Remembering Jake

It has been a year since we lost our beautiful boy, yet it feels like only yesterday. In the year that has passed, one can say, life here has been different, lacking of some sort. Jake was a huge part of our everyday life. He was full of life and always wanting to please.
I am very aware that after we lost Jake, was when I quit blogging as often. We have lost many pets in the past, and with each passing, we lose a part of our hearts, but with Jake, he took a huge chunk with him.

He gave us so much more then we could have ever expected. I remember holding on when he took his last breath, taking his pain away and making it our own. We still carry that pain with us.

The pain of missing him is just as fresh today as it was one year ago. He is and will always be forever in our hearts.

Words are so inadequate to describe the beauty, intelligence and loyalty of Jake. If you haven't read his tribute you can find it here, or on my side bar.

Merry Christmas

I posted this photo last Christmas, but since I am such a sentimental fool, and Jake and Princess are no longer with us, I thought, why not, they still deserve their blog time, even if it is just in a photo.

I have contemplated on what to write about for weeks, and have had many instances where I would tell myself "I have to remember to write about this", but, the correct words just are not there.

Christmas time is such an emotional time for me, and most likely for many reading this blog. I hope many find the true spirit of Christmas, within your hearts. Christmas is about generosity, but not so much of giving of material things, but giving of your time. Please find the time to spend with family, friends, and those near and dear to you. We often get caught up in our own hectic lives, and tend to forget or take the time to be with those we care most about.

We don't know what tomorrow will bring, we don't know if this will be our last Christmas with family and friends. Don't wait until it is too late. Pick up the phone and call that special friend or family member, and let them know you were thinking of them today.

Try to see the goodness in others, even in a perfect stranger. Lend out a helping hand this holiday season. Find forgiveness, offer a warm embrace, a gentle smile, and a little of your time.

Merry Christmas!

Forever in Our Hearts

Jake 6-8-98 / 5-3-09

Moment by moment I sat here trying with all my might to stop that enemy called time. This is the moment that I have feared. Then one day as I noticed the grey on your muzzle and realized time had been marching on and our moments together were too precious and not to be wasted. Today that fear became a reality.

You came into our life at 7.5 months old. Little did we know the impact you would have on our hearts.

You became a great obedience competitor and you and daddy made an excellent team. You enjoyed traveling with daddy and the bond the two of you had was remarkable.

You changed tears to smiles for all the residents in the nursing facility you visited on a weekly basis doing what you did best, a dedicated K9 Therapy Dog, who took his job very seriously, and knew your job well.

You helped the many children at the libraries during the Reading To Rover program, sitting, and listening to the children read to you, helping them gain the confidence they needed.

You were daddy's Demonstration Dog, at all of our public obedience demonstrations, and people would come and crowd all around you waiting to pet you and shake your paw.

You were also daddy's demo dog at our training classes, and you would always make daddy proud, being on your best behavior, while our students would watch you with amazement, and tell daddy they wanted their dog to be just like you.

I have been blessed to witness the love you and daddy have shared. The bond that connects your inner souls. The way your eyes light up when daddy comes through the door every evening, and trotting to him in the gallopy horse fashion that you have.

You have been my guardian, my protector, my confidant, my inner strength, my best friend. You have been my Hero, and have come to my rescue on more then one occasion.

I held on to you, to that moment; your last and my first without you. I felt your last breath and still I held on. But time stops for no one.

We have had a wonderful journey together, You, Daddy and I. You have touched the hearts of all that have known you. I know you will continue to touch all who are waiting for you at Rainbow Bridge.

Princess needs you now; she has been waiting to be reunited with her very best friend.

Run free, big boy, you will be greatly missed, but our love will never die, you will always live on in our hearts.

Rest in Peace, My Sweet Boy.

Jake and Jarie

Jake

I guess it is time I update my blog on how Jake and Jarie are doing. I have debated with myself over and over if I should even write about either one of them. I know I cause a few of you that have been following my blog to cry when you come here to read. I do apologize for that. I try to write about the good happenings in my life too, but sometimes a few sad happenings occur also, and since I started this blog with all of my dogs stories, it is only right that I continue with how they are doing. So here is our update.

Jake is doing as well as can be expected considering his age and health. He will be 11 years old this June. We notice subtle changes ever day with him. He slows down a little more each day. He can not stand for long without falling on all fours. His hind legs just can not hold him up for long. When he is walking, his hind legs cross over quite a bit. Most times he stands on the top of one of his back feet. It is important that I am next to him to help him step over the threshold of the back door.

He still has his sight and hearing, but we have noticed him becoming a little "confused", (for lack of a better word). He sits at my desk waiting for a treat from his treat jar. The confused part is his treat jar has not been on my desk for 6 months or so. It is in the kitchen. When he goes to the back door to go outside, he stands by the wrong door, and gets a little confused on which door opens. This is new behavior for him, so we are being cautious in observing any new behaviors that may need more attention from us.

Jake's cancer has returned. Where it is located, all we can do is give supportive care. Despite his mobility issues and the cancer, he has a great appetite, which is always good, when it comes to cancer.

We know our time is limited with Jake, but we remain positive and are making each day count.
For anyone who has read this far, I hope you are not crying. For now, Jake has many more good days then bad. He is still thriving and happy. He enjoys playing with his toys and chomping on his tennis balls, and waiting each evening for the hugs and greetings he gets when hubby comes home.

Jarie

Oh Jarie, where do I even begin? My baby girl. She just turned 3 years old last month. She will always be my baby girl. I wrote a few months ago that she was having problems again with her allergies. Back in October she started chewing her side. She created a circle of hair loss about 3 inches round. She also chewed a patch of hair off the base of her tail. She was put on many meds, some helped, and some she had bad reactions too.

Finally after a couple months, no more itching, and her hair is growing back, although quite slow. We can still see the circle she created, but no more redness, and the hair is coming back.

Those of you that may be reading this and don't know, Jarie has a compromised immune system, IBD, von Willebrands Disease, (bleeding disorder), and many, many allergies. Her allergies are not just food, and environmental, but she is also allergic to many medications.

I switched one of her supplements, and after just 2 days, she started chewing her side again, and scratching everywhere. I was a bad mama, I did not realize the supplement had soy in it. She can NOT have soy. I immediately assumed this was the cause. She vomited a couple days. I thought to myself, ok, she is back on the other supplements, and the soy is out of her system, she will be ok. No, not the case with Jarie.

I have tried many treatments, and nothing has helped the scratching, and itching. Finally last week, that has calmed down some, and we are thinking, we may get back to normal. No, not yet.
This week on three different occasions, Jarie has refused to eat. She is not lethargic, and she is still the happy, wild silly girl she always is. With our experience with Jarie and all of her medical issues, she must eat. I can not give her supplements on an empty stomach or she ends up very sick. But, she needs her supplements to thrive. When she has gone through bouts before without eating, she has gone as long as 4-5 days. When that happens, it compromises her immune system even more, and adds more complications with her IBD. When she refuses to eat, she refuses everything. No human foods or treats, she won't touch anything. On the times she didn't eat this week, she did eat eventually at the end of the day.

I finally realize our weather has been a major cause with her allergies and immune system. We have had a lot of rain the past 2 months. We don't normally get that much, and we know it is just one more thing wreaking havoc on her immune system.

We were battling these issues for her first two years, and we were so hoping we were past it. I am trying to remain positive, and am hoping the non eating will become a thing of the past, before it causes more concern. This is why I always refer to her as my bubble girl. It seems anything outside her little bubble affects her health.

Despite all of this, she is a very happy loving little girl. You would never guess she was sick and not feeling well, with all her running around, destroying her toys, chasing the dogs, and of course her zoomies. Oh yes, at three years old, she still gets the puppy zoomies!

Handsome Jake

Who can resist that magnificent face!

Here kitty, kitty, come a little closer, mama told me to stay.

Jake is such an awesome boy, If he wasn't so obedient and always wanting to please us, he would chase the cats in a heartbeat. Three ferals were wrestling just 10 feet away from him in the above picture. He sure does put up with a lot, but he always make us proud.

I really must get busy taking more pictures of Jake. I don't think he cares much that my blog is being taken over by cats. Of course, he wouldn't mind if I was posting about him catching one, or about the other night when we brought Lacee into the living room to sit on the sofa with us, and he was awakened by the sweet sounds of a kitten meow. He thought he was dreaming again, but upon opening his eyes, there was Lacee just 2 feet in front of him on the sofa with us. He was very excited, to think we finally gave in and was giving him his very own kitty.

Wish I would have taken a picture, his expression was priceless. Maybe next time.

Jake's Surprise

I participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange with the dogs on a message board I belong to. It was so much fun. All the dogs really enjoyed receiving their packages. Each day a different box would arrive, but I wouldn't let any of the dogs open their gifts until all boxes arrived, ( I know, I am so mean). I'll post the others in the next few days.

Jake was so happy. Look at that smile. A box just for him, with all his favorite toys. His secret Santa knew his favorite toys are tennis balls. His next favorite toy is a stuffy that grunts. That hedgehog does just that, and he plays with it all the time.

Happy, happy boy he is.

Spoiled, and he deserves it, and much more.

Jake is doing as well as can be expected. He still has a great appetite, and wants to play. He falls a bit more lately, and his legs are getting much weaker. Very hard to watch, but we take it one day at a time, and do all we can do for him. He is such a good boy, and has been such a sweet soul. He gets a little more spoiled then the others, but I always think as they age and become seniors, they have earned a few extras.

Pictures From The Past

These pictures were taken a few years ago, but we are not putting up a tree this year, so I thought I would share these, they are some of my favorites.




Jake, Bandit, & Princess

Jake was very young in this photo with an old time Santa.

One of my favorite pictures of Princess. She went to Rainbow Bridge July of 2007. Christmas was such a fun time for her, It just isn't the same without her. She was Jake's' best friend.

Jake

When Jake came into our lives, we really were not actively looking for another dog. My husband and I had talked about adding another German Shepherd to our pack, but that is as far as it went. Then one morning one of the US Marshall's was talking to my husband at work about his knowledge of a breeder looking to rehome a German Shepherd pup. So it was my job to contact the breeder to gather all the information I could.

Jake was sold as an 8 week old puppy to a nice family, but at 7 months old, the family returned him to the breeder because Jake had Panosteitis. They also said he was too big. The breeder had sent me all the paperwork on Jake, his hip x-rays, parents x-rays, registration papers, pedigree info,vet visits, parents vet visits, and pictures. Jake is from a German working line.

Jake was in another state, so all of our conversations with the breeder were over the phone, asking plenty of questions. Oh, Jake's name wasn't always Jake. His previous owner named him Ajax. Who names a German Shepherd Ajax? The breeder called him Jack. Poor boy, probably had no clue what his name was.

After a couple weeks, we made the decision to add Jake to our family, yes, we quickly changed his name as soon as we made the decision to add him to our family. Jake sounds so much nicer, don't you think?

My husband drove to the airport to pick Jake up, and he had no idea what to expect with their first meeting, we had only seen pictures. Well, from the day they first seen each other, let me just say, their incredible bond, started immediately. A man and his dog. They became quite the team.

Jake was almost 8 months old when he arrived, and he was already 88lbs. A big boy, not fat, just large boned. He had no manners. He was very mouthy and would jump up on us and grab our arms and legs every chance he got. We couldn't have a big Shepherd being so mouthy, and have ill manners running around our house, so training started immediately.

I would have to put Jake in the dog run outside right before my husband would arrive home from work, because as soon as Jake would have him in his sight, he would run with all the force of a charging bull and plow into him with pure excitement, to welcome him home. They had to do there greetings outside, until Jake learned to control himself.

It didn't take long, with all the training we did, for Jake to become a very well mannered and obedient dog.

My husband handled him in Obedience, his obedience career took off and he had done very well. He loved to work, but mostly he loved being with his dad.

Just about a month after Jake arrived home he was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia, in both hips. Surgery was recommended. We were devastated. How could this be. We had seen the x-rays from the breeder, we went back and forth with conversations with his breeder, and those conversations went well. They were really good people.

Anyhow, after two weeks of crying, and worrying, trying to make a decision on what we were going to do, we decided to not go through with surgery. Jake wasn't showing any signs of Hip Dysplasia, no pain, no limping or lameness. We would just take it easy with his training, and take one day at a time and see how it goes.

Jake went through all his training fine, when we would practice his jumps, we didn't do many, so not to over work him. He is a very smart boy, and learned quickly, so not over working him was easy for all of us.

We certified him as a K9 Therapy Dog. Every weekend if he wasn't at a dog show, he was at a nursing facility doing visits. He was a huge hit, and everyone was always excited when they knew Jake was coming.

Jake also did the Reading To Rover program. That is held at our local Libraries. Children that have difficulty reading out loud, get to read to Jake. It helps the children become more confident. Every summer, we would take Jake to the Library and head for the reading room, where children were signed up to read privately to Jake. He was such a good sport, and enjoyed the children.

Jake's best friend was Princess. We were so worried with bringing Jake home that we might have issues with Princess. She didn't like other dogs. She walked to his crate his first day home, and bit the crate, and growled and barked at him something fierce! She was smaller then him, but she didn't care. We knew that very day, everything was going to be fine with our pack. Jake just put his head down in his crate and allowed her to have her say.

From that day forward, he had the utmost respect for her, and they were inseparable. A very close friendship the two developed.

Jake has never liked cats. Can you imagine, here I am rescuing feral and stray cats, and I have a back yard full of cats! No matter how hard we tried, we could not get him use to cats. The good thing about Jake, he is a soft dog, and he aims to please us. As much as he would love to chase a cat, he respects us enough to know, the cats are off limits.

Jake's favorite toy is a tennis ball. We always buy many for him. Something about a fresh smelling, brand new tennis ball to crunch for a few seconds, then pop it! You can see how excited he gets with the first pop of a tennis ball.

Jake use to go to work with my husband quite often and enjoyed spending the day with him. It is always nice to have a well mannered obedient dog that you can be proud to take places. He was always our demo dog during our training classes.

One night after class, our students were watching Jake retrieve his tennis ball. Just as my husband threw the ball and Jake took off full speed after his ball, a border collie came running and grabbed the ball before Jake could reach it. This could have been a disaster. Luckily Jake was able to demonstrate his recall abilities. As soon as my husband noticed the border collie, he called Jake back. Jake did a quick about turn and headed back without his ball. A very proud moment.

He loves water. I regret that we have no pool. He has to be happy with just a wading pool, but that is ok with him. He screams and cries the minute we start filling it. He can get pretty possessive over his pool. We have taken him a few times to a friend of ours that has a built in pool to go swimming, and we can not keep him out of the water. he just loves swimming.

Jake has lots of allergies, and gets many ear infections, which mostly can be handled by watching the ingredients in all the foods we give him. He also has many environmental allergies, and some of those we can't help, so we often manage those with frequent ear cleaning and medications.

Jake was diagnosed with Neurofibrosarcoma last year. At the present he is doing fine. Jake is 10 and half years old. It is sad to see him age, which is part of the reason it has taken me so long to get this page posted. Jake is that once in a lifetime dog.

There will never be another as special as Jake. He is strong, confident, loyal, smart, fun, forgiving, very very obedient, and goofy. My husband is still his favorite person. He has gotten very lame now, and has slowed down with age, but boy does his face light up when his dad comes home from work every evening.

Jake is now retired from competing and Therapy work. He spends most days sleeping on the couch, chewing a tennis ball, and getting massages from me and looking forward to when his daddy comes home.

Look At All That Hair!

There is a reason German Shepherds are called German Shedders. Look at all that hair! German Shepherds shed 365 days a year. They blow their coat twice a year, depending on the climate you live in, most often the beginning of spring and fall. that is when you will find little tufts of hair that you just can not resist plucking off your German Shepherd. Depending on each individual dogs coat, is going to determine how often you should brush him.

Jake has a very thick undercoat, so he needs a good brushing every week. Some times I slack and he doesn't get brushed as often anymore. All the hair above came from 30 minutes of brushing. I know I can get that much more off of him in another week too! Good thing I love grooming the dogs.

After his brushing, laying in his pile of hair.

As Jake has gotten older, grooming sessions wear him out.

Handsome boy.

He feels so much better.

The Furminator is an excellent deShedding tool to help get all that dead undercoat out. Many people have had great success using this for their German Shepherds. However, I own one, and it does not do the job for Jake. Always worth a try though.
I prefer the Undercoat Rake. All of the hair I took off Jake came from using this tool. Very easy and simple to use. Brushing Jake every two weeks keeps his shedding to a minimum, but, he is a German Shepherd, so he will always shed. Having five dogs in the house is a good reason to own a very good vacuum.