“People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs after rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.” ~Barbara Kingsolver
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
First Few Weeks continued...
"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." ~Ben Williams
I swear I took a million photos of Jake when we first got him, but why didn't I take any videos?! I love watching videos of golden retriever puppies on YouTube, but I really regret not taking any of our own little puppies playing together. Here are some more pics of Jake and Cooper when they were 8 weeks.
At the end of April, we moved out of the non pet friendly apartment in Williamsburg, and into a new PET FRIENDLY!! apartment in Park Slope. We were so happy and relieved to not have to hide Jake anymore. He could be as noisy as he wanted in this new apartment. Immediately upon arrival we met some of the other tenants in the building and their dogs, so we knew this was going to be the perfect place for him. We also loved the close proximity to Prospect Park (two blocks), which has become Jake's new favorite place (but more on that later...).
After we settled in to our new place, we still had some challenges. Jake still wasn't sleeping through the night(just like having a baby, I know!). I would have to wake up multiple times during the night to try to get him to go back to sleep. Unlike babies, who wake up because they need fed, I wasn't sure what to do with Jake. Normally, I would just pet him for a while and he would eventually fall back asleep. Then bright and early around 4 or 5 A.M. he would be up and ready to begin his day. I can recall many mornings waking up with him and playing with him on the living room floor while the infomercials were still on T.V. (that's how you know it's way too early to be up).
Another challenge was potty training. By this point, he had learned to do his business on the puppy pads, but there were still many accidents when he "forgot" to go on the pad. It's a good thing we have hardwood floors, or else it would have been a nightmare. I knew I wanted to start training him to go outside, but was still leery about taking him out due to what I had been reading about parvo. So at about nine weeks I took Jake for his first set of puppy shots and I asked the vet if it would be okay to take him outside. She said it was fine to take him out to go to the bathroom on the street, but no walks or park just yet. Who knew there was so much to worry about when raising a puppy in NYC?! So I did my best to take him out every couple of hours, and to exercise him in the apartment as well as I could.
*I'm happy to report Jake was fully trained by 12 weeks and has not had an accident since. He also is fully vaccinated and we are now able to enjoy long walks and romps in the park together :)
I swear I took a million photos of Jake when we first got him, but why didn't I take any videos?! I love watching videos of golden retriever puppies on YouTube, but I really regret not taking any of our own little puppies playing together. Here are some more pics of Jake and Cooper when they were 8 weeks.
At the end of April, we moved out of the non pet friendly apartment in Williamsburg, and into a new PET FRIENDLY!! apartment in Park Slope. We were so happy and relieved to not have to hide Jake anymore. He could be as noisy as he wanted in this new apartment. Immediately upon arrival we met some of the other tenants in the building and their dogs, so we knew this was going to be the perfect place for him. We also loved the close proximity to Prospect Park (two blocks), which has become Jake's new favorite place (but more on that later...).
After we settled in to our new place, we still had some challenges. Jake still wasn't sleeping through the night(just like having a baby, I know!). I would have to wake up multiple times during the night to try to get him to go back to sleep. Unlike babies, who wake up because they need fed, I wasn't sure what to do with Jake. Normally, I would just pet him for a while and he would eventually fall back asleep. Then bright and early around 4 or 5 A.M. he would be up and ready to begin his day. I can recall many mornings waking up with him and playing with him on the living room floor while the infomercials were still on T.V. (that's how you know it's way too early to be up).
Another challenge was potty training. By this point, he had learned to do his business on the puppy pads, but there were still many accidents when he "forgot" to go on the pad. It's a good thing we have hardwood floors, or else it would have been a nightmare. I knew I wanted to start training him to go outside, but was still leery about taking him out due to what I had been reading about parvo. So at about nine weeks I took Jake for his first set of puppy shots and I asked the vet if it would be okay to take him outside. She said it was fine to take him out to go to the bathroom on the street, but no walks or park just yet. Who knew there was so much to worry about when raising a puppy in NYC?! So I did my best to take him out every couple of hours, and to exercise him in the apartment as well as I could.
*I'm happy to report Jake was fully trained by 12 weeks and has not had an accident since. He also is fully vaccinated and we are now able to enjoy long walks and romps in the park together :)
Friday, July 10, 2009
The First Few Weeks
"Happiness is a warm puppy." ~Charles Schulz
Jake sleeping with my stuffed puppy (it became his favorite toy)
Jake
Cooper
Checking out the baby
Babies napping
Time to go home!
After spending a weekend in PA with the puppies, it was time to bring Jake to his new home in Brooklyn. At the time, we were subletting an apartment from a nice couple in Williamsburg. This apartment was perfect. It was a railroad style apartment with a huge living room, one large bedroom, and giant kitchen. For a New York City apartment, it was big! There was only one problem with it: NO PETS ALLOWED. Needless to say, we were torn about what to do with our new puppy. We were concerned that if we got caught, the people who we were subletting from might face eviction or we ourselves would get evicted. We decided to take the chance and sneak him in since we only had about ten days left in the apartment. How hard could it be to hide a little puppy?
IT WAS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. I had to keep Jake entertained at all times so he wouldn't bark. I had to make sure he didn't make too much noise when he would run back and forth in the long hallway that stretched from the kitchen through the bedroom and into the living room (he loved this!). I had to teach him to go to the bathroom on puppy pads since I couldn't take him outside. We had to put him in a tote bag to hide him when we would leave the apartment. I couldn't even leave him in the apartment when I needed to go to the market because I was afraid he would bark and whine while I was gone. On top of all this, I couldn't even take him to the park or for a walk because I was terried he'd get parvo or some other disease puppies get in the city. Though we really loved that apartment, it was a relief when we finally moved out.
I snuck him over to McCarren Park because we were going crazy cooped up in the apartment. And it was the first beautiful day in April! I was nervous about parvo, so I tried to keep him on the blanket.
Under the coffee table - his favorite spot
Jake sleeping with my stuffed puppy (it became his favorite toy)
Jake
Cooper
Checking out the baby
Babies napping
Time to go home!
After spending a weekend in PA with the puppies, it was time to bring Jake to his new home in Brooklyn. At the time, we were subletting an apartment from a nice couple in Williamsburg. This apartment was perfect. It was a railroad style apartment with a huge living room, one large bedroom, and giant kitchen. For a New York City apartment, it was big! There was only one problem with it: NO PETS ALLOWED. Needless to say, we were torn about what to do with our new puppy. We were concerned that if we got caught, the people who we were subletting from might face eviction or we ourselves would get evicted. We decided to take the chance and sneak him in since we only had about ten days left in the apartment. How hard could it be to hide a little puppy?
IT WAS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. I had to keep Jake entertained at all times so he wouldn't bark. I had to make sure he didn't make too much noise when he would run back and forth in the long hallway that stretched from the kitchen through the bedroom and into the living room (he loved this!). I had to teach him to go to the bathroom on puppy pads since I couldn't take him outside. We had to put him in a tote bag to hide him when we would leave the apartment. I couldn't even leave him in the apartment when I needed to go to the market because I was afraid he would bark and whine while I was gone. On top of all this, I couldn't even take him to the park or for a walk because I was terried he'd get parvo or some other disease puppies get in the city. Though we really loved that apartment, it was a relief when we finally moved out.
I snuck him over to McCarren Park because we were going crazy cooped up in the apartment. And it was the first beautiful day in April! I was nervous about parvo, so I tried to keep him on the blanket.
Under the coffee table - his favorite spot
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Jackson's Legacy
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” Anonymous
I suppose I should back up a bit and tell the story of how Jake came to be. When Jesse and I moved to Brooklyn we knew we wanted to get a dog. We both love dogs so much, and were missing not having any dogs around. I had been casually searching online for either a rescue dog we could adopt or a little puppy. We were hoping to get either a yellow lab or golden retriever. Well, here's where the awful/ironic part of the story starts. My parents had a beautiful golden retriever/cockapoo mix puppy named Jackson. My boyfriend and I loved taking him for walks in the woods and swims in the river. He was such a unique dog, so full of life and energy and loved when Jesse and I came over to play.
One Saturday morning I got a call from my mom and she was upset. Through her tears, she told me Jackson had been hit by a car in front of their house. He lived for a short time, but didn't make it. He was only nine months old. I was completely devastated. I loved that dog more than anything. It seemed so unfair that he didn't get to live a full life. My entire family was heartbroken...
The following day my mom called me back. She wanted to talk about the puppies that I had seen in an online classified ad a couple of weeks before. We had both suspected they were from the same family who gave us Jackson. She made a phone call and our suspicions were correct; it was the same family and they had new puppies available.
After talking with my boyfriend, we decided we would get one of the puppies. My parents decided to get one, too. Though it seemed like we were moving on too fast after Jackson's death, we knew getting a puppy would be the best remedy to heal our broken hearts. We like to think that everything happens for a reason; though we had to lose Jackson, we were blessed with two beautiful, loving puppies that will keep Jackson's legacy alive forever.
R.I.P. Jackson 6/12/08 - 4/4/09
I suppose I should back up a bit and tell the story of how Jake came to be. When Jesse and I moved to Brooklyn we knew we wanted to get a dog. We both love dogs so much, and were missing not having any dogs around. I had been casually searching online for either a rescue dog we could adopt or a little puppy. We were hoping to get either a yellow lab or golden retriever. Well, here's where the awful/ironic part of the story starts. My parents had a beautiful golden retriever/cockapoo mix puppy named Jackson. My boyfriend and I loved taking him for walks in the woods and swims in the river. He was such a unique dog, so full of life and energy and loved when Jesse and I came over to play.
One Saturday morning I got a call from my mom and she was upset. Through her tears, she told me Jackson had been hit by a car in front of their house. He lived for a short time, but didn't make it. He was only nine months old. I was completely devastated. I loved that dog more than anything. It seemed so unfair that he didn't get to live a full life. My entire family was heartbroken...
The following day my mom called me back. She wanted to talk about the puppies that I had seen in an online classified ad a couple of weeks before. We had both suspected they were from the same family who gave us Jackson. She made a phone call and our suspicions were correct; it was the same family and they had new puppies available.
After talking with my boyfriend, we decided we would get one of the puppies. My parents decided to get one, too. Though it seemed like we were moving on too fast after Jackson's death, we knew getting a puppy would be the best remedy to heal our broken hearts. We like to think that everything happens for a reason; though we had to lose Jackson, we were blessed with two beautiful, loving puppies that will keep Jackson's legacy alive forever.
R.I.P. Jackson 6/12/08 - 4/4/09
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
(Wo)man's Best Friend.
"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." ~ Roger Caras
I have been contemplating blogging about my adventures with Jake for quite some time, and now I've finally decided to start writing everything down so I will always have the memories. Everyday in NYC is a new adventure for Jake (and me as well), and I want to be able to share our experiences with fellow dog lovers in the blogosphere.
Right before Easter of this year, my mom and I decided to get two puppies from the same litter. Since I was not able to make it to Pennsylvania from Brooklyn during the middle of the week, I trusted my brother and mom to choose a perfect puppy for me. They chose Cooper for themselves and Jake for me. The two best puppies of the litter! When my brother sent me these pics from his phone, I absolutely could not wait until my boyfriend and I could make the five hour trip home to meet them.
Cooper and Jake - a little dirty, but still sooooo cute
The car ride home. This is actually a cat carrier, but they were so small they both could fit!
Here are Jake and Cooper on their first night home after a nice warm bath. Jake is on the bottom.
I have been contemplating blogging about my adventures with Jake for quite some time, and now I've finally decided to start writing everything down so I will always have the memories. Everyday in NYC is a new adventure for Jake (and me as well), and I want to be able to share our experiences with fellow dog lovers in the blogosphere.
Right before Easter of this year, my mom and I decided to get two puppies from the same litter. Since I was not able to make it to Pennsylvania from Brooklyn during the middle of the week, I trusted my brother and mom to choose a perfect puppy for me. They chose Cooper for themselves and Jake for me. The two best puppies of the litter! When my brother sent me these pics from his phone, I absolutely could not wait until my boyfriend and I could make the five hour trip home to meet them.
Cooper and Jake - a little dirty, but still sooooo cute
The car ride home. This is actually a cat carrier, but they were so small they both could fit!
Here are Jake and Cooper on their first night home after a nice warm bath. Jake is on the bottom.
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