Maddie and the Moosehound

Jacob Terwilliger is his name when he's in trouble. He's a moosehound (aka: a chocolate lab) that I bought the week I moved home from Hokkaido, Japan. Jake is officially 11 years old. To be honest, he wasn't supposed to live this long. He had parvo when he was a pup and the vet said it would shorten his life (he's 11) and that he would be smaller (he weighs 110lbs). He's a well traveled moosehound - he has lived in the States and in Saudi Arabia.

Jake is the most gentle giant and even in his old age, lets Maddie torment him just a bit! I think he secretly loves it when Maddie arrives mostly because she has been feeding him either intentionally or unintentionally since she was born. This time she noticed that he's a drooler though and she would hold a piece of her hot dog up in the air and swing it in circles just so that she could see the drool fly off his face. She's a very clever girl!

Top Six Things to Do With a Moosehound:

1. Take Jake and Grandma down to the wash for a walk which works pretty well with the moosehound being the age he is... besides, Grandmas, three year olds and older moosehounds all move at about the same pace.

2. Feed him your table scraps but make him beg for as long as possible.

3. Throw the ball for him and demand that he sit before hand no matter how much he protests.

4. Put small things on his back and watch him run around the house with it on until it falls off.

5. Lounge around with him and use him as a pillow when watching television.

6. All in all - just love him because that's all he really wants out of this life!

Thanks Jake for being such a great moosehound to us for all these years - you're a trooper!!!