Jack & Destro

(left to right: Jack and Destro)

(On a walk in our old neighborhood. Years ago.)

(Road trip. Jack being spoiled and sitting up front.)

Growing up, my family didn't have pets. My sister was allergic to dander, so we never had anything bigger than fish at our house. In college, I acquired Jack through a break-up. My boyfriend at the time talked about getting a dog, and I was adamantly opposed to the idea. We were living in his small apartment. I knew I'd be the one feeding the dog, bathing the dog, walking the dog; it was too much responsibility. Then, one day, I came home from class to find this tiny puppy asleep on my boyfriend's lap. Oh-my-gosh-he-was-so-little. I was in love. When we split-up three years later, I took Jack, because I had, just as I'd predicted, become his primary caregiver, love giver, food giver, walk giver, etc. I'd become his mama. For years, it was just the two of us until we met Jim and Destro. 

(Destro on his chair.)

Jim sort of acquired Destro, too. In college, his friend Burt had adopted two Dalmatian-mix puppies from a guy he'd found in the newspaper. When Jim would visit Burt, one of the puppies showed a fondness for Jim, and, of course, Jim felt drawn to the little guy as well. Finally Burt said he thought Jim should keep the puppy. Jim accepted. Thus, Destro came into his life. Destro is incredibly loyal to Jim. He worships Jim.  


Now, Jack and Destro are ours. Destro established himself as the alpha-dog, but Jack put up a good fight. Literally. They had a few fights, actually, one resulting in a doggie-ER visit. They get along very well now - having lived together nearly three years. Destro is our "good child," because he actually listens and behaves unlike Jack, our "problem child."


Right now, Jack is on my mind a lot, because he's been sick. We were house-sitting in Scott, and while we were staying in the main house, we were keeping our dogs in the guest house. Jack ingested some rat poison. I felt like the world's worst mother for allowing this to happen, but we honestly didn't know there was rat poison stashed away in the nooks and crannies of the old home. As soon as we realized the signs and put two-and-two together, we rushed him to the vet (on Saturday), and the vet injected him with Vitamin K (an antidote). We discussed the possibility of a blood transfusion, but the vet said we should wait and see how he responds to the Vitamin K. He's doing much better now. But he's not his crazy-wild-hyper self lately. As much as his "problem child" behavior drives us batty, I miss it. Please say a little prayer for our littlest buddy. Thank you. xo. 


(all photos were taken by Jim)