Jake was our 2nd dog who we adopted from a shelter. We got him fairly quickly after the loss of our beloved Sadie. I wasn't ready, but our girls were. When we first saw him, he was the only dog in the shelter who didn't bark at us. He just end leaned against the gate looking at us like he knew no one adopt him because he was older. We left that day and returned a few days later and he was still there and we decided to adopt him. We found out at the shelter that he had been adopted and returned twice because both times he had chased farm animals. He had patches on his elbows from the cement floor and was older, but the girls fell in love with him. At home we adjusted to his calm manner (our dog before and a lot of energy). We soon learned that although calm, Jake was a runner and quite fast for his size! A month later we took him camping with us. He had a cut in his ear that started bleeding. I bent down to clean it and he gave me a kiss. We bonded right there. Jake wasn't a licker or quick to give a kiss. My husband always said he was a gentleman.

The years we had with Jakie were wonderful. He was part of our family and always seemed grateful that we brought him home. For eight years we dealt with making sure the gate and front door were always closed so he didn't run, we cleaned up muddy paws and dealt with his dislike of the dryer or vacuum running. We dealt with his food allergies and gassy stomach. All thing that seem trivial right now.

March 21, 2016 started out like any other day. Jake had been fighting a cough that was getting worse so I made an appointment for him. I had also noticed that in recent weeks he wasn't himself. His back hips were bad and he didn't seem to have that "life" in his eyes. The vet did some tests and said his heart was enlarged with fluid in his lung. She also said it looked like lung cancer, but she wasn't sure. I asked her what her gut said and she said cancer. We took Jake home and made the decision that he was declining in health (he was 11 or 12) and we didn't want to see him suffer, so we put him down. Our whole family was there. Although it was hard, it felt like the right thing to do.

We are heartbroken. Finding comfort knowing it was the right thing to do, but still deeply grieving with tears and tears. We loved Jake so much. He was kind, loving, devoted, silly, and our gentleman.

Jake... You will never be forgotten,,,,ever. Run my sweet baby. Run and run with no pain, eat without allergies, find Sadie and know that we miss you. Please be waiting for us when our time comes. You will always be part of our family. I'm sorry about yesterday, Mamma, daddy, ash and Katie love and miss you. If you want to give mamma a sign you are ok, I will take it. Love you, Big Jake. Thank you for waiting for us to find you.