Meet Jessie Jane

A couple of weeks ago I learned that the lady Starla and I know who breeds Yorkies was retiring one of her females and wanted a good home for her. What happened next should not surprise anyone who knows me well. Starla drove out to the farm and picked her up for me. She is 7 years old, but has the energy of a much younger dog. I wasn't thrilled with her name (Tiffany), and she isn't a princess kind of dog to go with that name, so we named her Jessie. Starla started calling her Jessie James, but when I pointed out that she is a girl and not a boy, the name was changed to Jessie Jane!






I hadn't planned on taking her to work with me, but Starla said I might as well bring her so she could get used to being around other dogs and people. With a breeder dog who isn't around people other than her owner, socializing is important. So I took her to work one day last week. Apparently she loved being there, as the next morning, while I was putting my shoes on, getting ready to leave for work, she came to me dragging her harness and leash. Yep. Cute will win every time.

So we now have a shop dog who lives with me. Starla calls her our "Wal-Mart Greeter" as she will come out of her kennel to greet anyone who comes in the door with a dog. She doesn't know what doggie treats are for, which is probably just as well, and she didn't know what toys were for either, until I gave her the one she has in the photos. Wherever she goes, the toy goes. Jessie gets along with the cats just fine unless one of them tries to play with her toy. Then watch out!

I know of several people who have successfully litter box trained their Yorkies, and as I am not overly fond of early morning walks in the snow, we are working on that. First I put newspaper in the litter box, but she just shredded it. Hand a grand time. Little bits of newspaper from one end of the apartment to the other. So then I tried cat litter. She got the idea and was using the box until the cats found it. That was the end of that. So now I will try litter especially made for dogs. Should work just fine, and I won't have to trudge through the snow every morning and evening over the winter. Works for me.

I find that I am really enjoying having Jessie live with me. She is pretty good company, doesn't bark unless a cat steals her toy and she makes me smile. That is worth it.