Jack, the cat lover

 Another word that Jack recognizes and reacts to is "Kittie".  We have a cat that we've creatively named "Kittie".  She has been in our family since 2008. So when Jack hears us say "Kittie" he perks right up, ready to do some butt sniffing. 

Here she is when she was a kitten pawing at a mouse on the computer screen.

Jack loves this cat, and honestly I think the love is reciprocated. But to watch that cat interact with Jack is simply hilarious.  At first we were concerned, but now we know better.  Jack is a little over the top with his sniffing and kissing of the cat at first and she didn't like it.  But over time she's learned to tolerate it, and now I think she actually likes it, and pretends to hate it by clawing, biting, and whining.  Jack's tail is going 100 miles an hour the whole time so her clawing and biting obviously doesn't hurt him.  He seems to enjoy it immensely.

Jack is good to hang out in the front
yard with us when we do
yard work. Here the boys helped me 
prune the front bushes while
Jack just walks on by.

Sometimes he is a bit much. I'll let her out the back door and she will sprint for the tree and climb it only to have Jack chase her and not be able to climb up and after a couple minutes will go look for something else to do.  

Me and Jack hanging out on the tramp again.

Kittie is a hunter.  I've seen her with dozens of mice and birds over the years. And she will eat them completely.  Once she brought an injured mouse home and played with it on the back patio for about a half hour before putting it out of its misery and eating it whole.

Here's some video of the relatively light play Jack and the Kittie go through.  I need to capture some of the more intense bitey scratchy stuff.  It's pretty dang funny.

"Roll Over" and "Stay"

 So our training has kind of leveled off.  He's good at the following commands:

• Sit - Hand held in a fist lifted up in front of you.
  
  

  

  I love taking a short break
  during my work day to
  just chill on the 
  tramp with Jack. Throw the ball
  a few time, and take a quick
  pee break and get back to work.

• Lay Down - arm lifted up with hand held out laying flat. Give the command while lowering the hand.
• When ever we work on "Bring it" after he gives it to me, I make him "Lay Down" in order to throw it again.  Now I don't even have to issue that command, he knows that's the next step and will often go straight to a laying down position so he can go run for his ball/toy again.
• Go get it - Given when throwing a toy/ball for him to go get.  As soon as he gets it in his mouth, issue the Bring it command:
• Bring it - Issue this command if he has something in his mouth. To get him to bring it to you.
• Same as "fetch". I just prefer the word Bring it.
• Drop it
• Circling pointed finger at the location below you where you want him to put it.
• Hands - Hand held out flat ready to accept the ball/toy to be placed there.
•  When I want him to put the ball in my hands instead of drop it.
• Find it
• I'll use this on a variety of objects which I'm getting him to associate the various scents with. He will go into high alert with this command and go find the ball/bird/toy he may think you mean (unless you show him prior to hiding it).
• Where's your duck?
• His tail and his ears will perk up. He could be dead asleep and if he hears this, he's instantly alert and runs around looking for his duck toy.
• Get in your bedroom
• Signal to go get in his little bedroom hidden near my office.
• Let's go on a walk
• I do this one right before going on a walk mostly for me to see him get all excited right before we go.
• Go Pee
• He's still working on this one.  If it's late at night and dark out back, I'll go show him what I mean. He'll give my mark a good sniff and leave his own right there too.  What a good boy.
• Come, Wait, Stay
• Sometimes I'll let him come with me out the front porch.  As soon as I open the door and walk out, I'll hold it open and say "Come" and he'll come out.  As soon as he actually gets through the door I'll say "Wait!".  He'll wait at the top of the stairs while I shut the door behid him.  Then I'll go down the stair while he waits.  
• I'll walk away form the porch and turn around, point at him and sternly say "Stay!".  At which point I'll go get the mail and watch behind me to make sure he isn't getting naughty. Which he's been naughty his first 5 or so sessions.  But he's to the point now where he will stay while I walk all the way to the mailbox, get the mail and come back. 
• Come!
• I will then reward his patience with a very encouraging from, while I pat my knee getting him excited to come to me after he was so disciplined. I'll give him all the love in the world for doing that flawlessly which he is getting much more consistent at.

I figured it would be nice to teach him a new skill, even if it's not super useful.  So I thought we'd work on "Roll Over".

I showed the boys what kind of build up we needed to get to that point.

He ran this trail with so much energy. It was nice
to let him just go.  He did good about 

1. Sit - Fist held up with a bent elbow 
2. Lay down - flat hand motioning downward
3. Roll Over - Make a fist and roll it in a clockwise circle.  

He will only roll to his left, which is the direction I'm rolling with my hand. I'm ok with that.  I'll make sure that when we start the series of commands that he's in a position where he can roll to his left without any obstructions.  It only took a couple days of practice before he's pretty good at it.  

Jack enjoying the little bear river trail in Mendon

I think he's pretty stubborn at times because he knows what he needs to do, but sometimes will hesitate.  So I won't give him his treat unless he complies.  He needs to know that he won't get his way doing a "half butt" job.

Jack joined me and the boys at the aid station
for the Logan Marathon which Cathi ran.
Jack loved the Little Bear River Site we were
stationed at.

Limber Tail Syndrome

 So this past month we went up to Logan for supporting Cathi at the Logan Marathon. We took Jack with us and he enjoyed the Logan river.  There are occasionally birds along the waters edge and he'll love chasing them trying to catch them.  He'll wade in the water and he seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.  

Jack giving Sam some love

The day after coming back I noticed his tail tucked under his legs almost all the time, even when we would play fetch, etc.  It was as if he had damaged his tail somehow, like it was seriously limp and wasn't wagging at all, even when it should be going nuts normally for something fun we would do.

I was getting worried.  I texted Makenzie about it and she had no idea.  I was on the verge of calling the vet for an appointment.  But I thought I'd do some google searching.  Sure enough I got the right keywords and found this:

Limber Tail Syndrome

Just look at that tail. He's on high alert
trying to catch those birds.

J

Oh my gosh! This makes so much sense! It's caused by cold water.  Cold water that damages the muscle/nerves in the tail which is temporary.  We just got back from Logan, and he got his tail under the water a few times. And that was some cold water.  I know cause I was gonna go for a swim actually.  I'm pretty
cold water tolerant, but when I got up to my waist I realized it wasn't gonna be a long swim, maybe a couple minutes.  It was in the high 40's I'm guessing.  

Sure enough about 4 days later his tail was back to normal. But it was quite troubling seeing him in that state.  A dog without a tail (to me), just isn't a dog.  I've had a Bulldog and a Cocker Spaniel before with little knobs for tails.  They just aren't the same.

Jack has a Fitbark device on
his collar that tracks how 
many steps he takes.
This little guy got in over nearly
15 miles of running on Satuday
when we were in Logan.

Jack, the fisherdog

 I've gone fishing a few times this month with Jack along with me.  I once caught a good sized catfish in Willard Bay and it was fun to see him excited as I reeled it in.  We've done more hiking this month as well. 

Jack and I fishing at Willard Bay

Jack and his Dad, Timber. Chilling out in the back.

Cathi took this pic, after Jack and I called it a night.
She's like, "Um Jack, you're in my spot!"

More fishing with my best bud.

Jack the water dog

 

Jack accompanied Sam on a width
crossing of Bear Lake (6.5 miles)
It was 4 hours. Too long for a dog to
hold it.  So I probably won't do that
much. I felt bad. I could tell he
had to pee. And I doubt he'd be able
to pee in the water, like I do.

Jack has had his fair share of being on the water.  This last month I bought a Sea Doo Fish Pro jetski.  I got this because this summer I wanted to do some long open water swims and allow for my "Kayaker", whether that be Oliver, Sam or Cathi, to stay with me with the least amount of effort and also to allow Jack to ride along without bugging the "Paddler".  No need to paddle.  Jack just stands in the gunnel area and watches me like he's worried about me.  I got him a doggy lifejacket, because who knows when he could fall in, and although he's swam a little, he's far from being a marathon swimmer. :)

Hot tub fun

When we get in the hot tub, he'll climb up and watch to see what fun we're having.  It's too hot to have him come in with us. And I don't really want him learning that it's OK for him to get in there in case he thinks the same thing about the pool which has a vinyl liner, which if he tried getting out of the pool with his claws would surely rip a hole in the side.  So I wan't him to stay clear of swimming in pools.  At least at our house.  

Kisses for Dad.

When we went down to St. George to Cathi's parent's house we got him to swim with us, although reluctantly.  

Giving Jack a "bedroom"

So I've turned the little cupboard under the stairs in the basement my work office. I was working there and Jack was at my feet. He's getting so big that I really don't have much space.  I was looking at the wall behind the monitor on the desk and realized that behind that wall was probably some space since the stairs go down and then turn right at that point.

I got a knife and cut into the drywall to create a hole and sure enough, it was just as I thought.  There is about a 6 ft x 8ft space right there that is about 28 inches high.  In fact, there are some electrical wires right there to provide electricity to the other rooms outside of that.  So I bought some more wire, some electrical boxes and switches, etc.  And wired in a switch and a light.  I got some padding and put in there.  Jack now responds to "Got get in your bedroom" as I point to the rug that covers the entrance to his room.  

He'll go in there and nap for quite a while while I work throughout the day. Sometimes when I kick off a build (compiling source code) that takes a while. I'll crawl in there and chill with him.

This pic I took in "Portrait mode"
on my phone at the Maverick
on the way down to St. George.
What a good looking boy!

Jack loves kayaking at Pineview
with Oliver while I swim.

Jack inside his bedroom. Notice his
Mom and Dad picture up on the wall. I also put 
up other English Setter Female pics
I got off the internet.  The boy needs
some "Puppy Pinups". :)

I love when Jack stretches his legs out like this.
He looks so tall when he does this.

Jack loves his duck so much, he sometimes
will chew him to shreds. Literally.

Jack will fetch a disk now.  Can't catch it in the
air like my brother Eric's dog.  But he can return it.

Jack loves hiking and kayaking

 We've done a lot of hiking, duck stalking at Jensen, and kayaking.  He is very good about fetching and dropping his ball.  He is good about not having any accidents, and we've packed the crate up since I now work all the time from home.  I'm able to be with him all the time.  If I have to leave I'll put him in the back yard.

I bought a fake pheasant along with some scent.  I rub the scent on the bird and then put Jack in the shed so he can't see. I'll go hide it somewhere in the yard. Even in places that are hidden pretty well. I'll rip the door open and yell "Find it!" He goes nuts trying to sniff out that bird. I know he can sniff it because he'll pass by it and immediately turn back and sniff until he narrows it down.  He is amazing!

Green Pond trail near Snow Basin

Make yourself at home buddy.

Jack's first experience with the Great Salt Lake.

No need for a doggy life jacked in the GSL.  
He fell in once and floated like a cork. He can't just
sit down. He watches me swim like a hawk.

Jack and I on the Legacy Highway trail.

"Find it".
His latest trick is to sniff for birds.

So dang cute!

Who needs squeeky toys when you are happy with 
a stick?

Napping with Jonas.