First, I need to tell you my part of this story.
I wasn’t always a dog lover or for that matter a pet person.
Growing up, we had a rabbit or two and a couple of ducks. One, named Abbey, would walk down the street with me.
While raising our children, my standard answer to the why-can’t-we-have-a-dog question was, “If the neighbors have a dog that’s close enough.”
One year we did adopt two duck from the local museum of national history, but that was only for six weeks. Over the years, we also had fish.
I’m not sure when the cat arrived in our household. Or exactly how it came about.
It was our daughter’s cat, and she took it with her when she got her own apartment.
Our first dog, Hiccup, was a gift to our son, from his girlfriend at the time. The girlfriend went, our son left home, and Pauline and I had a dog. When Hiccup died we were alone because all five of our children had left home.
That was over nine years ago.
And now for Pauline’s story:
Last year on Saturday, Feb. 3, Mike wanted me to go to the Farmers Market with him. He said we had to get there early.
He kept telling me to hurry. We had to be on time. I dragged my feet. He kept saying, ‘We must get there early or everything will be gone.’ I just laughed. But I humored him, got ready and off we went.
When we arrived at the market, it wasn’t open yet.
We sat in the car and waited.
Finally, at Mike’s insistence, we went into the market and the first place we stopped was at the Humane Society’s booth. As we stood there, four adorable puppies were brought in.
“This is why we are here,” Mike told me. He had seen an article in the newspaper about puppies that had been abandoned on the steps of the Humane Society right before Christmas. This was on a day that the Society is not opened.
Fortunately, someone who was giving a tour of the Society’s facilities found the puppies before they froze to death.
Mike had seen Jake’s picture in the paper. He thought Jake was so cute. He was reminded of our dog Hiccup, who had died a few years before.
Mike told me this could be my Valentine’s Day gift, if I wanted a puppy.
We were third in line (he told me to hurry) to pick a puppy.
Jake was still available. It was love at first sight. I
It took the entire morning, however. We went home with Jake wrapped in an Ohio State blanket, which we keep in the car.
The people at the Humane Society, who cared for Jake from the time he was found until Adoption Day, named him. Both of us liked the name so we kept it, although the Society told us we could change it.
Jake is a mixed breed; however, we have been told he has a lot of Springer Spaniel in him. He is black and white with specks of brown, he weighs 25 pounds.
Jake is friendly and outgoing. He gives lots of licks and will jump on everyone wanting to play. If you’re seated, he thinks he belongs in your lap. He is just a little over a year old, and he still has a lot of puppy in him.
Sometimes he can be rambunctious, so we took him to obedience school. He was more interested in the other dogs and their owners than in learning. We also took him to Pet Behavioral Training. Jake enjoyed the treats and all the attention. At least, we learned what to expect.
Jake has learned to sit, lie down, stay, and he loves to play with his toys and blankets. With his long floppy ears he can melt your heart when he looks at you with that tilted head.
Jake loves to ride in the car. He is a great traveler. He never asks if we are there yet. He never tells Mike he’s driving fast. He never asks to stop for a burger.
We have been making regular trips to Michigan, and he just sits in the back seat and watches the scenery. Or he sleeps. Once in a while, he will stick his face between the front seats and lick our ears
Jake has not mastered walking on a leash. He always wants to take us for a run. Jake is mostly an inside dog. However, if he sees a squirrel in the yard, he wants out to play. We have a little bell on the back door that he rings when he wants out. He does play fetch, if he is in the mood.
Jack only gets dog food, but he does earn a special treat for learning a new trick or for being obedient. Cheese is his favorite. But it never is served from the table.
Our five children, all grown and away from home, claim the dog eats better than they did just because we feed him a premium dog food.
Jake sleeps in his kennel at night. When we first got him, we placed the kennel in our bedroom. But he didn’t sleep. After two nights, we shifted his kennel to the family room, and we never again had to get up during the night.
Being a puppy, he can be mischievous. Jake found a hole in our couch in the family room. He thought it would be great fun to see how much stuffing he could get out. We learned we had to keep pillows out of his reach, too. Again our kids claim we are easier on the dog than we were with them, just because we didn’t get upset about the couch.
Our children also think Jake is spoiled. Maybe. But we tell them he is like a toddler who needs training and lots of love.
Last month, on our trip to Michigan, they had about eight inches of snow.
When we arrived at 10 o’clock at night, Jake thought it would be fun to escape from the car. He romped through the snow around the house and the neighbor’s house with both of us in pursuit.
He fooled us. When he was in the front yard, we were in the back. Worse, we were not prepared for the snow. We had no boots, hats or gloves. What a sight.
Here we were trying to keep up with this dog, and I’ll bet he thought it was great sport.
Our concern was the fact that there was a lake and that he might fall in, not know what to do, or get lost in a new neighborhood.
Both of us worried because we just couldn’t keep tract of him all the time. We
Eventually, we awakened our Uncle Paul with our calling out and traipsing around his yard. He came to the door, turned on the porch light, opened the door and in went Jake.
We had a good laugh later, wondering why we hadn’t thought of that instead of chasing him in the snow for an hour.
We really don’t feel that we saved Jake because he gives much more to us than we give him.
He has enriched our lives and we can’t imagine our lives without Jake.
We want to encourage everyone interested in cats or dogs to consider adopting.
All it takes is a good home, love and patience. You never will regret it. And remember that there is help, should you need it.
Mike’s footnote: Pauline wrote this for a newspaper article eight years ago. Since then, Jake has not spent one night in a cage. His nights are in our bedroom, many times in our bed.
During the day, he usually can be found in my chair in the family room. He’s a good dog, but still considers himself to be a puppy, with many puppy traits.
Reminds me of what I am fond of saying, “Age is nothing more than a state of mind,” and in Jake’s mind, he’s a puppy.
The Hennesseys may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
