RIP Jack

Aww...Jack.  We will miss you.

I think I'm still in denial about the past week's events.  I try to learn something new every day and most of the time, I succeed.  Wednesday, I learned what the word dysautonomia means for dogs.  I haven't talked to anyone but Nick about this, so I will share what we have gone through this week.  Jack had been at the kennel over the weekend of June 21-26 while we were in Branson.  He received his shots, while there, as well as ate a blanket, which they treated him for with laxatives.  We don't usually do this because it is pretty normal for him to destroy and eat non-edible things without any problems.  We didn't really think anything of it until he was excessively drooling a couple days after picking him up.  He threw up once or twice between Thursday last of week and over the weekend.  We attributed it to eating a blanket.  On Tuesday afternoon, he was still drooling (more than Gus does) and started throwing up a lot.  Sometimes coughing and hacking. 

Nick slept out in the living room with him that night, and on Wednesday morning Nick ended up taking Jack into the Animal Hospital at Mizzou and was there for some time with Jack before leaving while they did tests and x-rays.  When they called back to share results, they requested that we come in to discuss and that is when we learned of this disease called Dysautonomia, which is very rare, but not treatable.  I won't go into all the details, but it is pretty horrible.  Jack had developed pneumonia, among other things related to it.  Even though there are no tests to verify what he had, many of his symptoms matched.  We opted to bring Jack home with us, rather than leave him at the hospital for observation, agreeing to follow up with his normal vet the following day to check for any changes. I stayed with Jack in the living room that night, but he didn't sleep a lot.  It was unbelievable how quickly he declined from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning.  We knew before taking him in on Thursday that his quality of life was not going to improve.

I guess the good thing about this is that we had a chance to bring him home and explain things to the kids.  Some things are so hard to understand, though.  Not even a week ago, he was a perfectly healthy, happy dog.  We let him go outside and walk around the best he could Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  I took him around our pond a couple times and let him lead me where he wanted to go.  The kids gave him lots of attention and were able to say their goodbyes.  The last place Jack went to on his own at our house was a big mud puddle on the back side of our house.  He laid down right in the middle of it.  He seemed very content there and just looked out at the back yard and timber.  

When we first got Jack, he was a "birthday present" for me.  It was less than 2 months after we lost Jasmine and I was not ready for a "replacement" dog.  He was disrespectful and ran away, used Gracie as a bowling pin, and constantly wacked Owen in the face with his tail.  He chewed up blankets, pillows, backpacks, shoes, drywall, and campers (sorry Norm).  When he first came to us, he was not my ideal dog and I threatened many times to take him back.  Nick took that to heart and trained him to be a pretty good dog.  Sometimes still a little naughty, but forgivable.  As you can see in these pictures, he has been so good for our family.  We took him a lot of places with us, and when we're at home, he did everything with us, both outside and inside.  He knew his boundaries and stopped running away, and usually didn't leave my side if Nick wasn't there.  He still stole the occasional pillow or blanket, but he turned out to be the best dog, and is gone too soon.

Jack taking up space in the back of the truck.

Jack even learned to ice skate!

Jack and Gracie getting some hugs in.

Jack was so good with the horses.  Most of the time he knew when to leave them alone.  This was before Thor, though.  I think Thor had it out for Jack.

Tuckered out after a long day.

Maybe Jack can run with Bullseye again.

Final Thoughts on this...

We have lost 3 pets in the past 2 years.  This seems like a lot to me, but maybe when there are more animals in the mix, it's not that many.  Whether the animal is old or young, it really doesn't make it any easier.  We now have Tom and the four horses, and I know that Tom is at least 13 years old.  However sad it may be to lose a pet, I think the comfort and unconditional love they give to their human counterparts is amazing and worth the emotions we feel when they depart from our lives.  Chris Stapleton's song "Broken Halos" came on in my car this morning while I was driving to work. Coincidence?  I think not.  I realize that the song is about people, but our pets can be our guardian angels, as well.

Angels come down from the heavens

Just to help us on our way

Come to teach us, then they leave us

And they find some other soul to save

Seen my share of broken halos

Folded wings that used to fly

They've all gone wherever they go

Broken halos that used to shine

Broken halos that used to shine

Don't go looking for the reasons

Don't go asking Jesus why

We're not meant to know the answers

They belong to the by and by

They belong to the by and by