Initially there was only one left–now just two are spoken for, leaving three in search of families.

Believe me when I say these dogs have been hand-raised in what can only be described as the best possible circumstances. The sire was picked after an exhaustive search, and both mother and father are pure Jack. I’ve also been asked to make special note that these are “Irish” Jacks, which were designed “to be intelligent and tenacious in the field, yet be able to settle once back at home, on the farm” My understanding is other Jack breeds are more aggressive, so these guys are better suited for families who don’t live on big farms, which I assume covers most people reading this.

The resulting pups are just beautiful and already socialized well with other dogs and people (especially kids). The whole neighborhood has helped raise these little guys–they’re all males–and kids have been their constant companions. A.J. has become an “uncle,” and since he’d like to see the last three find great homes the graciously offered to model with the dogs so readers can get a sense of scale.  All of the dogs have already had their first round of shots. (click on the pictures for blow-ups) & sorry about the pic quality–taken with my phone’s camera.

Going price for these guys is $950.00, but I’m told that’s a super fair price for pure Irish Jacks. This post is probably most relevant to dog lovers here in New England, but my neighbor will happily take inquiries from elsewhere. For more details please leave contact info in the comments section–they’re moderated so I’ll keep the info private.

Thanks, and if the three of you who read this know of anyone else looking for a furry new family member, please past this post along.

- A.J.’s dad

First Contact

A.J.’s neighbor and best dog friend “Morgan” the Jack Russell recently had a litter of five pups. They’ve been sequestered away until this week when they had their last round of shots so now they’re allowed into the yard. A.J., who’s just 1.5 years old and 100 lbs has never met “puppies” before.

He was dismissive at first, more content to go and sniff around the woodpile than suffer the indignities of having Jack pups crawl all over him. Eventually, though, he warmed up to “Moose” below.

In this shot A.J. snorts like someone asked him to eat cold kibble.

E-mails from Shilo

I’m still weighing whether or not I should part with $16 for this e-book called E-mails from Shilo.  A dog’s quest to figure out most everything.

I’m a sucker for adding the “human” element into dog communication.

This quote from the ebook is great, too:

A woman reorganizing the files in her computer comes across a folder she doesn’t recognize – and discovers nearly two years’ worth of emails written by her four-year-old golden retriever, Shilo, to her sister’s Bichon Frise!

Thanks to appscout for the find

Dogs for Pest Control

The headline isn’t that unusual; it’s a matter of fact that many dog breeds are great at flushing out game, so why not pests?

This story caught my eye because A.J.’s dog neighbor is a Jack Russell who just had a litter of five males. They’re five weeks old and great little dogs–not one runt in the litter. All but one of them are spoken for, so as of tonight there’s one left if anyone in the MA area is interested in a pure Jack pup. I believe the going price is $850. They have rounder (rather than the pointy) faces, like the pups in this picture:

Anyhow, the Jack’s mom is a security manager for Mass General Hospital. She just attended an industry conference where the owner of a well-known security company, after hearing she had a litter of new Jacks, approached her and asked to buy two of them on the spot. He said, as this story details, that he uses the dogs for ridding hotels of bedbugs!

Apparently the U.S. had a big problem with bedbugs not so long ago. After years of paying attention to the problem it had gone away. More recently the critters have come back and are becoming an issue again for hotels in NYC.

Luckily A.J. only brings the odd tick into the house, and they’re easy to spot against his fur.

Dogs Sleep with Reckless Abandon

And I offer as proof:

Almost One Full Year!

I was clicking through some of A.J.’s pictures to find something for the blog and stumbled on the shot below.  It’s the picture our adoption coordinator took of us with A.J. just after I signed his papers.  Anyone who’s done me the favor of reading this blog to get my traffic stats up (thanks mom!) knows about A.J.’s adoption story…shortly after getting our house the 11 year-old “she pup” (Ashley) in the picture below made me make good on my promise to get a dog.

So, we checked out a number of adoption agencies and settled on Patriot Lab Rescue because of it’s phenomenal reputation.  After a screening process we drove to New Hampshire where A.J. had arrived after a long drive on the adoption bus from Alabama, where he was found.

The “official” adoption date is May 21.  What a great year this has been with “The Jay” as he’s become known around the neighborhood.

More Training Tips

I’ve got them laying around and I’m bored with the T.V. right now.  So, it’s time to type.  Without any more hesitation, I present these training tips for your reading pleasure (good luck, and the first two are probably the most important):

• Be cheerful when practicing with your dog
• Keep your training sessions short: 5-10 minutes several times a day
• Practice in different locations in your home, the den, the kitchen, the living room and the back yard.  dogs do not generalize, we need to make sure they can work with us no matter which room we are in.
• Play with your dog (this is hugely important, too).
• CONSISTENCY! Whatever you are working on with your dog, be consistent with them
• Make sure you praise your dog for coming to you (duh), give them a treat, and celebrate with them.  COMING TO YOU IS THE BEST THING THEY CAN DO ALL DAY
• Call your dog for positive reasons only.  If you need to cut their nails, give a bath or give a pill, go to them
• PLAY WITH YOUR DOG!
• Use your most excited, happy voice when calling your dog.  As I mentioned before-no one likes to come to an angry voice.
• Praise your dog for sharing what they have in their mouth, trade the dirty sock for a cookie, talk “silly” to help them share.  Give them a toy to replace whatever they had in their mouth.
• Keep your dog on leash during their training to help them be successful
• PLAY WITH YOUR DOG!
• Give your dog a “spot” in the rooms that you frequent.  A towel, rug or dog bed that they can go to in the den, the office or kitchen
• Discipline can happen only when you catch your dog in the act of an unacceptable behavior!
• Play a clicker game, teach a new trick instead of going for a walk when it’s too cold or hot outside
• PLAYING with your dog helps to create a special bond between you