A Journey: Adopting a Galgo: Goodbye Jake

Jake
Our Sweet American Eskimo

This is Jake's story.

What is the tie to my galgo blog? He was a beloved and invaluable pack mate across all of our dogs and cats over the past 12 years, including Sophie, our black lab mix, Jocko, our Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, Daisy, our first greyhound, Wilma, our second greyhound, Brody, our third greyhound, Bless, Sara and Bones, our three galgos, and three of our cats, Cleo, Gabe and Frank. Sadly, we lost him on July 3, 2019, just two days before his 12th birthday.

I used to tell him his story, almost every day:

One day, I went to my yoga class at the YMCA in Saratoga, CA, and while walking to the room, I ran into two of the teens who worked at the front desk. They had the cutest little puppy that I've ever seen in my life on a leash, and he and I made a connection immediately. It was LOVE at first sight! I made ga ga over him and asked who he belonged to. They didn't know. He had wondered into the building and one teen who lived in the neighborhood said that he had seen him wondering around here and there for a few days. I kept thinking about him all during class, and told my instructor, Barb about him, and hoped that she could see him too. When class ended, I rushed to the desk to ask about him, and he was still with the staff in the lobby. Barb got to see him and scratch his belly, as he rolled over for love. I was convinced that whomever his parents were, they would grieve over losing the cutest puppy I've ever seen.

I asked the staff what they planned to do with him. They planned to put up Lost Dog posters and would try to see if they could find his home. They didn't know what to do with him overnight. We had three dogs at that time, so I offered to take him home for the night and take him to my Vet the next day to check for a chip. They agreed. I loaded him into the back seat of the SUV, and then called my husband to let him know about the surprise. "Guess what?" "What?" "Guess what I have?" "A dog." "How did you know?" "I know you!"

Jake was welcomed and fit right in with all of our three dogs immediately. He acted like he had always lived in our house. When Darrell came home, Jake greeted him at the door with the other dogs, as though he was always ours. That first night, we had him on our bed between us, and he slept like an angel, like he was always ours and belonged there. Of course, we fell in love with him.

The next day, I took him to the Vet. They checked, and he did have a chip. The Tech called the chip company to learn more. We found out that he had come from Oregon, and was registered there with the name Garth. They then put the Tech in touch with the woman who registered the chip. She worked for a Vet in Oregon. The Tech relayed their conversation. He had come from a puppy mill. He was a rescue, and the only survivor of his litter, as all had Parvo virus. He was a 100% AKC registered American Eskimo. The Vet she worked for nursed him to health, she adopted him and gave him to her sister, who lived in Saratoga. Her sister was going through hard personal times, had cats and was impatient with having a puppy. He was only six months old, and she put him out into the streets. I relayed that we wanted him. She said that if her sister did not respond within three days, he was our dog. Three days passed, and we even tried to call her, but no response. She didn't want him, which to me, was crazy. But it was our lucky day. We changed his ownership to us and renamed him, Jake, which suited him perfectly.

Jake was our angel dog. We always said to each other, "Where did he come from?" He brought so much joy, energy, fun, love and light to our lives, each and every day. He was a live wire, always playing, barking, wanting to give and receive love. He was my guardian angel. Whenever he went outside or we went anyplace, he would run into the house and look everywhere until he found me. He would not go to sleep until I did. He came to check on me numerous times every day or laid near wherever I was to watch over me. We had such a special connection. I had special songs that I sang to him, "How much is that doggy in the window?" and one that I made up, "You can keep the prettiest puppy that you ever did see." He would lay in my arms and I would sing him his songs. He loved stuffed animal toys and treats, digging holes, guarding his home, and barking at anything he felt like. We had 11 1/2 years of pure love and joy.

In September, 2018, we moved from Jake's original home in West San Jose, to Carlsbad, CA. We feel like we live in paradise here, and the dogs love it. Jake has had a glorious 11 months here. We noticed that he had been failing, but we did not realize how serious it was. Over the course of the past 4 weeks, he fell very ill and even with excellent Vet care, there was nothing that we could do to keep him here with us. Exactly one week ago, he passed away peacefully in his sleep. I knew he was leaving us that day, and stayed up until 2:30 a.m., singing him his songs, telling him his story, and telling him to let go, Woke at 5:15 a.m. and he was gone. We cried our tears and are still grieving. The Vet Tech came and took him for cremation. We have his paw print as another memory, along with those of our other babies we've lost. The music that his life brought us has stopped, and we go on alone without him. The World became lonelier last Wednesday when we lost another piece of our hearts.