Hi, my name is Jax

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

I am very pleased that Jax' appointment went so well. As you said, having his nails trimmed for the first time, especially with all of the other poking and prodding, probably made him a bit anxious. I'm sure, with time, that too will pass. Popping into the Vet with Jax, even without an appointment to just say hello is a great way to continue his feeling of goodwill with the Vet's office.

That's a shame about the play date with Shelby. Perhaps the timing of his first play date wasn't the best. I was thinking that as I read your post. Obviously it didn't occur to me prior, or I might have mentioned it. Considering how much he went through at the Vet, and then went on to a play date with a much bigger, more rambunctious dog, he surely must have been tired out and probably felt more vulnerable than he would on a usual day. I'll bet in two more months, when Jax is a little older and bigger and hasn't just come from the Vet's, he may well enjoy a good romp with Shelby. Never say never.

I bet Jax is still exhausted today! Enjoy the slower pace as it will be over tomorrow for sure. Thanks for the update.

[Phyrie]

I, too, am glad Jax received a clean bill of health. Regarding nail trimming: my Kiba doesn't like it either. What we do is simply only do one or two at a time. He will (barely) tolerate that, with a bit of treating to go along with it. If I hold a cookie tight in my grip and hold it front of Kiba's nose, he will struggle to get to the cookie, and forget (for a few moments!) that Paul is mucking about with his toes. We've tried our best to get him to permit calm nail trimming, but he is so ticklish he just can't take it. So you may want to try that: just do a couple at a time. Even if you have to do one a day, you will take the pressure off Jax to stay still for a long time.

Some people use a rotary tool to sand the nails down. Kiba will allow that too, but not for very long! If you do choose to go that route, be VERY careful not to leave the sanding barrel to rest on the nail for more than a few seconds at a time. It heats up pretty fast with the friction, and a burn to the nail bed is excruciatingly painful!

How great that Jax likes his pool! Swimming is great exercise for a dog. And a puppy paddling in a pool provides endless entertainment!

[AlphaParents415]

Well its been a few days since ive posted about Jax. He is still doing good. He hasnt had an accident inside for almost a week. He's been really good about going to the door and whining, letting us know " HEY, I need to go outside!" Really the 2 only problems weve been having w/ him is the chewing on hands and arms whenever he feels the urge. It will happen alot when you play w/ him to. He gets to into it and ends up grabbing ahold of your arm or foot or toes lol. Also chasing the cats, which i understand that all he wants to do is play w/ them, but, 2 of them ABSOLUTELY despise Jax. They wont let him get close enough to check them out, so that makes him want them even more from what i can tell. All in all those are the only 2 problems we are having w/ Jax right now. He's been doing wonderful for the most part. ill get some pics up later, hes getting bigger everyday

[mjoy07]

wow! adorable!

you've got a cute Lab Jax

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

I am happy to read that everything is going "normally" with Jax and that he is doing so well with the housetraining. Good for you (and your family) for recognizing his requests and attending to them immediately. It makes such a huge difference.

I think the nipping/biting/chewing will lessen over time, especially once he finishes teething. If you find he is more inclined to do this when playing, then stop all play once he becomes "overly excited". He's smart and will figure it out.

You are doing an amazing job. Jax will someday turn out to be like the Grown Up Puppy of the Day today (Amber), a darling 12 year old female Lab who still looks cheeky and will make you smile every single day.

As far as the cats are concerned, I am extremely inexperienced with feline behaviour. As long as Jax isn't hurting the cats, and the cats aren't hurting Jax, I wouldn't worry. I'm sure they'll eventually come to a Peace Treaty and establish their own boundaries.

[AlphaParents415]

here are the pictures i said id put up.........hes getting bigger everyday.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

He is delicious! What a handsome, sweet boy!

[Margie-Rex's Mom]

Jax is getting so big already! I've been away from this thread for a little bit and am so happy to read how well he is doing.

My Rex hated having his feet touched at all. Thankfully, his nails didn't grow very fast. I only had to trim them a couple of times a year. Jose loves to have his feet played with but when he sees the nail clippers...he's terrible! Like Phyrie, I have to have treats for him. He gets one of his tiny training treats after every 2 nails he lets me clip without much hassle. The weird thing is, he doesn't fight so much with his back feet. He's a funny little guy....

As Deb said, Jax and the cats will sort things out. There might be a claw swipe at jax a few times, but they will work out the boundaries.

[AlphaParents415]

thanx for the kind words. we really hope the cat situation works itself out. one of them is a big maine coon named Bob. Bob doesnt mind him too much, if he sees jax walking around he wont immediately bolt outta the room. then theres outsidecat (long story), she gets really submissive when jax comes up on her. jax will throw a big paw on here and try to wrap his mouth around her, so we always have to "shew" him away from her or try to redirect his attention. the only draw back of this is that jax is very very very headstrong. if either my wife or i tell him "NO", alot of the time hell just look at you and go after her anyway. if you keep trying to stop him and tell him "NO", he has no problem with trying (and sometimes succeeding) to nip at your hands, arms, feet, legs. last but not least we have Felix. now jax cant get close enough to him to do anything, so we never worry about him. all in all the main problem is with all the biting, sometimes its just out of control and slightly vicious at times like when he knows your serious about something. when he gets that bad he goes straight to his crate for a break. even when you pet him or try to cuddle with him, all he wants to do is gnaw on your hands and arms unless you catch him right after he wakes up, then thats about the only time hes "cuddly". is this something he will gradually grow out of? is this something we need to address a.s.a.p? obedience classes? those kinda scare us because we dont want him to get into one of his "moods" and we look like horrible puppy parents