Wednesday, July 20, 2005

The Family Dog

This is Jack.

We got Jack from the SPCA in November, 2004. This was an attempt to head-off the baby craze that hit both Kim and I in the insane post-wedding haze. (We'd originally wanted to wait until summer 2005 to begin trying - you can imagine how well our plan worked out)

Jack immediately became part of the family - running around like crazy, destroying things, upsetting the near-perfect calm that had settled in to the Johnstone House as we got into some semblance of a routine. In other words, he was the canine equivalent of Nicholas.

It was a close thing - we didn't know if we were going to be able to keep Jack, around the new year. He was getting worse, not better. Destroyed items were a common thing, it was cold outside and there was nowhere for our insane little Jack Russell Terrier to go. He bit Nicholas a couple of times - it was never very severe, but who wants to wait for that?

Finally, when Jack could spend some time outside, he started to mellow out. "Give it time," was a common line heard by friends and dog-fans. Nobody really wanted to say goodbye. And finally, our patience had paid off. Sure, he's a long way from perfect. He barks a lot and pees on people at the off-leash area, but he's part of the family and we won't be getting rid of him.

Jack enjoys swimming, nuzzling ducklings with his teeth, sleeping, running and chewing on his yellow blanket. By all evidence, he's probably a Sagittarius and his pet peeve is anything on wheels.

Bloggers, Jack.

Jack, Bloggers.

5 comments:

KimLiving said...

You obviously spend a lot of time not at home. "The near-perfect calm that had settled in to the Johnstone House" What house were you living in?

Liam J. said...

The contrast between pre-Jack and neo-Jack is so stark that in comparison, it was near-perfect calm.

KimLiving said...

I've just never heard anyone use the word "calm" to describe a home with Nicholas living in it.

Liam J. said...

More like YOU'RE and idiot.

Just 'cause YOU'RE scared of dogs, doesn't mean they're out to get the rest of us.

Krista Leddy said...

Evil-dog. Ha!