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Jackstraw
1994 ~ 2008
(Digital images / Mental memories)
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Links | Previous Blog Posts | Pictures
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Hollywood Pet Hospital | Jack the yard dog is struggling now | Another Jack Slideshow
Adopt a Puppy at Oregon Humane Society | A collared dog is not a happy dog |

Jack the Dog's formal name is Jackstraw. Derived from the song by the same name, from "The Grateful Dead". Yet, those who knew him and loved him, simply called him Jack. It was not hard to know and love him since all he expected of people was for you to pet him, and for him to see what interesting pet smells you may have brought to him. Not prone to barking, jumping of actions of confrontation, he was a dog that simply wanted love, attention and loyalty. Honey adopted Jack from the "pound" late in 1994. At that time he was a nameless puppy of about 10 months, picked up wandering the streets of Portland. She took him in, named him, fed him, housed him, trained him and loved him. Without any real papers, his age was never really known for certain, but we are settling on the fact that he lived the good life for nearly 14 years, which is pretty remarkable for a large dog of his type. Jack was many things. Honey describes him as a "pack animal", but what that really means was "socially dependent". He just wanted to be around people. If we were in the living room, he would find a place to get comfortable and watch. When we went into the kitchen, he sprang to his feet to follow, in hopes that you might be doing something fun like going outside, or better yet, you might drop something on the floor that he could eat. Jack the border patrol dog, adopting his daily routine of patrolling the perimeter of the fence, with a very specific route. Checking for signs of intrusion, and marking all the spots that may have been compromised since his last check the day before. He was uncompromising in his route, so much so that all new plantings had to be planted far enough from the fence to permit his travel behind them, lest he wears his path directly through and over them. Jack the yard protector dog, also guarded against squirrel intrusion. Well, really he just chased them off the yard and back up the trees, where they noisily taunted and chided him as he keenly watched for their hasty retreat. Jack the housedog, could not really be described as a hunter. His ability to survive in the wild to chase down dinner on his own was always a question. It is for that reason that the squirrels of the yard were rarely in danger, a fact the squirrels eventually realized own their own. Jack himself became to accept that fact as well, often warily watching the wildlife roaming the yard and conceding that at times, it was ok if they both share the space. Jack was a bit "culturally diverse". Describing his heritage was always a bit tough. We had no information on his lineage but more to the point, he just didn’t fit exactly in to one mold. We always described him as a German Sheppard due to his relative size and coloring. But he was a much softer and gentler dog to be linked with that type of Sheppard. He had these soft floppy ears that would bounce with each step he took. Big dark brown eyes that were alternately filled with peace, or with a curious excitement. Jack once had a bit of surgery done on his tail. This forced him to wear "The Collar". He was not a happy dog, but it was sadly comical watching him clumsily perform his daily dog life. On the plus side, his hearing temporarily improved, at least when he was looking directly at you. He did all the dog things really well. He got excited and ran in circles when we got home, he sadly waited by the door when we left. His doggie life was full of hanging around the house, sleeping, smelling, chasing, and eating stuff. And on those occasional walks, he did most of those same things, which meant his walks were rarely direct and efficient, rather meandering, interesting and full of starts and stops. Jack the puppy man was starting to show his age of late. He struggled with laryngeal paralysis, where his breathing tube began to shut down. He got through that surgery, yet it was after this that his activities began to slow. Early December of 2008 his health worsened. The decline was sudden and rapid and surprising as we had been so pleased with his health of late. Even though we all prayed and battled hard for his life where we struggled to determine causes and solutions, we lost that fight, and we lost our dog. Jack the family dog will be missed.