Jack...Rest in Peace

As I sit here trying to figure out the plethora of emotions have been racing through my mind all day I can't help but feel a little down. For the past long while my family has had two dogs. Jack and Molly. If I remember correctly, we received Jack my freshman year of college back in 2001. Molly was a very recent addition to our family when my mother randomly out of the blue wanted to adopt one of her sister's puppies before Mother's Day 2012. Jack has always been a character. We have had a number of pets in my life time, a number of dogs, a few cats, and a rabbit. But Jack was very special. He had this uncanny and rather humorous way he would try to stalk small animals. When he was a small pup I would watch him freeze like he'd just seen a ghost. I though at first that there was something medically wrong with him. But no. Jack wasn't sick. He instantly morphed into full blown predator mode. He hadn't seen a ghost he saw a squirrel. He would slowly creep near the animal in hopes that he would have a new trophy. Closer and closer he waited for the right time to pounce. He would normally get anywhere from 5-10 feet from the squirrel and then all at once it was like he had been shot out of a cannon. He would rocket to the unsuspecting victim trying to kill it and bring it back to the porch. It's really funny now because as many times as I saw him try to catch a squirrel, never once did I see him try to quit. I wish there was a time where he could comprehend English. I could see the scene now. I'd sit him down probably on the back porch swing the conversation would be like this:

CHIP: "What's wrong Jack? Why are you so out of breath dog?"
JACK: "I missed a damn squirrel again. I don't know what it is about those stupid things. I see one and it's like something comes over me and I just want to pounce like Super Dog and kill those stupid bastards. Damn it I wanna kill one of those bastards so bad. And I will. Damn it I will...roooof!"  
CHIP: "Jack don't you know that you have a collar on?"
JACK: "Yeah. I know. So what!"
CHIP: " So...your collar makes a jingle noise every time you move, scratch, and even breathe puppy. The squirrels can hear you coming with each step you make."
JACK: "Well dang. That shouldn't matter. I am bigger and more ferocious than those things will ever be. I'll get one next time...rooof!"

In his later years Jack wasn't the mad hater of squirrels that he used to be. There was a time a few years ago when we found out that Jack was actually allergic to flees and on top of that he had a very very dry skin. It was down hill from there. a little while later his days were spent bent over and scratching at his tail area. It would get so irritated that he would spend hours (and I mean hours) gnawing at himself. It was almost like it didn't matter how much skin he took off himself there was still something that was aggravating him that he would spend all day trying to get relief. We tried everything; hair cuts, creams, sprays, lotions...everything. But nothing seemed to help. My family and I had been dealing with his digging for a long time. He would yelp in pain most night...and many night he would keep us up...scratching, digging and yelping. It got to the point last night we put him in a spare bedroom and it wouldn't stop.

I drifted off to sleep about 4:30 this morning and when I woke up I called my Dad and got the sad news. My mother was at the vet and she was putting Jack to sleep.



Heartbreaking...but necessary.  Rest in Peace Jacky. I know God will let you catch as many of those damn squirrels as you want now.

Until next time Geek-Rockers,

THE POETIC GIGOLO