JayDee Comes Home

The big day arrived, Friday, August 1^st; JayDee was a day shy of 8 weeks old and we departed Williamsport at 6:00 AM for a 10 o’clock appointment with Jenn Craig in Erie, PA. Several days before she e-mailed me, attaching a picture, that she had selected “Orange Girl” to be ours. She said that this pup loved to be held and petted, but she also could “do her own thing”. We arrived almost on time, prompt is as prompt does, and Jenn had JayDee, her mom Pebbles, as well as Lobo – an incredibly affectionate male Golden on hand. Jenn reviewed a number of important details with us and she had a folder, which other puppy buyers had called an “Owner’s Manual” of important information for us to take home. I had purchased a smaller, plastic, travel crate several days earlier and was prepared for the four hour drive home. Pam said she wanted to hold JayDee on her lap and Jenn said we could start out that way, but the pup would get squirmy. We departed Harborview Goldens and crossed the road to enter a Boat Launch and Park on Lake Erie and were disappointed to see signs saying “No Dogs”. We made a U-turn and found a large grassy area several miles down the road and took JayDee for our first “get acquainted” walk. This next comment probably proves that I don’t know much about puppies at all, but I was very pleasantly surprised that JayDee accepted me as her pack leader and followed wherever I walked. Her reaction and response to me was so positive, that I disconnected the leash and kept it handy, although I didn’t need it. We began to realize the JayDee has a delightful disposition.

The ride home turned out to be a breeze – JayDee stayed on Pam’s lap the entire four hours. Two hours into the trip, just about half way, JayDee got antsy, put me in mind, “Daddy, Daddy, I got to go! I got to go!” We were in the midst of highway construction and I didn’t feel that getting peed on was a pull over emergency, and par for the course, there wasn’t an exit for several tension filled miles. The next exit, when it did arrive, proved to be more than perfect, a virtually non-traveled country road. But JayDee didn’t pee or poop, so we continued on home without incident. JayDee sitting contentedly or sleeping on Pam’s towel covered lap.

When we arrived home it was late afternoon and we “migrated,” as per Cesar Millan. I walked JayDee around the property boundary line several times and was pleased to note that she continued to follow me without any undo encouragement. We decided to give her free reign of our kitchen, but she will have to earn the right to additional access to other rooms in the house. This turned out to be a bit of a challenge because our kitchen exits to the dining room, the living room, and the porch – the door to the porch being left open during the warmer weather months. The dining room has a series of floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall and JayDee thought that she was seeing her littermates! I used body blocks, as suggested by McConnell, to contain her, but persistence and puppies definitely go together. I suppose I could have used adjustable children/puppy gates, and I ultimately had to, but I wanted to try to establish the boundaries without any physical barriers.

Time to determine JayDees' reaction to the crate.

Introducing JayDee to the crate started out badly – and it was totally my fault. Fortunately the nastiness lasted only 30 seconds, but if I could go back in time, I would do it differently. I’m grateful that pups are forgiving so there was no permanent trauma to either of us. I should have graduated the introduction to the crate much more slowly. Next time I’ll try the Hansel and Gretel technique – place treats leading into the crate. So simple once you know!

Later when we popped JayDee into her crate in the kitchen; her howls lasted only 12 minutes and then she settled.

My original idea was to make my study JayDee’s home base, especially at night. I thought that Pam would not be pleased with a dog, crated in our bedroom. All the experts, however, say that for a pup, at least, the bedroom is the easiest place for them to transition from their mom and littermates to their new pack. When I suggested all this to Pam, she was absolutely fine with it (I should never underestimate my wife). So at bedtime, we carried JayDee up to our bedroom, put her in that crate, and after another short period of howls she was out! I was up a couple of times during the night for go outs. No big deal. So far, (as of this original writing, 50 hours of pup in the Parks’ home) the only “accidents” in the house have been one poop and one pee, both my fault, but we didn’t mention anything to JayDee about it.

You gotta love a face like this!

Pam’s reaction to this pup was wonderful. Early on Pam said to me “You love being slurped by a dog, but I don’t.” So I was surprised that when JayDee gave Pam a smacker on the cheek she said, “I just love that.” When I brought up her previous comment she said that puppy kisses were more delicate!!!!

This pup is a love muffin

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