Jake has been part of the family for two months now! I don’t think I could have hoped for things to go better and still have been realistic. Here is where we are…
Melvin is a star. I don’t say this because I love him so much, I say it because he has been an absolute rock star! While Melvin is the boss of Jake (Jake waits for Melvin to go through doorways, waits in the background for Melvin to be fed first, goes into the mudroom when Melvin signals to do so, backs away if Melvin gives him a look), Mel does it with a gentleness. Melvin does not abuse his power, probably because I don’t abuse my power. Melvin is quite gentle with Jake (reason 1,456,367,422 to love him even more) EXCEPT WHEN Melvin jumps off the couch and Jake is unfortunately underneath him. There is nothing gentle about that.
If one dog does something (shake, itch, drink water, roll around, pee) the other dog starts doing the same action immediately. Is there an Olympic sport for synchronized dogs?
They are starting to play – it lasts all of several seconds but those few moments make me so happy!
They don’t snuggle, and that’s OK. But they are pretty comfy in close proximity and have had a few face-to-face moments (Jake had pumpkin on his face) and they did great.
Jake, gets us. He is learning the lingo and he really seems very happy and relaxed.
Jake does not like being away from me. He does great if I leave the house (he has to see me leave) as I worked on that with him when he first came and I still videotape him from time to time. But if I’m home, and he can’t see me or is closed off to me, well lets just say noises come from him that you may not have thought possible and he usually pees (interested if anyone else has this issue?).
Melvin’s life is almost fully back to (new) normal — for instance, when I get ready in the morning Melvin has always lounged on my bed. Jake must sit in the bathroom with me as I get ready, so the first few weeks Melvin needed to be there also to see why Jake was there but now he is back to doing his own thing and letting Jake shadow me. For those of you worried about how adding another dog will disrupt your resident dog, these moments mean EVERYTHING. Seeing Melvin comfortable in any situation is pure happiness for me.
Jake is as willing as Melvin is to let me put anything on him. Poor, poor boys. Also, Jake does not date the dining room carpet exclusively, he spreads his love to all rugs in the house.
Walks go better if I allow enough time for them to go badly. The worst walk seemed to always be the morning walk so now I get up extra early so that I don’t get stressed by time limitation on that walk and it’s going much, much better.
Lastly, I’m always amazed at how the capacity for love can grow at a moments notice. I love them both so much.
I’m so glad that things are going well for all of you. It’s amazing that though they look nothing alike, I can tell just from pictures that they are growing into their “brotherhood” 🙂
Ahhhh, this just made me so happy! That is a perfect explanation!
Love hearing about how well things are going with Melvin and Jake 🙂
When my husband and I first adopted our rescue pup, she acted the way it sounds like Jake is acting– she was fine being separated from me if she knew I had left the house (saw me leave) but got upset and peed if I was in the house and she couldn’t get to me. With the advice of our trainer, we solved the issue by “crating” her (shutting her in our relatively small master bedroom, where her bed is and where we all sleep) when I was in the shower, which is pretty much the only time she can’t have access to me if I’m home. Happily, she never once peed in the bedroom (though she did initially scratch at the door a bit) and once she had been with us longer and got more comfortable/secure the issue resolved itself and now she can have free rein of the house whether she has access to me or not. Could you sequester Jake in the mudroom when you’re home and he can’t have access to you (assuming that’s not too often)?
That is a great idea! The only time he is really separated from me is if someone delivers something or if workmen are in the house (we are having a few things done), I will put a gate at the bottom of the steps so the boys don’t go up and get in their way. If I go up to check on the guys, even for just a few minutes, he freaks out. I have started blocking off the steps and going up for one min, coming back down, go up for two min, come back down just to start desensitizing him but the crate is a good idea also (he sleeps comfortably in a crate in my room at night) so i could use a crate downstairs for training also. Thank you!!!
“And I love them both so much”,,this says it all,,that the Boys are surrounded by LOVE is the reason things are going so well,,ups and downs , of course, but you have certainly adjusted your life/environment/schedule to suit their and your needs,,LOVE, LVOE, LOVE reading /viewing these guys,,,and their custom wardrobe??,,rescue seems like an inadequate word! Cheering you all on and await anxiously the updates!
Love is very powerful! Thanks for reading along!
This post makes my heart sing! I remember how nerve-wracking it was the first time we fostered after officially adopting Rufus. It can be such a jolt to your routine to add a second dog in your home, but it really didn’t take long for everything to get back to “normal.” Hooray for seconds of playing!
I think it’s so important to rely on little victories and worry less about the big picture. We look forward to you joining us on the two-dog road!
I notice that Jake tends not to get on your bed. Is he not able to jump up that far or do you think he just sees that as Melvin’s “territory”?
He has never once tried to get up on the bed. He knows he has to be invited on the couch (by me) so I’m guessing it’s that he’s never been invited AND that Melvin probably silently communicates for him to ‘step away’! Pretty sure he could (physically) get up there if he wanted to.
Synchronized dogs 😀 Now there’s a sport I’d definitely watch. Glad things are going well.
Me too! On both!
This post makes me sooooo happy. For real.
I feel like two months was a mental milestone for me, so I agree!
That is so great. Congrats on taking things slow, and thanks for sharing the details of integrating Jake.
Melvin is a good boy.
Thanks for reading!
Happy Two Months of Two Doggies! I’m so glad things are going well and it sounds like it’s going to get even better.
Thanks! Two for two!
Jake sounds like quite the gentleman with Melvin and vice versa. It was much like that when we added Sadie to our family. She was so respectful of the fact that Maggie was there first and in no time, they were the very best of friends. It sounds like your two are on their way to a solid bro-hood!
They are quite gentlemen indeed! I’m so glad they formed a respect for the other.
I’m glad they’re adjusting! They both deserve good parents like you!
You know the saying, they are the real rescuers!
You have one of the cutest duos of dogs around 🙂 I’m glad everything is going so well with them!