Near the beginning of March, my husband called and asked (for the second time in two weeks) if I wanted a dog. I had already answered this question but since this was the second time in two weeks, and it was for a puppy on the street, I decided it was as good a time as any, so I told him to go ahead and bring it home.

That puppy was an approximately 8-week-old shepherd/labradormix. In designer dog terms, a Sheprador, but I’m certain this puppy had no such pedigreed background. I called the police department to make sure nobody had reported a missing puppy, and they had no such reports (we later learned he appeared to have been dumped with his litter of 4 other puppies, but he’d gotten separated).

He had his first veterinary visit the next day, and my vet was floored. She hadn’t seen me in there with an animal on a leash in 8 years. With ten indoor and a couple outdoor feral cats, it was quite a change for both of us. Jase was healthy, though, and we’ve embarked on puppy training with reasonably good results.Potty training is good. No bite, no jump, and come are hit and miss. He’s pretty good at sit. I guess that’s not too bad for three and half months.

Jase loves NingXia Red and Zyng. He likes Slique Shakes. Like most toddlers, he’s more of a mess-maker than a mess cleaner-upper.

He loves his Animal Scents Dental Pet Chews.

And he loves Lady, but Lady wants him to stop barking at her and dancing around and being a general nuisance. Jase thinks she’s playing with him, and since she doesn’t usually use her claws when she swipes at him, maybe she is. But we have proof that they can be peaceful together. The picture on the right is Jase last week. He’s growing pretty fast.

He’s mostly a joy to have around, but he is still a puppy. He desperately wants to learn to read (as evidenced by him grabbing my books and trying to carry them around). He loves roller ball tops (he keeps grabbing a package I keep by my desk). And I think he wants the Golden Touch I kit all to himself, because he keeps grabbing it, too.

I plan to make irregular “Life with Jase” posts. I hope you enjoy them.