Jasper Lily after 48 hours

Well Jasper Lily (or just Jasper as I call her) continues to try and make space for herself in my heart. She is really darn cute and everything I wanted on paper for a “new” dog (good with people, good walker, snuggles, plays, likes to go). She hasn’t quite broken down that wall but I do like her a smidge better than I did yesterday.

She went to the vet yesterday to get a once over and they weren’t so much surprised that I had rescued another dog but by my “offer” to give them to her. I think, in-part, I have been so emotional about this because I feel shamed (doing it to myself only) with getting another dog and while the vet was lovely and kind to me, they could see that I was clearly still grief-stricken about Shelby.

So Jasper had filthy ears (thank GOD not mites). She had a flea (or two). But otherwise, clean bill of health. They kept her and gave her a bath and cleaned out those dumbo ears. They said she was chillax all day and just did her own thing. When they brought her out to me, I tried to be super excited to see her and she peed herself. We have determined she’s a submissive pee-er and only pees when she gets excited. Great!  Did I mention she peed on me yesterday morning? Yeah, she did that too. She WILL pee outside and isn’t marking in the house so it’s definitely behavioral.

I got her home and spent almost an HOUR outside with her trying to get her to poop (they needed a sample) and pee again. I gave her cookies outside when she did both. Success! She’s become a healthy eater and snarfs her meals (ala my girl Shelby). She plays – a lot – pretty independently. When I try and play with her or toss the toys that she loves, she gets spooked. She was clearly abused at some point in her early life and that makes me sad. I tell her all the time that she is 100% safe here and that no one will hurt her while under my care. Even if I don’t “love” her, I like her a lot and I like dogs and I will treat her well.

She still sleeps in her crate at night (I don’t trust her yet since I have caught her with a shoe, a pillow and sock in her mouth). She’s super quiet when she sleeps and she sleeps hard. She doesn’t mind the crate at all. In fact, for the most part, she prefers to hide in enclosed locations. At the vet, she simply put herself under the bench but I didn’t have to pull her out when it was her time.

She barks! At cyclists and wags her tail and perks up and tries to run with them. Part of her past, I guess. It’s super cute. 🙂

She does not like ear drops and when I put them in her ears, it was endless laughter (from me) watching her frantically rub those huge ears that don’t bend much at all to get the drops out. She doesn’t put the ears down so much as she puts them to the side (like an airplane).

She is curious about the outside world but gets spooked really easily, by another dog, person, car door slamming. She was soooo close to pooping yesterday when the friendly UPS driver waved and said “hi” to us and she lost her focus.

I have called her “Shelby” more than half a dozen times … usually when she is doing something she shouldn’t be doing (ala Shelby).

So we shall see what the weekend brings … I am not 100% sold. I definitely have found this way harder than I thought it would be. My loyalty is 100% to Shelby and I miss my best girl every single day. But this is Jasper’s blog so I will keep it about her and her journey. Would I miss her if she disappeared tomorrow? Probably not. Does she make me laugh and smile? Absolutely. Am I her fur-ever home? Only time will tell.

OK – so this was pretty darn cute, I do admit. Snuggled next to me while I was chatting with the Tripawds yesterday!

She does love her fluffy toys. She hasn’t quite broken through any of them yet to pull the fluff out but she likes to chew and toss them around.

What Jasper thinks about the way that I drive! (those ears!!!!)

She brought all her babies with her and is snuggled up in Shelby’s old bed. She LOVES this bed. I was going to get her a new bed this weekend of her own but she really seems to feel safe and secure in this bed. Maybe because it’s really well-loved. Maybe because it smells like another dog that was loved to the moon and back. Either way, if it doesn’t bother her, it doesn’t bother me. And also, I got up this close to her and she didn’t even flinch – once. Shelby always opened her eyes if I got this close.