Jack from Roswell~Adopted
I received an email yesterday from Terri Friday, describing her foster dog, Jack. The more I read, the more impressed I was of her dedication and knowledge of her foster dog. She has been fostering Jack on an off for about a year now, and she is not going to give up on him. Terry is inspiring! She wrote:
History:
I helped a friend clean out a rental house that had been occupied by an older woman who could no longer take care of herself. Two dogs were left behind – Jack was one of them.
I brought them home and quarantined them from my dogs in my basement. Both dogs were friendly, knew basic commands, and were housebroken so I decided to place them myself (silly me!). They were also filthy, 2” toenails, worms, fleas, skin conditions, and extremely obese. Jack initially weighed 75 lbs! I took them to my vet for de-worming, flea-control, heartworm testing, biopsying of tumors, antibiotics for ear infections. I am allergic to most double-coated dogs so I took them to a groomer for thorough scrubbing, blow/comb out and trimming. They behaved nicely during the entire make-over.
After two weeks, I introduced them to my dogs – the newcomers were polite. Jack watched what my dogs did and immediately copied them – he was no trouble at all. The other dog, however, was a 100+ pound, anxious-barking, hole-digging mutt set on destroying all door frames that stood between her and people (I didn’t have a crate big enough). I took them to a vet-sponsored rescue organization which did a temperament test, registered them, and gave them all shots. They had no room for any more large dogs so I agreed to foster them at my house.
Immediately, a retired couple who previously had a BC wanted to adopt Jack. (Wow! This rescue thing is soo easy – HA!) They came to my house twice for several hours to get to know Jack and he seemed to like them. Then, I get a call that Jack bolted and ran away immediately upon arriving at his new home. The guy and I searched the area, then the local shelter (Gwinnett) – No Jack. This was last Jan–Feb when the weather was rainy & cold. I worried where he was every night. After a month, the man checked one last time then adopted another BC from the Gwinnett County Animal Control shelter. The very next day, Jack was brought in by animal control to that same shelter! I swear that smarty-dog hid nearby until the guy gave up! I bailed Jack out before they euthanized him and brought back home a dog with severe PTSD; he cowered in my closet for 3 days. He had lost 10 pounds (which he needed) but also lost all self-confidence. Even though his body showed no scars, he acted severely abused.
The rescue organization wanted to re-test his temperament before considering placing him. I felt he was unadoptable and needed time to heal before he could handle testing. Meanwhile I took the other dog to adoption Saturdays with the rescue group and she was eventually placed. Jack was unaffected by her leaving since he is more people-oriented than dog-oriented (plus he still has my dogs as buddies).
Jack slowly got his joy back over the summer. I became super busy with my boys once school started and put off the re-homing efforts until now. One of my sons is highly allergic to Jack even when on allergy medication and I cannot groom him without a strong reaction. My high energy teen household makes Jack jumpy.
Placement:
Jack is a well-behaved, healthy, good-looking dog with very expressive eyes and an Einstein-like domed head. He is one of the most intelligent dogs I’ve ever met (and I have a BC & a Standard Poodle). He deserves to be in a home where his sensitive reactive BC personality is understood and he can be a loyal companion to his own person. What a wonderful friend he would be to an older person who wants a ‘plug and play’ perfect mannered dog.
Someone put a lot of effort training this dog when he was young – there are so many things he DOESN’T do – like jump up, lick, counter-surf, chew, shred, scratch, beg, get on sofas, pull on a leash, dig holes in the yard. He whines to go outside and potty. He doesn’t like to get wet or dirty and waits for you wipe his feet if they are damp when he comes back in. He waits to have his mouth wiped after eating. He stops barking if you say ‘QUIET’ or ‘ENOUGH’. He does not have separation anxiety. I have not crated him because he doesn’t require it but I doubt he would object.
He loves to ride (lies down when riding in a car), but most of all he loves attention and butt scratches. When given a lot of praise, he does a little high-stepping prance. Jack always gives two barks and leads the other dogs when I let them out the back door to potty. Coming back inside, he’s always bringing up the rear
Jack doesn’t require a lot of exercise and a small yard would be fine (although a squirrel to chase would be nice). A condo or garden home would be okay if the neighbors are normally quiet. I’m not sure how he would react to the sounds of upstairs neighbors.
Being a former ‘coffee-table-wide’ dog, Jack needs some walks to keep his weight down and an owner who won’t indulge his appetite. He loves to clean up any food left in my other dog’s bowl so he is still pudgy. His stomach is cast iron and he is not picky about his food. He has been on Nature’s Recipe Grain Free Salmon, Sweet Potato & Pumpkin kibble for the most of the past year. Recently I switched all the dogs to Halo Spot Stew Salmon kibble topped with a little plain yogurt.
Fortunately Jack loves to have his thick, baby-fine silky fur brushed. He is a little squeamish about toe nail trimming but is polite. I find that frequent light sessions with a grinder works best.
Jack gets along well with other dogs, even small ones. I think he would be fine with a cat accustomed to dogs. Since he chases squirrels, I wouldn’t trust him around a kitten, bunny or flighty pet.
He does NOT belong in a household with young children or even tweenagers. He is used to being in a multi-dog household but I think he would be fine as an only dog if his person is home a lot and interactive.
Summary:
Jack reminds me a lot of many of the dogs we have rescued; discriminated against because of his age. As much as I was madly in love with my heart dog, Reckless, I remember when she turned 8 and 9 years old, my love for her grew; I appreciated her even more, and I wondered what my life would be without her; empty. Jack is someone’s heart dog, maybe it could be you!
You can see more photos of Jack on Facebook.
Jack is being fostered by Terri in Roswell, Georgia. If you want more information about Jack, please email me at TheDogLiberator@gmail.com