Jazzy's Upset (noun AND verb)

Russ and I both stayed home from church sick yesterday-maybe we have that kissing disease or something! Jazzy enjoyed the attention from both of us, and we also used the time to really work with her on her house training (she is still having some accidents, but getting better).

Jazzy seemed to sense we were sick, and was extra cuddly all day. So sweet. An added bonus was that her body worked much like a hot water bottle to comfort our aches and pains.

When Jazzy's "daddy" went to bed, I was still watching the Olympic closing ceremonies (excellent, by the way). Russ invited Jazzy up into bed with him. About one hour later, I came to the bedroom. Just as I entered the room, I heard a thud, thrashing around, and Jazzy barking and yelping in pure misery. She was scared and startled and seemingly in pain. I turned on the light, and found Jazzy somehow on the floor, rather than in the bed with Russ. Russ was awakened from a deep sleep, so he wasn't sure what happened. Poor Jazzy lost both bowel and bladder function in her frenzy, and her ears were back like she had seen a ghost. I comforted her, and loved on her, but she was inconsolable.

She came back to bed with us, but it must have been hours later before she really slept again. Every once in a while I would wake up and hear here little whimpers, and she would sit straight up in bed and look at the door. After about the sixth time of looking at the door, I was almost convinced she really could see something I couldn't see!

We'll never know what really happened, but it made for an crazy ending to a laid-back day!

Cuisine ala Poop!

Okay, this blog seems to have a lothttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.spell.gif of potty mouth. Sorry about that. Blame Jazzy-not me.

We have discovered her eating the #2 product of Libby, found in the kitty litter box. That is pretty disgusting.

But she wanted something more exotic for her diet. She had a hankering for venison.

Today, she got her wish. I let her outside in our backyard, and she became preoccupied with something and would not come when I called her. Curious why she did not respond, I ran to where she was, and discovered a pile of pellets. Russ had spotted 6 deer in an open field behind our yard a few days ago. I'm guessing at least one of the deer jumped the fence to our yard at some time. I wish I could have seen that. It had been snowing, and it would have been beautiful.

But not so beautiful is the breath of our sweet puppy. She no longer has puppy breath, she has poopy breath!

To wash all that down, I think it is time for some doggy Listerine!

Three Months Old

Jazzy is 3 months old now. She weighs in at 11 pounds. She loves to do crazy things. In the morning, she will lick us when it is time to get up. If I take her to do her business, she now comes back to the bedroom and cries by the side-rail, begging to be placed back up in our bed under the covers to sleep more of the morning away. So spoiled! So-there if you see a lump in our bed-don't smooth out the covers, it just might be Jazzy! I think she got the idea from Libby because our calico sleeps under the covers in the other bed many times in the winter. Only difference, Libby can jump up in bed and cover herself up!

Jazzy started barking at Russ the other day for eating yogurt. Normally, Russ would eat the yogurt, intending to save Jazzy some, and then forget, and all Jazzy gets is the container. This time, Jazzy reminded him with each bite to leave her some. She would calm down. Russ would take a bite. She would bark. One bark for each bite. (That sounds like a funny play on "her bark was worse than her bite.")

The other day, Russ was throwing a play toy and Jazzy kept bringing it back-no matter where Russ would throw it. Then Russ was joking, and thought he might throw it over our half wall, and see if Jazzy would run around the other side of the half wall and down the stairs to get the toy. But Jazzy was trained to FOLLOW the toy, and was ready to go up and over the half wall and it would have been a LONG way down. So Russ quickly aborted the plan, and I quickly grabbed Jazzy before she went over the wall.

See-N-Say Car Ride

Remember those See-N-Say wheels? You dial a picture, pull the string, and hear a sound? I remember especially the farmyard See-N-Say. Jazzy brought that memory back to us last night. We took her on a car ride. She STILL doesn't like them! She makes all kinds of different whimpering and crying styles. Sometimes she sounded like a hen cackling, other times a donkey braying, a dove cooing, and a pig squealing and oinking. Crazy girl! Every time the car stopped at a light, the crying stopped. As soon as we started again, she began to cry again. This has happened every time we have had a car ride. We can only think of two reasons. #1-We picked her up in Indiana as a puppy, and perhaps she remembers that long drive with disdain (it was about 1 hour away). OR, #2-she gets sort of carsick. Not so much to vomit, but maybe she is queasy. Any ideas? All of our other dogs have LOVED car rides. I hate it that Jazzy can't enjoy them too.

Cherry Eye?

Oh no! Last night when we came home, it looked like a teeny-tiny cherry eye had popped out on Jazzy's right eye. A cherry eye is when the third eyelid flips inside out and traps the tear duct inside (best I can describe). Our last B.T., Mijo, had a serious cherry eye that ended up going to both eyes, and even came back after surgery. His new owners arranged for a second surgery, but I never heard if he is normal now.

We thought Jazzy would avoid the cherry eye since her eyes don't bulge or protrude, and that is the usual reason why they think B.T.s are prone to them (along with other bug-eyed dogs). In fact, Jazzy's eyes are quite delicate and gentle, almost making her look shy or sleepy.

Well, today, Jazzy's cherry eye is gone, but there was a lot of thick white discharge. I do know from Mijo, that the cherry eye can come and go, depending on the position and the muscle/tissue strength and that sort of thing. I think this will be something we are going to have to deal with.

Tomorrow Jazzy goes for shots, and we will discuss it then. I'm guessing the vet will send us home with drops (steroidal antibiotic drops). We will see.

To be honest with you, when I first saw the cherry eye, my heart sunk to my gut. So sad! I really thought we had avoided it with this one!

What a Girl!

Jazzy was thirsty yesterday, and her favorite water dish was empty (a small porcelain Japanese soup bowl). She picked up the bowl in her mouth and brought it to me to let me know it was empty and she was thirsty. Now THAT is communication! So that you don't think I'm a bad puppy mommy-she did have water in a different bowl, but she seems to like this one the best.

Last night, she had to go potty in the middle of the night, and rather than waking me up, she ran as fast as she could to the bathroom and used the wee-wee pads for both #1 and #2! Yay, Jazzy! I'm a light sleeper, so I heard her running, and went to check on her. This is PROGRESS! Normally she will stay in her bed and whimper until I wake up and carry her to the bathroom. She's a big girl now and can get to the bathroom on her own! (The main reason I carried her before was so she wouldn't have an accident on the way there!).

She is learning some tricks! She already knows the command for "sit." Of course, there are treats involved. And she likes popcorn. BUT-she doesn't know what to do with grapes-she keeps spitting them out! haha!

This morning she shut the door in Libby's room, while in there. Trapped. I guess it was mostly closed, and she snuck in there and then decided to jump up on the door for whatever reason and closed it. So, like the fiasco in the laundry room, I heard her crying and had to retrieve her. Only difference was I knew right away where she was. Silly girl!

11 Weeks Tomorrow

Jazzy will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. She weighs 9 pounds now, and has developed the really neat "cut" look of a Boston Terrier, with the deep chest and skinny belly. Here are some other bits about her:

-She sort of cries or whimpers when she goes #2 (always a tell-tale sign if she is doing it where she shouldn't be!)

-She went #1 on a guest for the first time yesterday-it was a junior high girl, and I'm guessing she was squeezing Jazzy a little too hard (plus Jazzy was excited!). But normally, she does not have the excitable urination that some dogs have with weak bladders. This young teen was a jewel, and after getting over the initial gross-out period she went right back to wanting to hold Jazzy some more.

-Jazzy loves pulling her bed all over the place-and she has even pulled a laundry basket of clothes from room to room. She loves to pull things. Amazing-for a nine pound doggy!

-Jazzy's ears are almost all the way erect now-just barely flopping over at the tips. Gives her a much more grown-up Boston Terrier look.

-Jazzy and Libby (our calico) enjoy having conversations with each other, and even moments of chase. Libby seems to be tolerating and even egging on Jazzy much more than she did Mijo.

-Jazzy love running like a wild woman for about five minutes a day. No destination, just crazy cirlces as fast as she can, until she is out of breath!

-She also likes to chase tennis balls down the stairs, and run with the retrieved ball in her mouth up the stairs as break-neck speed.

-When she is mellow (which is 80% of the time, she enjoys watching t.v. with me or just playing with one of her toys while I do other things.

-She is spoiled though, and when it is nap time, if I'm on the computer, she wants me to pick her up and hold her until she falls asleep. I'm all for it though, because I know this stage doesn't last long.

-Now that she isn't shy about going downstairs, she has discovered the cat food. Doggies aren't supposed to eat cat food, it is too rich for them, from what I understand. Well, I'm guessing she went down for some of the forbidden fruit today, and the door was mostly closed to that room. She squeezed through the door, but when on the other side, managed to lean against the door and closed it all the way shut. This scared her and she cried for what seemed like forever before I located her. Crazy dog!