#157-TOTALLY TUBULAR TUESDAY (Jasper Jacob Laird)

Somewhere around 1972 we had a Beagle named Jasper.  He was one of the stubbornness dogs I have ever owned (unless Toby takes over that dubious honor).

This is Jasper and my son, Gene.
they had just won the dog show.

I don’t remember where or how we acquired Jasper, but I do remember he was the cutest little guy.  I went about my usual routine teaching him to sit, come, stay, and potty on a paper (on the back porch).  All was going fine until he got older  You see, he was the first male dog I had ever had.  Eventually, the errors of my ways were made evident.

One day I was in the kitchen when Jasper went to his potty to relieve himself.  That’s when I got the big surprise.  Jasper was raising his leg and peeing on the wall.  The urine then ran down the wall and onto the paper (well, at least it ended up on the paper).  At first I just taped a newspaper (backed by plastic) on the wall.  But, that was only a temporarily fix until I retrained him to go outside.

Jasper liked the cat post, too!

One month later, Jasper, was house broken and doing his business outside.  But, this caused another problem.  I was sharing  a duplex with my parents.  Half of the yard was theirs and half was mine.  Now just try to explain this to a young Beagle.  Mother’s half was edged by rose bushes, which displayed the most beautiful roses in a myriad of colors and types.  Mom loved her roses (and so did Jasper).

I was home on the Saturday mother first caught Jasper in her roses.  He was gleefully digging at the roots.  Now, there were plenty of other places Jasper could have dug, but he chose the rose garden.  I think he must have seen my mother digging in her the roses, making those careful little bowls around each one, and decided to join in.  When I heard Mom yell at Jasper I looked out the window to see her swiping at him with a broom.  He just thought it was some kind of game. 

Mom tried everything to keep him out of her roses.  But, as a continuation of the game he began to run by the bushes, pluck a flower and play toss and fetch with it.

She came up with all kinds of ideas to discourage Jasper, but the funniest one was when she bought a huge shaker of cyanine pepper.  She sprinkled the pepper liberally all throughout the rose garden.

It didn’t take long to see and hear that this wasn’t going to work.  Hearing Jasper whimpering and sneezing, I went out the back door to find him feverishly digging in Mom’s flower bed.  His eyes were beet  red and he was sneezing and wheezing like an aging pipe organ.  Mother came out about the same time I did, threw up her hands, and said,  “I’ve had it!  He’s going on a chain as soon as I can get one!”

That is when I decided that Jasper needed a new home.  I thought it would be crewel to chain such an active young dog.  So, (since he had good papers) I found him a home at a local stud farm.  I am sure Jasper never missed us!  But we missed him (especially my son)!  
kt 3/2011