Little Dog in a Big World

Posts Tagged ‘Jack Russell Terrier’

Misha, the shy, perky, lovable Jack Russell Terrier, turned 1 today.

Misha has been with my family since last July when she was just 9 weeks old.  Over that year, we’ve experience so much.  She has grown to a whopping 8 pounds and has developed quite a personality.

She is doing well with her dog training.  Though she has regressed some lately after a beloved family member passed away and a neighbor who played moved away all within the same week.  I work with her daily to help her get through this rough time.

She still has a lot of maturing to do.  Her shy, timid nature has created some challenges.  She isn’t nearly as fearful as she once was.  However, a sudden noise or a motorcycle passing us on our walk can bring her to shuddering.  Hopefully, with continued work, she’ll learn to be more trusting of the world.

Here’s my puppy.  Happy Birthday, Misha!

\So, Happy Birthday Misha!

Between October and November, Misha mellowed out into a wonderful puppy.  Then something happened.  Her fangs decided to fall out.

One cheery Sunday, she became the puppy from hell.  She beat up on everyone she could.  Every time she went outside she attack the grass as if it were her mortal enemy.  She chewed up so much grass that I was bracing myself for cleaning up puke at 2 am.

She was just plain old mean.  I brought her in at 3:30 from yet another trip to the grass.  She had this wild look in her eyes.  I played with her trying to burn off some of the meanness.

I noticed red spots on some of the toys and realized she was bleeding.  When I looked it her mouth, her lower right fang was gone.

She seems so happy after that.  She relaxed and lost her meanness.

It was short lived.  For the next week and a half, she was onery, feisty, mean.  The lower left fang and upper right fang were loose at the same time.  They bent at odd angles for 2 or 3 days and then fell out.  Then we waited for the last one.   She chewed on everything.  Her plastic crate has no corners, the grass has been beheaded beyond regeneration, five of her toys had to go in the garbage because they were beyond needle and thread.

Finally, after almost two weeks, the last fang fell out.  When she lost her upper teeth, almost all at once, she did a little more chewing but her personality only changed mildly.  The fangs were a nightmare!  I guess her gums were so painful that she decided to take it out on everyone.

She’s feeling alot better a week later.  She’s still doing alot of chewing.  But the mean behavior has subsided.  Soon this phase will be over and she’s be the sweet puppy again…I hope…

Each puppy has their own personality and problems.   I was told that until 4 months a puppy can go roughly 3 hours without going to the bathroom.  I was very fortunate from the start that Misha slept all night without any accidents.  But, during the day she the potty queen.

I soon realized that Misha could be near a full bowl of water.  It didn’t matter how much water I put it in.  Her goal in life was to drain it.

One day, it was close to 100F.  Misha was running around and very thirsty.  She drank and drank and drank.  I soon realized the extent of our folly.  She became a pee fest.  Her poor little tummy ached, she whined and cried, and she peed everywhere–every 5 to 10 minutes.

Thankfully, after 3-4 hours she cleared herself out.  I learned a lesson.  From that point on, I rationed her water.  I put in enough to satisfy her and refilled it at certains times during the day.  I never deprived her of water on a hot day or over long periods of time, but I made sure that she waited an hour or two before having another go at it.  It made a difference.  She no longer had multiple accidents.

She was checked out by her Vet.  It was decided that since there were no other symptoms it was a puppy thing that she would hopefully grow out of.

I’ve notice over the last couple of weeks she has gotten out of water gorging.  She can now take a few laps of water and leave the rest.  I’m hoping that very soon I can fill the bowl the whole way and not have to worry that she will gorge on it.

As you know, my previous dog was big…a Lab mix who weighed in the 70s.  Bringing Misha into our home was somewhat comical.  Everything we had from dog toys to bowls was too large.   Thank goodness my nieces supplied Misha with a few things to get her started or she’d be dwarfed by her new surroundings.

I’ve kept Sierra’s dog beds.  For Misha, they are a playground.  Big enough to roll around and play games.  Here she is at 10 weeks old getting used to her new surroundings and clowning around on the dog bed.

Sticking out her tongue at me… (they learn sarcasm so fast)

Showing off her Marty Feldman eyes…

Acting like a goofball…

This hedgehog is huge…