Shelter Stars – How’s Jasper? He’s Found His Calling as a Tropical Terrier
Jasper, happy in his Florida backyard
It’s been a while since I reported on Jasper, our little Shelter Stars terrier (read terroror) rescue from Animal Care & Control in New York City. When I last wrote a few months back, life was an emotional roller coaster and Jas was totally unpredictable. Strange people and dogs were all fair game for his fear aggressive behavior, which exhibited itself through lunging, shriek barking and yes, biting. He’d already drawn blood from my 28 year old daughter, for which there’s no love lost for this dog. But at home with us, he was a different dog – loving, a big kisser and cuddler. We knew that most people would probably have returned this dog to a terrible fate. And while in the beginning, we had our days of extreme doubt, returning him to AC&C was never an option. In the process, we fell in love.
It’s been nine months now and, as is apropos, we feel we’ve given birth to a new baby. Jasper has come a long, long way. He’s more predictable, more relaxed around dogs of all sizes and shapes and is even is allowing some strangers to pet him. Wow!
As you may remember from previous posts, it took a village – school, play care, a trainer and constant training at home. But, for any frustrated dog parents out there, I can tell you the consistency paid off.
We recently moved the family from NYC to Fort Lauderdale. Now one month in, I can say without doubt: environment matters. Both Sophie and Jasper are thriving in the more relaxed, much less intense landscape that is south Florida. Long walks in the mornings and late afternoons, swims in the pool and playing in the backyard are all things they either couldn’t do or didn’t get much of in New York, especially in winter. And, our area is very dog friendly, so we are constantly meeting pups to socialize Jas and test his new found confidence. The beautiful thing is, over time, Jasper is really learning that many dogs, as well as their parents, can be trusted. He even tried to give kisses to two dog moms we met recently. I was so flabbergasted, I emailed our trainer Maggie Wood in New York, because she went through months of big ups and big downs with us all. I’m proud of the little guy!
What also prompted this post was sharing a bit of fun. Sophie and Jasper have a favorite new game since they got to Florida and it involves a battery-operated, orange squid. So, we had to shoot some video! Explanation below.
Most mornings after their walk, we all go into the backyard and pull out the fave new toy. We had no idea what entertainment this would provide, but they’re on the hunt to capture this squid, sometimes for an hour (and, would be longer if we allowed) before we call it quits for the day.
This one will give you an idea of how the game works. What you don’t see is how Jasper, being such the little hunter, has gone for broke and fallen in several times (yes, he knows how to swim and we’ve taught him how to exit the pool). Sophie spends just about all of her game time in the pool, chasing after the orange squid but, unlike Jas, once she gets close, she’s a little scaredy cat and she’ll swim away. She’s getting a bit bolder now, but she leaves all the dirty work to her little bro. He’s dunked his nose in and plucked the thing out of the water many times and after he explores its little rotating propeller, he’ll toss it back in like a responsible fisherman. After all, Jasper loves the chase.
Does your dog have a favorite game you play together?
