Jake

Jake’s History

Jake is approximately 5 – 6 years old. He was a stray in the Pound and served his 5 days but wasn’t reclaimed.

Fosterer’s report – Ireland: 3rd January 2013

Jake is a fun energetic dog who is a very kind, affectionate and gentle. He is great with kids, cats and other dogs and he travels well in the car.

I took Jake to my family’s home in Tipperary over the Christmas where he had plenty of space available to him, indoors and out. He spent most mornings in the sitting room with my 91 year old frail grandmother. He was gentle and well behaved with her and we had no fear whatsoever that he would knock her down. During the day he played with his toys, and was not short of people to play with him – he likes nothing more than to have a punctured football thrown for him or his chew toy. He is excellent to retrieve and will bring the toy back to you for more fun. He is fine with children and older people and is generally a quiet dog in and out of the house. He just wants to be as close as he can get to you and he constantly gives his paw.

Jake travels well in the car – in fact he absolutely loves cars. He gets really excited when I open the back door of my vehicle; has no problems jumping in and out and will sit quietly when travelling. In fact he likes cars so much that he feels the need to jump into each and everyone with an open door – or boot. See the photos. I had taken the shopping into the house and came out to find him hidden in the boot!

The love of cars becomes an issue when you’re walking past cars with open doors in the park / a visitor comes and you don’t really want him jumping into their 2013 car – in one door out the other. Not sure where this love of cars is coming from, but he has possibly been used to being driven to a beach for exercise.

Overall I feel his time in Tipperary was more enjoyable for him; he had large enclosed spaces and people to give him time and attention, Jake really loves to be played with. When we returned to Dublin – my house and garden not being quite as big, playing and retrieving his toys was not as exciting and I found he would walk around the kitchen with his toy dropping it at my feet to play. I do take Jake up to the stables though and he is fine with my horse, the cats and other dogs. I have also let him run free around the enclosed yard; he comes back when called also he loves to hack with the horses.

Lead walking is an issue, probably because he has been used to free exercise, so he pulls on the lead. I am working with him on this, but at the moment its clear it’s going to take Jake a while to learn to walk nicely on a lead. In addition, being so friendly, if he sees another dog he pulls towards it to say hello.

Jake is a dog who might best suit an energetic family life where he could safely run free on enclosed land and have lots of love and attention from people who have the time to play with him.

14 January 2013 – latest news from Jake’s fosterer

We heard over the weekend from Jake’s fosterer that he has improved immensely when walking on the lead.

Fosterer’s reassessment– UK: 8th February 2013

Jake has a fair understanding of general pet-dog commands. His recall was said to be good but when playing with other dogs it is variable. Jake is now walking well when wearing a head collar, which is a great improvement.

Jake’s behaviour around other dogs is unpredictable, and this seems to relate to a lack of manners on his part. This unpredictability occurs while on the lead.

Today, Jake has been off-lead with all my dogs and he enjoyed running round chasing and being chased; there were no incidents of anti-social behaviour.

Jake has quite a strong character and would probably benefit from a very experienced owner He does not appear to be at all nervous and confidently walked into the field where all my dogs were playing.

He does not seem to have any problem meeting people and is a playful dog though, quite gentle when he needs to be. He can be quite boisterous with other dogs however.