Jasper, The Grand Dog

Jasper is the canine member of the extended family. His humans are Older Daughter and Son-in-Law. Jasper is a boxer and is close to one year old. The kids did not clip his ears so he has soft, fuzzy ears and has a very smooth coat. He would considered a medium-sized canine and according to his people, he may even be on the small side for a male.

We get to 'borrow' Jasper on occasion. We borrowed him this past weekend while his family went to a birthday celebration with Son-in-Law's family. In fact, I got to be the primary keeper for almost an entire day while Hubby was off at the football clinic.

Jasper has trained his humans well. He is house broken and even rings the set of bells hanging on the door when nature calls.

Apparently, boxers can have sensitive stomachs so he has a particular food which is likes to spread all over the floor. He gets special treats and peanut butter is one of them. He has this funny little chew toy which looks like the shape of the Michelin man's body. You put the peanut butter inside the toy and he has to work to get the treat. Keeps him rather entertained.

We have toys for Jasper which he only gets at our house. He remembers right where they are kept. His favorite is a stupid blue ball the approximate size of a tennis ball. He likes to fetch and will play endlessly. His other favorite games with the ball are to stuff them in between the cushions of the couch. Seriously, he buries the dang thing and gets his face clear into the couch. The other thing is he likes to do is bury it under the couch and then try to dig it out. Well, being the nice grand dog watcher, I played the game of getting the ball out from underneath the couch for awhile. On day two, the game lost its appeal for me and I left the ball under the couch. Granted the dog did NOT like that.

Jasper's other favorite game is tug-o-war. Jasper faired better than I did. I was a tad sore from playing tug-o-war. He also likes to go for walks. The kids bought this handy-dandy contraption called a "Halti". It goes around the muzzle - not tight and hooks in such a way that if he pulls on the leash, it pulls his head down in such a manner that it irritates him. It takes about a minute and he is walking at my pace. Which is pretty slow for a phat girl anyway, but it was great not to have my arm yanked out of the socket when we took a walk about the neighborhood.

He also discovered the front window and watched outside a lot. He also would bark and bark. We thought there were a folks walking by. Nope, it was the birds landing on the ledge had him barking. He really isn't a noisy dog in that respect but those birds rankled his hide, so to speak.

What visit to our house would be complete without presents. I didn't even buy the kids any Easter basket but I did buy Jasper a chew bone. That was my weekend with the grand dog. I will have to rest up for next time. LOL.