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My sister came to visit for a couple of days, and Jilly was very excited to see her Auntie Jackie. We went to the mall today and I finally got to shop in Fetch, the pet store that basically only has stuff for dogs. I didn't realize they sold dogs until we stopped in, but there they were, most likely puppy mill specials. There were two Papillons, but they looked more like Papillon/Jack Russell crosses. It was weird, the ears were right, as far as shape and size, but there was very little hair in the ears, and their bodies weren't furry. They also didn't have the refined muzzle that Jilly has. Something was very "wrong" about them, though their tails did curl over their backs the way Jilly's does.
Kitty and Jilly are playing more and more, it mainly looks like Jilly running around the living room while Kitty kind of walks after her, Jilly seems to like it though and Kitty must not be having a bad time, or else she wouldn't be on the floor with Jilly. Jilly doesn't really chase Kitty, though she does walk towards her and bark.
Jilly got her first greenie today, my sister was telling us that the Japanese Chin my parents had while I was in college would take a month to finish a greenie. Jilly polished hers off in just under 15 minutes. She *loved* it. It was the smallest size available, and I watched her the whole time she ate it, to ensure she didn't get any big pieces. The box says to give one per day, but I don't think she'll be getting nearly that many!
I've been reflecting on how much I think Jilly will like agility. She already runs up the ramp made of pillows laid on boxes, dives under couches and legs, jumps over legs, and has no problem standing on the hole box while it's upside down and laying on a long toy so that it shifts around as Jilly moves from edge to edge.
Oh, and the biggest news of all tonight??? Jilly went to the door twice to signal she wanted to go out. She doesn't stay at the door long, but she doesn't really venture onto that side of the living room when playing, so it usually means something when she does. And in those two cases tonight, it did, woohoo! I also discovered that she will sit and lay down based solely on my hand signals, with no words, as long as she's focused on me already.
I almost forgot, I clipped the nails on her front paws with hardly any struggle. I was impressed by how still she stayed and how quickly she settled down when she did struggle. I'll probably try her back feet again tomorrow.
Cats may be better at hunting, but dogs are better at entertaining themselves. Jilly loves this box with holes in it that we had for the cats. We put her tennis balls in it and she would get them out. Then she started doing the oddest thing...after getting her tennis balls out, she would put the balls back IN! Not only that, but the next day, and following days, she would be playing fetch and take her balls over to the box with holes and put them in one of the holes. She would also try to put some of her stuffed toys in the holes as well. It was pretty amazing, and cute, to watch.
Yesterday Jilly went on a half mile walk, she loved it. We ran part of it and walked (well, I walked, she trotted) most of it. She's doing good on the leash, but one line of the walkway was stop and go because there's a line of trees that drops leaves and sticks and stuff on the asphalt. I can't wait until she's better trained on the leash, then we can do a real jog and actually get her tired out.
It's kind of funny watching the difference between dogs and cats in play. Jilly is smart, but Kitty is a much smarter hunter. It'll be interesting to see if that changes, the way Elphie got smarter as she matured. Right now Jilly doesn't anticipate where a toy is going, she just goes after where it is. It's a big change from Kitty, who will watch the toy move for a few seconds, until she *knows* where it's going, then she pounces.
Of course, the cats can also do some crazy midair acrobatics as well, and Jilly mainly stays on the ground (we also don't ask her to jump at her young age, so keep the toys on the ground too). Last night we started working on getting Jilly to touch the bells we got for her to use as a signal that she needs to go outside. It was kind of surprising, because she really didn't seem to like touching the bell. But we'll keep working on it.
Jilly loves Rawhide. Fortunately we found a Nylabone that she likes as much, so that we don't have to worry about her chewing up little pieces of Rawhide, but here are some pictures of her enjoying some rawhide. And don't forget, you can see the pictures bigger by clicking on them.
She got to meet Craig's grandpa today, she loved him. It's funny watching someone she's never seen before come in. Her head cocks to the side, and then she jumps up and runs over to see them, tail wagging a thousand times a minute. She then licked his hands and would run to him whenever freed, it was very entertaining.
Jilly's new experience for today was getting to sleep in bed with Craig and I after she went out this morning. She must have realized how special that was, because she curled up in a ball and went right to sleep, even though it was 8 in the morning.
Jilly has been learning that she doesn't get to run around all willy nilly. That sometimes, she needs to quiet down and sit on the couch with us. She's been accepting that, since the first couple of days she just played 24/7, now she plays for a bit and then is asked to settle down.
Jilly has mastered a couple of new things while here. Steps, for one. She's completely comfortable running up a full flight of steps now. She doesn't come down, just up. She has also gotten brave enough to jump off the couch. It's funny how she does it, she scoots over to the edge of the couch, and kind of creeps down the side until her front paws are hanging down and then she kind of slides/jumps the rest of the way. I did like it better when she wouldn't jump down on her own, but she was going to start jumping off the couch on her own eventually.
We took Jilly to see another puppy, but it ended up being too big to play with so she was just admired by the other people, until someone brought a baby over to see her, and I had to leave, I was surprised by how strong my reaction was, but I couldn't be within 5 feet of it. The puppy's owner was amazed that Jilly didn't bite, but she kept her hand up there, playing with Jilly's mouth, so Jilly did end up mouthing her hand, but then she was commenting on how amazed she was that she didn't use her teeth hard and how gentle she was. I just wanted to ask why she was trying to get our dog to bite her to begin with.
