March 29, 2014 Today, like a lot of days this winter, was rainy and windy all day. We left A.J. alone for a few hours while we ran errands. When we got back I could tell he’d been counter surfing because there was another big long scratch along the side of the cabinets. But he …
Tag: separation anxiety
New Year’s Eve 2013
December 31, 2013 The last day of the year. It’s been kind of a rough year for A.J. So, he decided to end it on a fitting note. This morning a hawk landed on our back fence with its breakfast, another bird. A.J. saw it and went nuts. I didn’t want him to run out …
The Lowest Point
Note: We've reached the ultimate low point in our journey. This journal entry is a tough one, but I'm sharing it because it's part of the story. Like everything in life, adopting a pet can have plenty of ups and downs. We're about to experience a big "down." Ready or not, here it is: November 27, 2013 …
My Day Off
November 16, 2013 Note: If you've been reading any of these past posts, you might have realized by now that taking care of A.J. is exhausting. He needs a ton of exercise, but because of his leash aggression issues every walk is a huge and stressful chore. So on this day, I decided to take the …
Still Lots of Issues
November 14, 2013 Since A.J. has had kennel cough and hasn’t been able to go to day camp we’ve been going to the park every day this week. We had quite the adventure yesterday. We got into the park and stopped. I had him sit, and I switched the leash from his harness to his …
Crate Training Take 2
November 2, 2013 I’ve been crate-training A.J. for about the last month. It’s been very slow. He behaves more like a wild dog; he doesn’t even like to be in the house, let alone shut in a crate. And our first foray into the crate wound up with a bent-up crate and a dog outside …
A Little Too Much Excitement
September 2, 2013 Sky left this morning. It was a rough weekend for A.J. The two dogs had come to a pretty peaceful existence. A.J. occasionally tried to play, Sky of course would have none of it. We left them alone together several times and while they both obviously spent their time on the sofas …
The Cone Only Works When Its On
August 25, 2013 On the plus side, A.J. was home alone for five hours today and was perfectly fine. On the minus side, I took the cone off so he could eat easier and didn’t put in back on right away. He scratched all his scabs off and was bleeding pretty badly. I had to …
Another Terrible Walk
August 12, 2013 We’re still dealing with A.J.’s open wound from the cheatgrass. Cleaning it out and getting the sock on have been quite the challenge. He mouthed at me several times while I tried to put the sock on. The last couple of times he’s pretty much given up, finally. We had a terrible …
Behavior Issues
August 5, 2013 We’re well into week 2 of A.J. He’s actually coming along pretty well. We left him yesterday for 2 hours and he tore apart a Kleenex box and knocked over a plastic cup of water that was on the kitchen table. Not great, but not bad. Today we left him for 2 …
AJ the Springer 