Jamie
Gwen,
Since he didn't respond to Murphy yet, and as
it's both my middle name, my uncle's name, and my grandmother's
name, we decided to hunt down a suitably Irish name for our new
little boy. We settled on Jameson, after the distillery we
visited while celebrating a family milestone in Ireland several
years ago. It has quickly turned into the nickname of Jamie.
He seems to like it just fine. He was very shy his first week
with us and wasn't eating much at all without lots of effort.
He's having some separation anxiety issues when the house is empty
during part of the day, but as he learns that we always come home
after a little while, he's settling down. We are amazed at the
number of commands he knows, and what a good boy he is. He
became fast friends with our Wheaten, Zoe, and he constantly follows
her around the house if he can't find a person to cuddle with.
We are happy to say that he has found his voice, although it was
very surprising to both him and us. He howls, not barks, howls
in excitement when taken outside to play, or when family comes home,
or when he can't find anyone and doesn't want to be alone. The
first time is happened, he sat down and blinked at us in confusion.
It was adorable. He is the absolute perfect dog for our
household and we couldn't be happier. He's been well-behaved
and has been allowed out into the front yard with Zoe while
we garden to play outside. He still has not gotten the concept
of playing, but we're working on it. Zoe runs wheatie circles
around him, stopping every so often to lean on him and try to get
him to run with her. We think he'll figure it out pretty soon,
since toys are getting more interesting as the days go by.
He is eating better now, which we are very pleased to see, since
he's so skinny, and looks so fragile. His kennel is still his
bedtime spot and safe area where he goes to be happy when he's
uncomfortable or nervous, and he enjoys the fluffy blanket we put in
there for him to nap upon. The boy likes his soft pillows to
sit upon. In a few weeks we will open the kennel at night so
he has the option of sleeping in a puppy pile with zoe on her bed
instead of in the kennel because she keeps trying to sleep in the
kennel with him. We thought it best he adjust to the house
more before we gave him free reign at nighttime, though.
All-in-all, from the shy little dog who was silent, shaking,
confused about chewies, treats, and toys, to the vivid emerging
personality we are seeing, he's a fantastic dog. We have had
some interesting observations that might be clues to his past life,
but we do not know. He is terrified of the sound of cowboy
boots. We had a friend over the other day, and Jameson froze
at the sound even before he saw the person in them. Then he
cowered and quivered in his kennel and wouldn't come out. A
few days later, while taking the usual long morning walk, we had
another man pass us wearing the same shoes, and I thought he was
going to bite him when he passed to close to me. He went from
scared to protective dog. It was some of the oddest behavior,
but we're working on making sure he knows people are not going to
hurt him. We took him to the outlet mall over the weekend so
let him walk around where there are people and new smells, which was
good for him. By the end of the day, he was wiggling his tail
at strangers instead of hiding behind me, my parents, or siblings.
He is adorable with small children. He seems to love them
because they are just his size. In May he will go to obedience
school to help him with leash walking and more doggy socializing.
We will send pictures and updates of him soon, but he doesn't want
to sit still for the camera so thus far everything is blurry because
there's just too much to explore right now. He is an angel,
and is learning to be loved. We cannot thank you enough for
introducing us to our newest family member. :)
My parents have also said that when the other dogs get old many year
from now and pass on, we will be calling your organization and
filling out another adoption form, since they have been so impressed
with the perfect match of Jameson to our family.
Again, thank you so much for what you do. Let us know if
there's a dog in the area that needs help getting somewhere, and we
will be glad to help if we can.
Sincerely,
Kimberly
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