An Upside Down World for Jake

In my experience I have found that people give up their pets for the most trivial of reasons.  I have also found that they give them up because they feel they have no other choice.  Financial hardship, working two jobs, Jake alone for about 15 hours a day, and a daughter requiring medical care all contributed to the reasons why Jake's former owner felt like she couldn't keep him.  She had asked everyone she knew if they could take Jake and as a last resort, contacted our county animal shelter.  They were honest with her, and told her that because Jake is 13 years old, he probably would not be adopted and would be euthanized.  They provided her with the rescues number and she contacted them.

This brought me into the picture on Wednesday when I was asked by the rescue if we had room for him.  The owner was getting ready to go out of town, so a quick decision had to be made.  Where Jake lived was practically around the corner from my office, so using that flimsy reason to justify taking him in, I agreed and picked him up after work.  I felt very sad for the owner and we both cried as she said good-bye to him.  I didn't tell her that I was the one who would be caring for Jake, but I did promise to let her know how he was doing.

~Jake's paw~ 

As I mentioned on Thursday, Jake is not the most handsome of Goldens and his care has been neglected.  He is tall, lanky and thin.  His nails are really long and curled under, looking more like talons than nails.  Added to that, there is a problem with his feet and he walks on his wrists. He has a very thin coat and his skin is visible in places including on his tail.  There is also a large cyst over his eye.  

~The trouble maker~

Meeting our crew did not go as smoothly as it has in the past.  For some reason Todd had an issue with Jake. He meets new dogs practically each time he goes to day care, and I can only guess that the problem started because he was crated when I picked up Jake, and couldn't meet him on equal ground.  The 'hostility' from Todd continued even after he was let out of the crate, fed his dinner, and played with.  Of course all of this upset the entire household, making it chaotic and very stressful for everyone.  I finally made Todd a 'Kong' and put him to bed.

Even with Todd out of the picture, Jake continued to be a nervous wreck.  His entire 13 years of life had been turned upside down.  He paced, panted and had several accidents.  Jake had always lived as an only dog, walking on wood floors and not being allowed in the kitchen and never having to do steps.  Our house is full of area rugs, dogs and he has to walk through the kitchen to get outside and down two steps.  You can see why he was so upset and confused about what was happening to him.

~Jake~

Worn out and tired, we all went to bed.  I'm not sure where Jake slept that first night.  But the last couple of days have been better ones, and even Todd has gotten over his issue with him.  We're working on getting Jake to feel more comfortable coming into the kitchen. He's still reluctant to walk on the rugs, and learning the steps is going to take some time. But he comes to us for attention and will sit next to me and and we're seeing tail-wags more and more.  The last two nights he has slept on a blanket next to the bed--I think we're headed in the right direction.