I'm not a writer but I feel compelled to write. Kinda weird I guess but I have so much in my head right now.
Matt and I are truly blessed to have lots of things in our lives....but we were very lucky to have our black chow/lab Jack.
The story of Jack started out as such. Jack was born as one of three puppies that we are aware of. They were discarded at a landfill and were found in a dumpster with mange. His two siblings did not live through the mange but our little fighter did. He was adopted by a family in Burkeville in 1996 who kept him for about a year. His name at that point was Frisco and his owner was a young man who was going off to college. When he left for college, Frisco was adopted by Matt.
Matt was a young 19 or 20 something that was really into having a good time, running fire calls, and hanging with his new dog. After a party one night he realized that Frisco was drinking his Jack and Coke and that is where his real name came from. Jack Robinson had a new home and name with Matt. They lived in Farmville and then in Lunenburg County. Jack spent most of his time at that point outside and waiting for Matt. He like to travel with Matt as much as possible but Matt was not able to keep him inside. He lived on a run or in a pin and was mostly just an outdoor dog. That really got to Matt but he didn't have any other options. Matt eventually moved into a place and he had a nice yard to hangout in and Rock eventually joined him. They spent most of their time in a small pin in the back yard with multiple other dogs.
Jack lived in Lunenburg County until Jan 6 2007 when his dad and his soon to be new mom picked him up. He was soiled and hungry and boy was he glad to see his dad again not so much Rock but so glad to be with his dad. He had been without Matt from 2001 to 2007. (Rock joined us in Richmond in May of 2005 when he get sick. We didn't have room for Jack in our townhouse or so I thought. My one and only regret is not getting him sooner) His dad and new mom got him 8 baths at Petsmart and a trip to the vet before entering his new home in Richmond.
Jack had to turn into a city dog and boy was that an adjustment. He wasn't sure why he wasn't suppose to eat trash and he had to get use to eating actual dog food. He never really got into the food part but he adjusted. He also never wanted to walk on a lease or wear a collar. Those things held him back. He was sooo independent but he put up with it on his terms. Jack loved laying on his beds, or in the corner by the air vent, at the top of the stairs where he could dangle his feet off the top while watching us below. He was always the King of the Roost, the Alpha, the man with little emotion but totally in charge.
Here are a few of my favorite Jack moments.
We initially did not want to have the dogs in the living room when we were gone. We put up a baby gate to keep them in the kitchen or our bedroom. That was not acceptable to Jack. He didn't like to be confined so we spent 3 months rigging up the house to keep him out. He always managed to break down the gate or trap, or climb through our setup etc. The final straw came when he removed the rungs on our stairs, climbed on the side table, and jumped to the ground. After the claw marks on our end tables I decided it wasn't worth it and he could do what he wanted and it really never mattered because he never had accidents or chewed. He was house broken from day one.
He also did not believe in having items in bags. While we were gone he would go around and remove all items from the bags. He never chewed up anything, he would just leave little messes. Although on one occasion he ate an entire bag of Hersey kisses and once when Laura O. was over he ate her just purchased Arby's sandwich when she went to find Rock.
He loved hanging with his dad in the garage, standing in the rain, standing on and tearing down the wood pile, helping his mom unload the dishwasher, going for rides, visiting his grandparents, and even went camping with Rock, Maggie, and Cole.
He had the kindest soul that you could see through his eyes.
Over the last year he fought a disabling disease that we were never able to figure out. He lost over half of his body weight, he was treated for whip worm, rocky mount spotted fever, and a possible tumor on his adrenal gland. None of which we were ever able to determine and the countless meds we have kept him on never made a difference. For over a year we fed him people food. Everything from hot dogs, to turkey burgers, to lunch meat, chicken, etc. Whatever he had the appetite for he got.
We owe a huge thanks to the makers of Jennie O who have a turkey product that we always seemed to get him to eat. I'm going to miss cooking for him and spending my morning, evenings and nights sitting in the kitchen talking and feeding my little buddy. Even carrying him up and down all the stairs. We even had to resort in June to start him on IV fluids. But all that gave us more time with him and he got more time living in a loving environment.
I think he stayed around as long as he could because he finally found his home and we were so glad to give it to him.
I hope the rawness of this starts to fade. Our house is quiet and missing an important element. But we will get through this just like everyone else has.
One thing I really need to mention is Laura O. She has been such a wonderful help to us and our pets. She has always stayed with them and has allowed us to have some time away. Even though we felt torn when we did leave. Thank you Laura for taking care of our fur babies with as much love as we do/did.
I am going to get off here. I cant decide whether to post this or not. I doubt anyone reads this. But I do feel a little better. I guess when you dont have kids your pets become them.
Hope you are all doing well. Pet your fur babies!!
Love Laura
PS - One of the pics on the right side is a photo of one of Jack's bag episodes. I noticed it after I wrote the blog.
