Jake

Jake is a big strong dog who although is nearly 5 years old(January) is very puppyish in his mannerisms. He is people friendly and very loving, he loves to cuddle up with you and happily gives kisses.  Jake will need a strong (physically due to Jake’s size) experienced owner.  He can at times mouth, which for an inexperienced person could be quite off putting, his mouthing is usually for a reason though – one being when he wants to go out to toilet.

Around the house he is very calm and well behaved, he just wants to be with you happily laying in which ever room you are in and a typical ‘velcro shep’ following you around . He does show signs of slight separation anxiety, but has settled a lot since being with me.  A lot of it could just be the upheaval he has had.  He is house trained and does not chew.  He is very settled at night, sleeping straight through. He has jumped with a standing start over a tall dog gate to get to where I was and also will take any food left unattended off the counter – again very much a puppy.  

Jake knows a few commands, ‘sit’, ‘go and settle down’ and ‘in your bed’ and has great recall around the home and garden.  Unfortunately he does seem to have a very strongprey drive which will need a lot more work.  When out on the field recall or listening is very much lacking and he is just very alert to anything around or moving.  With this prey drive he would not be suitable for living with livestock or cats.

He currently lives with his foster GSD sister Molly and is very playful, he is very puppyish in the way he plays, he does not know his own size and therefore can be a bit clumsy and rough and plays very much with his mouth, but when told off by Molly is sorry and submissive.

He doesn’t currently live with children, but when meeting my young niece and other children when out and about is very gentle, however again with his clumsy nature in the house it may be that he should not be rehomed with very young children unless experienced with big dogs.

I have been using a Dogmatic headcollar for walking and he does walk well on this. He is not fazed by any traffic or noises when out walking.  He can walk past (other side of the road) another dog without much reaction as long as the other dog is calm or ignores him, however if the dog is reactive Jake becomes very excitable.  His body language seems to say he just wants to go and see the other dog, but this has not been fully tested yet.

He has met my friends (girl) GSD (in a garden) and again played nicely once he was told off by her after being a little too giddy.  Like a puppy he needs to learn social etiquette in how to approach and meet other dogs.  

I have today tried him with a muzzle but didn’t let him off as there was a small dog being walked and his body language just said ‘i’m after that’!  Sadly, I doubt very much there would be any recall once he was focussed and off after something.  He could live with another dog after the correct introduction.

Whilst in foster Jake has been castrated and acted impeccably in the vets, happily rolling onto his back so the vet could examine him and also allowed the vet to check his teeth and ears with no issues.

This is how Jake has been from the day he came into foster,he has shown no aggression when dealing with his food (which he loves) and toys with myself, but has shown signs of guarding his meals from Molly, but then again she does this too.  He loves the attention of being brushed and from the start has allowed me to handle him in any way.  When I am drying him down, he usually just flops onto the ground for me to rub dry his feet, legs and belly!

Jake is just a big, loveable 4 year old puppy around the home, who at the moment is very much untested out with other dogs and will definitely need work.