The night we got Penny, the breeders sat down with us and we chatted at length about her breed and dog care in general. She was the last of the litter to go, and it was obvious that Jen and Len loved their dogs and puppies. One of the many crucial bits of information they shared was that jacks are often not the kind of dogs who can have a bowl of food sitting around; anything and everything in a food bowl will be scarfed with reckless abandon. Sure enough, Penny never really chewed her food for the first four or so years of her life.
Her eating habits have become more relaxed, but she can still certainly get over-excited. I guess we'd never had her in the yard with the oscillating sprinkler until last week...boy was she missing out. She loves being sprayed in the face with the hose, and the sprinkler is even better because instead of relying on our indulgence, she can walk right up to the source and get it for herself. I was so busy supervising the kids that fifteen minutes of play time passed before Jen and Len's voices came to mind ("they'll just eat until they burst!"). I looked over at poor Penny and, sure enough, her belly was visibly swollen. After I shooed her away from the sprinkler, she realized how uncomfortable she was and started whining. I felt so, so bad! The trick was to wait for her to expel the excess water without letting her get back to the sprinkler (because, you know, excitement trumps intelligence). Said expulsion was all she needed; her efforts to conquer the sprinkler re-doubled, and we had to ruin the poor thing's fun by putting her inside for her own good.
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