Jersey's Poem

Jersey: My little busy bee

Your joys are simple

enduring like a child's dimple

Chasing a bee or a butterfly

sometimes jumping too high

You lived every day as if it were your last

yesterday is so in the past

You oozed spontaneity

an impulsive zany

Your body in constant motion

I wished that was devotion

But you make your way

with no one else's say

I have learned to accept

that you live with no regret

Happy just being the court jester

you scoff at me if I lecture

You make me laugh you make me cry

and now I have to say goodbye

You will never know the lessons you have taught

good or bad they could not have been bought

I hold you in my arms knowing the time has come

all our memories suddenly stop at this one

One last nose bop for ole' time sake

those big amber eyes, my heart begins to break

The end is here, you must go to the light

but I don't want you to, so I squeeze you tight

I cradle your head close to mine

smelling your fur one last time

Will you understand

my silly, silly man

I will always love you, as I did from the start

but now it is time for us to part

Before you last exhale, I whisper in your ear

knowing that there is nothing for you to fear

Goodbye Mr. Naughty pants, my little busy bee

don't look back, your soul is now free

Just follow the whistle of the All Mighty One

your job here is done

Jersey and his squirrel

Look what a BIG squirrel I got mom! I caught him eating the walnuts in our yard!

What did ya say? I can't hear you?!?!?!

Drop it????? Do I hafta?





OK :(






TAKE IT?

Did I hear her say TAKE IT? YIKES ~ I can do that!

Drop it? What's up with her? Can't she make up her mind? I guess I can.

Take it ~ again - wow I really have her trained!

This may seem gross, but when Jersey catches anything (mostly rabbits) I give it back to him when he drops it for me. What I found was the more I tried to get it away from him, the more he thought it was a game of chase ~ mom catch me if you can ~ and of course I can't! In the beginning it would be twenty minutes of me yelling at him to sit, stop, down, drop etc. all while he is prancing around the yard like he is king of the world, but keep away from mom! The first time I actually got him to drop it on his own (me not prying his jaws open to remove dead animal) I immediately told him to take it, and he was in shock. Looked at me like - is this a trick? Nope - take it. The more I play this game with him the faster he is willing to drop it on the first command. Now I don't let this go on forever (cause it is GROSS!), but he is trusting me more that he will get it back, so he is more willing to give it up. This is all in preparation for the day when I am running very late (or at 5 in the morning getting ready for an agility trial!) and he catches himself something good, and I can tell him to drop it and I will have no worries about chasing him around the yard for twenty minutes.