You don't know Jack...
A few months ago it dawned on me, you all don't know jack, about JACK! So I waited patiently to tell you about Jack because I knew that Kelly over at kellyskornerblog.com was going to do a "Show us your life" Friday on pets and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to our family pet (Black)Jack Vitt.
In April 2005, just weeks before we found out we were expecting our first baby girl, we adopted our first "baby"--Blackjack, Jack for short. Named by the breeder, we liked the name Jack so we kept it. We traveled down to Cincinatti to pick up our little furry ball of cuteness, and this is what he looked like on that first day:
I have to tell you, I was big on persuading Scott to get Jack. We were not yet married at the time, nor did we live together, but I vowed to come over all the time to take care of little Jack and I went on and on those first few days about how much I loved him. And I truly did.
Those spring days {before I found out I was expecting} I enjoyed taking Jack out early in the morning and playing with him, letting him chew on my keys and other random items, and just chasing him all around.
Once I found out I was pregnant, the excitement of Jacky-boy {as Scott calls often calls him} wore off a tiny bit, but he was still king of the homestead. Scott often took (and still takes!) him to the park near our house to wade a bit in the river and walk along the trails. He even got to go to work with Scott right from the beginning and immediately became Scott's best friend, his right-hand-man and his constant companion.
When Jaden was born, Jack knew he had taken a backseat to our new bundle of joy, but he was the best big brother that he could be.
He was also very nurturing when Sienna was born, and still remained a favorite pal of mine and Scott's. Even though we brought two new babies into our home after Jack got here, he still got to be pampered a bit by going to work with Scott each day and having that special daddy-doggie time.
Sometime over the past year or so, I hate to admit, but I've grown to dislike Jack a tad bit. As a puppy, he only chewed two things that I can think of--the bottom of our old couch and a tiny corner of baseboard in our dining room, but as a 4-year-old "grown up" dog he is starting to destroy some things around the house and I can't stand to see him act this way.
I know for sure that he is not intentionally destroying things, but his claws have scratched every square inch of our hardwood floors for example. And he is a very anxious, nervous dog so in his anxiety he licks his paws and our carpeted floors, leaving large brownish and reddish stains that we cannot get up with even the strongest of carpet cleaners. He also has started not liking to eat his food out of the bowl on his placemat, so he scoots the bowl around, knocking it into his water bowl and spilling water all over the laundry room floor...which has caused some mildew / mold to grow on a base piece of one of our laundry room cabinets. Finally, his most recent thing is that he no longer will lie on his bed (a bed he LOVED from day one and slept on for 2 years) and he is trying rediculously hard to sleep on our couches. These are new couches I should add, and he is absolutely not permitted to jump onto them, let alone lie on them to sleep.
I've proposed putting Jack on anxiety medicine, but Scott does not want to. So instead I've developed a bit of anxiety myself--anxiety over what the heck Jack might stain / break / destroy next while I try to get our house ready to put up for sale. Just last night I added a new "area rug" of sorts to our family room--a LL Bean dog blanket which covers much of the center of our room is now underneath our coffee table where Jack has been licking and causing some major stains. The blanket isn't to cover the stains, but rather to stop him from continuing to lick right there.
So there you have it, and now you know Jack. Most people find him to be delightful, but I find him recently to be "destroy-full." I hope that one day we can figure out what makes our dog tick and maybe I can love him the way that I used to. But until then, I'm just on constant alert for what he's going to do next...
In April 2005, just weeks before we found out we were expecting our first baby girl, we adopted our first "baby"--Blackjack, Jack for short. Named by the breeder, we liked the name Jack so we kept it. We traveled down to Cincinatti to pick up our little furry ball of cuteness, and this is what he looked like on that first day:
I have to tell you, I was big on persuading Scott to get Jack. We were not yet married at the time, nor did we live together, but I vowed to come over all the time to take care of little Jack and I went on and on those first few days about how much I loved him. And I truly did.Those spring days {before I found out I was expecting} I enjoyed taking Jack out early in the morning and playing with him, letting him chew on my keys and other random items, and just chasing him all around.
Once I found out I was pregnant, the excitement of Jacky-boy {as Scott calls often calls him} wore off a tiny bit, but he was still king of the homestead. Scott often took (and still takes!) him to the park near our house to wade a bit in the river and walk along the trails. He even got to go to work with Scott right from the beginning and immediately became Scott's best friend, his right-hand-man and his constant companion.
When Jaden was born, Jack knew he had taken a backseat to our new bundle of joy, but he was the best big brother that he could be.
He was also very nurturing when Sienna was born, and still remained a favorite pal of mine and Scott's. Even though we brought two new babies into our home after Jack got here, he still got to be pampered a bit by going to work with Scott each day and having that special daddy-doggie time.Sometime over the past year or so, I hate to admit, but I've grown to dislike Jack a tad bit. As a puppy, he only chewed two things that I can think of--the bottom of our old couch and a tiny corner of baseboard in our dining room, but as a 4-year-old "grown up" dog he is starting to destroy some things around the house and I can't stand to see him act this way.
I know for sure that he is not intentionally destroying things, but his claws have scratched every square inch of our hardwood floors for example. And he is a very anxious, nervous dog so in his anxiety he licks his paws and our carpeted floors, leaving large brownish and reddish stains that we cannot get up with even the strongest of carpet cleaners. He also has started not liking to eat his food out of the bowl on his placemat, so he scoots the bowl around, knocking it into his water bowl and spilling water all over the laundry room floor...which has caused some mildew / mold to grow on a base piece of one of our laundry room cabinets. Finally, his most recent thing is that he no longer will lie on his bed (a bed he LOVED from day one and slept on for 2 years) and he is trying rediculously hard to sleep on our couches. These are new couches I should add, and he is absolutely not permitted to jump onto them, let alone lie on them to sleep.
I've proposed putting Jack on anxiety medicine, but Scott does not want to. So instead I've developed a bit of anxiety myself--anxiety over what the heck Jack might stain / break / destroy next while I try to get our house ready to put up for sale. Just last night I added a new "area rug" of sorts to our family room--a LL Bean dog blanket which covers much of the center of our room is now underneath our coffee table where Jack has been licking and causing some major stains. The blanket isn't to cover the stains, but rather to stop him from continuing to lick right there.So there you have it, and now you know Jack. Most people find him to be delightful, but I find him recently to be "destroy-full." I hope that one day we can figure out what makes our dog tick and maybe I can love him the way that I used to. But until then, I'm just on constant alert for what he's going to do next...
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