Puppy Play Dates

One of Jack's favorite things to do is have play dates! We are lucky that a lot of our friends have dogs so there is always someone that Jack can play with. The first play date that we set up was with Tiffany and John and their puppy Faelan. Faelan is a 16 week old German Shepherd puppy. This play date was a little intense at first because Jack was scared of Faelan's bark, but they ended up noisily enjoying each other all night!



The next play date Jack had was with 4 other dogs! Our friend Heather's dog Dewey, Maggie and Brooks' dog Riley, Steve's dog Sarge, and Heather and Andrew's dog Ginger. They all had different agendas for the evening. Some wanted to lay around and be lazy, some wanted to snack, and, of course, Jack wanted to play! Luckily Sarge is a puppy too (12 week old German Shepherd) and they had so much fun playing together. Even though Sarge and Faelan are both German Shepherds they had different experiences playing with Jack. Sarge and Jack loved to roll around on each other and knock each other down. Even though Sarge is already over 30 pounds, Jack had so much fun! We are hoping that he will learn to love big dogs, so we are glad that he will have Faelan and Sarge to play with as they grow.

The other night Ted and I went to Boston for our friend Katie's going away party. While we were there my mom agreed to take care of Jack for us. She had actually told a friend that she would dog sit for them too, and they agreed that it was ok to have Jack have a puppy sleepover! So Jack got to spend time at Beazles house on Saturday! My mom sent me some pictures of them playing. Even though Beazle is much older she was still in the mood to chase and play, so they had a blast.

I truly enjoy watching Jack get to play with his friends. I swear his favorite thing in life is meeting other dogs and getting to play with them. I look forward to the many many more puppy play dates that we get to go on :)

The Three Muskateers....?

So the big question remained, would our cats get along with our new puppy? Whiskey has often had difficulty adjusting to new furry friends and Debbie is very social, but how would she be with a dog? Well things went better than we thought!

Debbie and Jack started their relationship a bit flirtatious. She would roll around on the floor and wait for Jack to come over to her to play. They would put their arms around each others necks and do somersaults. It was quite hysterical to watch. However, dogs and cats play very differently. Jack would use his mouth a lot and give her little nips, which she was not used to at all! Cats usually use their paws to play. As they got used to playing together Debbie ended up scratching the inside of Jack's eyelid and I woke up one day to Jack's eye dripping blood. Let's just say that was a scary morning. And that meant that I needed to go to the store to get some kitty nail clippers! Ever since we clipped her nails they have continued to enjoy playing together, mostly injury free :)

Jack and Whiskey is another story. I must say, I am mostly proud of how Whiskey has been handling the new arrival. But she doesn't want to play with Jack and would truly rather he keep a safe distance from her at all times. Well, he didn't understand this at first, and one day when I was in the shower I heard Jack let out a terrible scream. I came running out and saw Whiskey standing over him, it was obvious to all of us that he needed to start leaving her alone. But luckily he took the hint and mostly stays away from her. He actually doesn't even like to walk by her if the part of the hallway is too narrow, so he will sit and wait for her to get up and leave before he goes to another room. It's not the best relationship but they are tolerating each other now, and I still get to spend quality time with both of them and they both seem very happy!

So now our furry family is happy and complete (NO more pets for us!)

Jack Blake

As we were driving home we knew the first decision that needed to be made was what Fonzi's new name would be. The first name we chose was Jameson, a type of Whiskey. We liked this because it fits in the theme of our cat Whiskey, but also because it is one of Ted's favorite alcohols. So the decision was made, that this was Jameson! We sent out a text message to Ted's family that said 'Meet Jameson!' with a cute picture of him attached.

We started talking about the name a little bit more, and we realized that 'Jameson' is a bit of a mouthful. It's three syllables which isn't very easy for training purposes. And if we were to shorten it, it would probably be to Jim, a name that neither of us liked. So we were back at square one!

But then we thought of Jack. It was perfect! Quick and easy to say, and still in the whiskey family because of Jack Daniels. And there were even more reasons that we liked it including song references like Jack Straw. And the name just really felt right. We started calling him Jack from then on!

Meeting 'Fonzi'

I was so excited to leave work on Friday. I knew that I had to wait for Ted to get home before we could leave for our appointment to meet Fonzi. The minutes seemed to pass so slowly! Finally Ted arrived (a little late) so we rushed out of the house and down to Groton for our appointment.

On the way there we talked about how we definitely weren't going home with a puppy. We wanted to make sure that we thought out our decision and didn't rush into anything. As we arrived we were introduced to Fonzi and his two sisters. His sisters were smaller than he was, and they were actually a little more hyper. Fonzi was really cute! He would come over to us and sit down in our lap or bring a toy over to play. He was a little shy, but he had the sweetest eyes and he was incredibly cute. Ted and I went outside to talk about the decision in private. When we came back inside we asked Fonzi if he wanted to come home with us. He literally walked over to us, licked Ted's toes and sat on my feet. It was like he was saying "yes, please take me home!"

We knew that we loved this little guy. We knew that we were going to adopt him, it was just a matter of when. We had told ourselves over and over that we weren't going home with a puppy that night, but the more we talked about it, the more sense it made to just take him with us. We didn't want to have to drive another hour back down to Groton another day just to pick him up. And it was Friday, which meant that we had all day Saturday and Sunday to spend with him while he adjusted to our home. And why make him spend another week in a shelter when we could start bonding with him today!

So the decision was made, we were taking Fonzi home with us! We asked the woman if we could run out and get some supplies before we took him with us. She let us run to Pet Supplies Plus where we got all the essentials, a leash, a crate, food, bedding, toys, treats, etc! We hurried back and signed the adoption papers :)

We got into the car and 'Fonzi' sat right on my lap and curled up. He kept walking between my lap and Ted's lap, it was so cute! We knew that the first order of business was to get him a new name!!

Puppy Education

A few days before we were supposed to meet Fonzi I had dragged my mom to Buckland Hills Mall to play with some puppies. The first puppy store that we tried to go to was closed for renovations (By the way I would never purchase a puppy from a puppy store, but I wanted to interact with different puppies before meeting 'Fonzi'). On our way out we stopped at the bookstore in the mall and picked up a few books on puppy training. I figured that I would educate myself since I have never had a dog before.

The next puppy store we went to was down the road. It really smelled terrible, I felt so bad for those little guys. My mom and I chose four puppies to play with; a min pin, a rat terrier, a chihuahua, and a cocker spaniel. The min pin was terrified. He just sat in our arms shaking. The rat terrier was insane. I would pull my hair out with this dog (not necessarily the breed, but this specific dog). He was running all over the place in our little pen and would not take a break for a second. When we picked him up he was wiggling like crazy. Ok, so I knew that i wanted a dog more outgoing than the min pin but less crazy than the rat terrier.

The next dog we played with was the chihuahua. He was actually really cute and really sweet. He played with us and would sit with us calmly as well. I knew that I wasn't going to purchase a puppy here, but this little guy would have been a top contender. The last puppy we played with was a cocker spaniel. This little girl was cute but the shop manager kept telling us that cocker spaniels pee when they get excited and are hard to potty train, so it turned us off to the puppy.

I really felt that this trip helped because I saw different puppy personalities. I was excited to do some reading of my new books before I met 'Fonzi' on Friday!

Before there were three...

Before our newest addition we were a happy family of four :) Myself, my husband Ted, and our two kitties, Whiskey and Debbie.

I have had Whiskey since my senior year of high school. She is very loving cat who is often misunderstood. She doesn't like strangers much and she only likes to be held on her own terms. She has lived with me since I graduated from college and she is much happier now than she was when she lived with my parents and their cats!

Ted and I found Debbie while we were searching in the woods for our cat Lucy, who we lost last year. She was only 6 months old, and if we hadn't taken her in that night she would have soon died from an infection that she had. We got her the medical attention she needed and fell in love with her desire to sit on our shoulders and her outgoing personality. Although we were happy together in our little house, we always felt like there was a piece missing...

After we arrived home from our honeymoon I thought that I was going to have a lot of time on my hands. I knew that I would no longer have wedding phone calls to make, details to decide on, and little projects to do. But I love to keep busy, so I planned on scrapbooking, gardening, and maybe even finding a new hobby. Or maybe get a puppy!

The dog idea started one day at work with my coworker Kristi. She was talking about her dog and it made me start to think about how much I have always wanted a dog. Ted and I have talked about getting a dog for years, but we kept saying that we would wait until the time was right. I started thinking about how right the timing felt. I work only a mile from home so I have the flexibilty to come home on my lunchbreaks. We have a fenced in backyard perfect for a puppy. And our lives are only going to get busier!

Sure people have told me about how much work a dog is. But I started looking around online for one anyways, and of course I fell in love with a picture of a puppy that I found online. His name was Fonzi and he was at a shelter in Groton. He had only been there for a few days because he had been rescued by them from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee. I showed the picture of Fonzi to Ted and he agreed to take a ride down on Friday to meet the little guy. I contacted the shelter and we set up an appointment!