Heartbeat at my feet

Jake came to us when I was about 12 years old, courtesy of a man who had no concept of how to train an animal. He wanted Jake to be a hunting dog. If you had spent more than one minute with this dog, you would know that hunting…well, just wasn’t his thing. His previous owner used a shock collar on poor Jake, repeatedly, and then would dump him at the local shelter when Jake refused to obey him. After a few days, sometimes up to a week, he’d let Jake sit at the shelter, alone, confused, and scared, before deciding to give it one more go and picking him up again.

After a few rounds of this horrible game, the shelter alerted our family, and we quickly adopted him before his previous owner could come back. He settled into his new life with us very quickly and bonded very deeply with our yellow lab, Sam. Those two boneheads (I say that with the utmost affection) loved each other so much and were the absolute best dogs anyone could ask for.

Almost two years ago, we lost Sammy to old age. Jake was heartbroken. The vet cautioned us that he might not last long without his brother, but he was a trooper. After a few months, he was his usual bouncy, smiley self, and continued to be so for quite some time.

Until Saturday morning.

He suffered a seizure and a stroke early that day. After I got the call from my Dad, we dropped everything and drove up to New Hampshire to be with him. Seeing my baby Jake struggle to get up to greet me, refuse to drink any water, and list so heavily to one side when he did manage to stand was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to watch. Gone was my happy-go-lucky, dopey boy. He was hurting, and he was confused. I laid down on the floor next to him, and I cried.

He went peacefully yesterday morning at the vet’s, surrounded by the people that loved him the most.

I miss him, the destroyer of tennis balls, thunderdog, worst hunting dog in the world. Jacob Apollo Hall.

Be at peace, baby Jake. I hope you and Sam have found each other and that never-ending pile of tennis balls and dog treats at the end of the rainbow bridge.