At around 55 pounds, Jake is a rather cumbersome burden to hold curled up in my lap, but she actually manages to fold up pretty neatly for a dog her size, and heavy though she is, I enjoy these rare quiet times when I can get her to lye still like this long enough for a cuddle.
"Do you remember the day we brought you home?" I ask her, fondling a soft floppy ear; one of a pair that stick out from her head in a quirky manner that has earned her the sobriquet 'The Flying Nun'. Jim groans theatrically in the chair opposite me, and tries to bury his face deeper into his newspaper. He's heard me tell this tale to her many times. "I know you love this story." I continue my narration to Jake, undaunted. Jake looks up at me with a smile of intense doggy adoration on her face.
"Once upon a time . . . actually it was on Valentine's Day, there was only one pet store in all of Ottawa that had the two fish I wanted to buy Jim for his present. Some stores had the rainbow shark, and some had the albino rainbow shark, but only this one store had both. So, when I got off work, I took the bus out to get Jim his two sharks.
I toured the pet shop, as I always do before buying. I talked to the parrots who are supposedly able to speak - but never do - and received the glassy eyeball back from them that tells you they think you're a crazy lady. I checked out the song birds, the chinchillas and rabbits, and finally made my way 'round to the puppies. That's where you were." I have to tell her that because she doesn't really know she's a dog. She thinks she's a person, and we just let her continue to believe that.
"You were sleeping so peacefully with your long coltish legs stretched out in front of you - you still sleep like that - and I thought you were adorable, but that wasn't when I fell in love with you. No, I went and picked out my fish and was at the counter paying for them, almost ready to leave, when one of the women on staff brought you up to the counter for a treat. You looked pathetically sad, and that was it for me. It broke my heart to leave you there.
The hard part was going to be talking Jim into it, because after all, he hadn't seen that face of yours.
Jim was working, so I went right from the store to the bar to show him his new fish and he was happy with his present. Some people might think sharks were a funny Valentine's present, but not Jim. Then I told him all about you; I was lyrical, I was eloquent, but he was not very pleased with the idea of you." Jake wiggled around a bit into a comfier position and gave my hand a lick.
"We had talked about getting a dog, but had decided to go to the pound for an older dog that wouldn't need to be house trained. We wanted a big dog, so we planned to wait till we moved out of the townhouse into a larger place with more yard. Jim reminded me of all these things. They no longer mattered, but he didn't know that yet, he hadn't seen you.
I didn't feel like I'd made any headway with Jim before I left the bar, but wasn't about to give up hope. On the way home I told Bob, our regular bus driver, all about you, and he promised to work on Jim if he was on the late bus as he sometimes was.
I think I'd been home about an hour when Jim called to say I hadn't even told him whether you were a male or female, and that was when I knew that we really would get you.
It was after 3:00 a.m. when Jim came to bed, and I was instantly awake and talking his ear off about your charms and about how many times we'd looked at the puppies and I'd said how cute they were, but had never seriously asked to bring one home before.
Finally, he said we could get you on one condition: we had to call you Jake. 'But she's a girl, that will confuse her' I told him. He wasn't buying it. 'But I hate naming animals people names, and I know a Jake.' He was adamant. He'd always wanted a dog named Jake, and if it had to be this dog for me, then it had to be that name for him.
He had to work the next day, Saturday, and the pet store wasn't open late hours, so we agreed that I could go in and put you on 'layaway' till Sunday when he'd be able to get in and see you. I was so afraid someone else would buy you if we waited. I was wildly excited. I couldn't wait to get down to the store to see 'our dog'!
You were wide awake and full of beans this time, and frisked around in the back area where they let us meet and get to know each other. What a sweetheart you were, and what huge paws! Fortunately Jim wanted a big dog, a 'real' dog, and at 6'4" I had to agree he'd look pretty silly walking any of the small breeds. Someone else had been looking at you just that morning, so it was a good thing we'd agreed to put some money down to have you held pending Jim's approval.
By this time, we both knew that was a formality. On Sunday morning we stopped at the pet store nearest us and bought puppy food, toys and treats, then it was off to pick up 'our dog'. While Jim got aquainted with you, I browsed collars and leashes. Even at three months you didn't fit into the large cat/small dog carrier we had brought with us, so we had to carry you. If we put you down you started to tremble. You were a good girl in the taxi on the way home, and our neighbours saw you from their kitchen window and smiled and waved at you.
It was about 20 minutes before you were brave enough to jump off the couch and explore a bit; everything made you nervous, and particularly the cats. Jim took you out in the back yard for your first 'photo op' and wanted me to get a picture of your 'first yellow snow'. I used up just about a whole roll of film. You didn't have any accidents in the house that first day, and when you fell asleep between us as we watched t.v. that night, we thought we'd gotten the perfect dog.
Well, maybe not perfect. Jim didn't like the idea of kenneling you, so that first night we confined you to the bathroom with a blanket to sleep on. You whined for about an hour before giving up. We thought that was pretty good.
The next morning I opened the bathroom door to an ecstatic puppy and a total disaster. I cleaned poop off the walls, the floor, the blanket; somehow everything was filthy but you! Jim brought home a baby gate that night and we tried to pen you in the kitchen but you climbed right over it, and when we raised it up a bit, you managed to wiggle underneath.
Back to the bathroom for a second, noisier night, and we decided we'd have to try the kennel solution after all. It worked like a charm.
On Tuesday Jim was home all day with you, and when I called him to see how you were both doing, all I could hear in the background was the 'squeak-a-squeak-a-squeak' of 'Mr. Potato Head', your first favourite toy. Jim was going crazy. I told him he could take it away from you, and suggested maybe he should put you in the kennel and go out for a bit of a break, because I could tell from his exasperation that he was close to regretting getting you.
That was a rare exception. Experiencing your puppy antics, and watching you grow into the graceful dog you are now, has been a joy beyond our expectations, and when we look at the pictures of you eating your Birthday hat at your first Birthday party, we can't help but laugh and be thankful that we found you." I hug her close within my enfolding arms and wrap up the story by telling her, "Your 'Our Girl Jake'."
Return to Jake's Place
Get your own Free Home Page