He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart." – Unknown

Tribute to a Great Dog

Jake, a playful dog, decided to go exploring. That was a surprise since he really doesn’t like to get too far away from Mommy. Jake has no intention of doing anything that resembles work or requires any great effort. Five minutes of any activity results in a half-hour nap.

Jake wakes Mommy up in the morning by licking her face. That’s not really a sign of affection as much as a sign he needs to go out. Enough lounging around on the bed. Time to go out. Now! After going out, he then comes in and lounges on the couch, all worn out and needing a rest. He barely keeps his eyes open unless Mommy thinks she’s going back to sleep. Then, Jake is awake and ready to play.

Jake is always ready to play at two o’clock in the morning. When he’s ready, you’re ready. That’s his opinion at least. Since he ignores any command he doesn’t agree with, you’d better be ready. He’s discovered that’s a good way to get a snack. He needs a smack, but that’s not right, so he doesn’t get one. He’s completely innocent-looking when he does it, but he knows exactly what he’s doing..

When he goes out, he always checks for toads first. If he doesn’t find one, he then goes out into the yard and pees. If he does find one and it jumps, he pees right then and there. He jumps three feet in the air as if he’s scared of the toad. On the other hand, Jake doesn’t have any warts either.After playing with the toad, Jake looks to see if Mommy planted any new flowers. Then he digs them up with glee. As clumps of dirt fly through the air, some land directly on Mommy's shoes, leaving a dusting of mud that speaks louder than words. If Jake presented a flower between his teeth, that would be one thing. But no, he roots around until the flower and its roots are scattered all around the patio. Then he pees on his own garden creation and trots inside to rest up.

In his first exploration, he escaped without anyone knowing he was gone until he slammed against the door. When we opened it he ran in and jumped up on the couch, looked out the window, and sighed in relief. Cheese, the neighborhood cat, had chased him off. Cheese is a nice cat towards humans, but hates dogs. Cheese swells up to three times its normal size around a dog. All the dogs in the neighborhood are afraid of Cheese, although she’s never been known to kill one. Least ways, no body has ever been found. No body, no crime.

In another encounter, Jake dared to venture near Cheese again, only to find the cat lounging on top of the fence, eyes narrowed and tail twitching. Cheese took her time before acknowledging Jake, as if judging whether this intrusion was worth her effort. When she finally leaped down, Jake froze. They eyed each other intensely for a beat, until Cheese let out a quiet but firm hiss. That was enough for Jake, who bolted back home, his bravado firmly deflated. Inside, he made sure everyone saw him bravely sniffing his favorite pillow, pretending his failed showdown had been part of the plan all along.

Jake’s next escape got Mommy really mad. She called him, and he suddenly went deaf. He also went blind. Mommy had to get the van and go after him. He ignored Mommy but came right to the van, all innocent and loving. He wagged his tail, licked her face, and escaped. Mommy took him with her when she went to get iced tea. He got a Happy Meal from it. He found out what being a great dog got him.

Jake, unlike most dogs, refuses to drink from a toilet. Good for him. That way, when we take his water off him at night, it helps him to sleep all night. No, it doesn’t. He won’t drink from a toilet, but he will drink from our fountain on the patio. It’s rough being outsmarted by a dog

Jake was part Jack Russell and part beagle. The bad parts. He was the very definition of a scamp. If you ignore him long enough at night when he wants to play, he takes his chew bone and bounces it off the wall. If that doesn’t get you up, he bounces himself off the wall. If that gets ignored, he jumps on the bed, jumps on your stomach, and grabs your hand with his teeth. He thinks of it as playing. I think of it as giving blood.

Jake didn’t like sharing his house with others. When our daughter and her husband came over, Jake would make a very soft growling sound. He wouldn’t bark loud enough for Harvey to notice. Harvey is a big man. Jake knew better than bark at him. When the grandkids were around, he was different. We had to lock him up in the bedroom. We knew that wasn’t any way to live, and he’d have to go.

“No, no, you can't stay here. Git!”

Why? He had decided they belonged here. That was that.

The next morning, we got the kids popcorn and turned cartoons on. Jake was their friend now. He wanted popcorn and knew he had to sneak up on them. They yelled at him, but he didn’t stop, so they ate a piece of the popcorn and covered the rest with their hands.

The youngest one said, “One for me, one for you. Jake thought it was a good deal.”

He would jump up, run to Mommy, and bark at her until she set the dinner down. Then he would circle the table three times and lie down again.

“Well, Jake, I’m here. Where’s my dinner?”

He would jump up, run to Mommy, and bark at her until she set the dinner down. Then he would circle the table three times and lie down again.

If someone came to the door, he would go into his guard dog mode. He wasn’t a big dog but he thought he was. He’d go to the door and growl at whoever was there. Nothing ever happened but I’m guessing Jake felt he had earned his place.

Rest in peace, Jake. All dogs go to Heaven. You'll shine like a star there.