Jake

This is the love of my life Jake.  I truly think that he may be my soul mate (next to my husband - sorry dear!). Jake does not come from a glorious background of proven working dogs imported from some far away land, though he is a purebred German Shepherd.  He comes from a sad story of abandonment and abuse that landed him in the city shelter month after month.

This is Jake's story.

In the fall of 2001 I was on the search for a performance dog.  I was actually looking for a border collie.  I was not in a position at the time in my life to take on the monstrous responsibilities of a puppy and there were no available adolescent or young adult dogs from a breeder that didn't live halfway across the continent.  So, the next logical search was rescue. I was looking for something very particular in temperament and background and I knew I would find it if I waited long enough.  For months I frequented the SPCA's and all of the shelters and rescues on Vancouver Island, and never found just what I was looking for. I decided to give it a rest for the Christmas season as life is to hectic during that time to be bringing home a dog.  In the New Year (2002) I resumed my search, and there she was!  A seven month old border collie who was surrendered by her family who could not keep up with her typical border collie needs.  I wanted a dog that didn't have a lot of baggage to work on and she would have been perfect.  Now here is the twist to the story.  I absolutely cannot remember what made me look away from the dog that I had been searching months for but that's what I did.  I looked into the next kennel and there sat this handsome 2 1/2 year old German Shepherd boy with a goofy, broken ear.  There was nothing particularly endearing about him.  He didn't really even care that I was standing there. So, why did I decide to take him for a walk?? On our walk Jake pulled on the leash and sniffed at and peed on everything that he saw.  He wasn't horribly mannered, he was just happy to get out.  But as happy as he was he could have cared less that I was the one on the other end of the leash.  In true GSD fashion, he was aloof. I took him back to the shelter and started asking questions.

Jake had been called in as a "stray" in someone's backyard. The shelter staff did a search on his tattoo, and traced it back to the people who called him in as a stray.  Huh?!?  It turned out that the people that called Jake in as a stray had actually moved from the BC interior to Nanaimo and couldn't keep Jake at the new house so they had given him to some friends. The friends were physically abusing him and neglecting him.  One day Jake jumped the 8 foot fence and ran away back to his "home".  The original owner couldn't keep Jake but didn't want to see him to go back to the abuse so they phoned the city and told them they had a stray, knowing the friends would not pay the fees to get Jake back.  So, there he sat with the label of "runner" for months and months. In the end I adopted the most fantastic dog on the planet.  Jake and I have a bond that no one could break apart.  There is nothing that I wouldn't do for this dog, I'd give my right eye and my left kidney for him.  He is such a joy; so loyal and intelligent and strong, yet so gentle and soft.  He is the reason I will never own any other breed. The abuse that Jake suffered did have an impact on him, but he has such a fine temperament that the damage that could have been so much worse, was minimal.  Jake is a great obedience dog, but in the end, he just doesn't have what it takes to be a Schutzhund dog, though he still does try, he will never earn a title, and there is nothing wrong with that.

I lost my handsome boy very suddenly on October 30th, 2009

I Love You Jakey Bear.  My heart and soul are yours forever.