JASPER GOES HOME 20 FEBRUARY 2011

Linda Shepard writes: Not a peep out of the little guy the whole trip back to Iowa - he curled up and slept! Everything was pretty overwhelming when he arrived at his new home; lots of things to smell, lots of places to explore. He loved the back yard and christened it in eight places that we counted! And he even managed a big, healthy poo - progress! He & Fia, my resident three-year-old female Cairn, had a very successful introduction with lots of tail wagging and tandem yard tours and even some bouncing on springs around each other. They continued to "engage" as the weekend progressed, including a couple of tug-of-wars with all the toys. She still isn't too thrilled with him sleeping on "her" bed, but we worked through that by assigning "spots". Even in a couple of days he has lost a lot of the "cowering" behavior and his ears are up more & more of the time. He doesn't like the kitchen and is mostly happy either on the sofa in the family room, or in the reading chair in my bedroom - stairs were new to him, according to Michelle, and he has them mastered after some initial hesitation. He only ate a little chicken & mashed carrot the first night, but is now an enthusiastic participant in mealtime, including yogurt for lunch and his daily greenie & flossie - I'm determined to get that little concave tummy filled out and add some luster to his coat. He has mostly remembered his manners in the house; we've had a couple of accidents, but there are lots of dog smells all over the place and I'm sure that contributes. As Michelle experienced, his favorite place is sleeping in a lap; we've done a lot of that this weekend. And after some real hesitation coming back into the house (I think the sound of the sliding door to the patio was new), he now comes & goes with no hesitation. So lots & lots of progress this weekend; he is a different little guy after only a few days and is a wonderful addition to the house! Michelle & family, thank you so much for taking such good care of my little guy! And thank you, Shell, for meeting me halfway and being willing to do it so quickly! Laura & I really enjoyed meeting your husband as well as the famous Skippy & Molly - what lucky little dogs!

JESSA GOES TO PET EXPO HERE