Jason at Borders

Jason had a marvelous day today working the Borders giftwrapping with Showman (S's on the left.) As you can see, they were practically run off their legs meeting and greeting potential adopters and folks who needed presents wrapped. Ha! Not!

But they did enjoy lazing around together in the Xpen and having people lean in to rub their heads and their bellies. Jason's been doing really well and was a real star at the Clarksville M&G this weekend where he met a family that is interested in him. His wis is for a home of his own by Christmas.

Trip to Channel 4

Jason went with me yesterday to a meeting at Channel 4. There's nothing like a car ride for making a greyhound happy

He loves getting out to go to new places and immediately made friends of the receptionist and the folks in the meeting. I took along a bed for him, so he sacked out on the floor for a while, tho first he had to circle the room a few times. The mini-blinds seemed to be particularly interesting to him. Every once in a while he'd jump up because he could hear the beep that goes with someone letting themselves through the security door.

A couple of times, he laid his head on my arm during the meeting and I rubbed his ears. Guess he just wanted to be sure I was still there. He was glad to get home, though, because this excursion meant that he ate supper an hour later than usual.

Great dog/bad luck

Sorry for the long delay in posting. In the interim, Jason went into an adopted home that didn't last. No fault of his own. Just not the right place for a dog. Since then, he's been with us and being his typical good boy self. He's doing less barking in the crate and his penchant for collecting has subsided somewhat. Okay, he did drag one of Ray's socks into the den yesterday and it was even a clean one from the laundry basket. Maybe he was looking for the mate?

We have 2 additional guest hounds here right now and Jason is loving having extra company to swap beds with and to run back and forth across the backyard with. He's such an easy going guy. He deserves a home where people will appreciate his effervescent personality and one goal in life which is to be loved and petted on as much as possible.

Thinking of getting yourself a holiday present? Think Jason of Ruckus.

Looking for a home

Jason spent part of this week with an adoptive family. They really, really loved him and it was a perfect fit, except for the barking in the crate. (They lived in an apartment.) So he's back with us.

He's settled back in here like a trooper. His passion for collecting seems to have diminished somewhat and he hasn't tried to counter surf, so he obviously got some good training in his temporary home.

To see if we can minimize his barking, we're using a citronelle collar with him in the crate when we're away. When he barks, the collar gives him a little squirt of lemony smell. The squirting and the smell distract him and because he doesn't like it, he's quickly figured out no barking = no squirt. Other adopters have had good luck with this training, so we're hoping the lessons will do him well.

Jason and I will be at 100 Oaks tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 2), so come by and meet him.

Jason Update

Jason had a great time at our picnic on Sunday. He met lots of possible adopters and visited with all his hound friends. Even got some treats and the opportunity to cool off in the wading pool. Oh and he got part of a hot dog, too.

As you can see from this picture, he was exhausted after socializing and marketing himself all day. He really is a good boy. Very eager to please and interested in everything the people in his life are doing. Every day's a new day for Jason. He can hardly wait to get into the yard to check out all his favorite spots and follow Shadow and Kelley around. He's come a long way in learning the "wait" command and has learned to settle into a dog bed when Ray and I eat. He's also learned to avoid Buster, our official cat-tester. Buster has explained the situation to him, but if Jason passes by too closely, he gets wacked, just on principle.

Jason and Toys

Jason's catching on to stuffies fast. For the past week or so, he's devoted himself to collecting things around the house — shoes, socks, yarn, my wrist splints — and we've tried to turn his attention to things that are actually his, like toys. Seems like he's finally caught on.

In fact, the more toys he has on his bed, the happier he is and now he really prefers to go outside with a toy in his mouth, so he can throw it around and pounce on it when it hits the ground. He tires of this game pretty quickly, but it's nice to see him entertaining himself.

He continues to do well in all areas, so we're graduating to learning some basic commands like wait and stay. He's so eager to please and to be in on the action that he's learning quickly All he really wants is people who will spend time with him and rub his ears and tell him what a good boy he is. That and feed him treats.

Jason's weekend

Jason made his debut this weekend at the Clarksville M&G where he was a big hit. He did really well on the road up there and back, just crashed out in the back of my car. He was great with the other hounds and wasn't at all interested in all the small fuzzy dogs. Suzanne Darnell had homemade dog treats for all the hounds and he loved those. Funny thing, tho, he was reluctant to drink out of the communal dog dish that had a lot of ice in it.

Today he's had a good time hanging out with my hounds and romping around the backyard. To see how he'd do as an only hound, we crated him and took our 3 for a quick run to pick up dog food. Jason seemed content in his crate with his peanut butter kong and the radio on. Tomorrow, we'll extend his time alone to an hour and see how he does.