A Special Gift

Almost 13 years ago when I was a sales rep for The Iams Company,  I received a special gift, that made an huge impact on my life.  I was making my rounds in the L.A. area and found my to Peggy Woods Pet Emporium, one of my favorite customers.  When I parked, I saw a pretty big puppy in an outdoor cage which I had never seen before.  I asked Ira, the owner, and he told me that he was a "return".  He sells puppies, and someone had purchased this yellow lab and got more than they bargained for.  It was hard to sell him again because most people wanted the itsy bitsy tiny puppies.  He said these words to me..."Do you want him"?  I am pretty sure that I laughed it off, finished a meeting, and went about the rest of my work there.  But something happened to get me thinking.  It could of been just the darn cuteness of that animal, or the fact that I felt sorry for him and it broke my heart that no one wanted him...whatever it was...I was slowly changing my mind.  I called Bryan at his job at Petsmart where he agreed that we had room and the love for one more dog.  That was that...I loaded him up in my car, left work early, and met Bryan at work to meet our new pet.  Jake was then 4 months old. 

This past Monday, on July 11th, we had to make the very hard decision to help that beloved pet die peacefully because he just wouldn't give up and leave us on his own.  He had arthritis in his back legs so bad that sitting and standing were very hard and I could see that it was hard for him to get comfortable, though he was not a complainer.  He also lost control of his bowels which was not fun for either of us,  had partial paralysis in his throat, and an enlarged heart that was making it harder and harder to breathe. 

In the middle were 13 years with that dog which was a  huge part of this family.  That is a long time to have someone by your side....and I do mean that literally.  When I was home, Jake was pretty much at my feet.  He came into the bathroom when I showered, laid at my feet when I was in the office, was on his bed in the family room or living room when I was in there, laid right at the kitchen sink when I was cooking, and slept next to my side of the bed.  I miss that.  He was a great, and loyal companion.  Before his hearing and eyesight went bad, he was a good guard dog too.  I felt safe with him around.  I miss that.  He always greeted us at the door, tail wagging, and happy to see us.  I miss that.  He LOVED to play frisbee and when he was able, would play until we had to stop him.  I miss that too.

 Jake went on family vacations whenever we could take him, cheered us up when we were sad or lonely, and loved on our kids too when they came along.  He never acted jealous, even though he got thrown outside during the day for a few years;)  When we moved to Oregon, he got what he always wanted...a permanent indoor position as an active member of the family.  We think he lived out his last few years in luxury:)

Here are some pictures we captured of us with Jake and his last few days here on earth...I will always be grateful for these memories.

We are all adjusting to live without Jake and it is hard.  Going to bed the first night without him there was hard, waking up without having "Jake duty" was hard, leaving the house without taking him out and giving him a treat was hard, vacuuming up the last ton of dog hair aound the house was hard, even sitting in silence without his panting by me is still hard.  Brody cried the first day he did his chores and didn't have to get him water and Connor was sad when there was no one to throw his crust to.  We miss him a lot but each day does get easier.

We were lucky to have him as long as we did and are grateful for that.  He leaves a large hole in the hearts of all of us here and always will.