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Jack's Journey | |
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Jack's Journey I am writing this to you on this beautiful Sunday with tears streaming down my face. Jack is laying quietly by my side. I can only pray he will be here for a lot longer. He had his implant, (what did he have implanted?) and a tumor removed from his leg Tuesday. Hopefully the Cephalexin is working to kill the infection that has invaded his bone. Jack has brought so much fun, joy and love into my life. Id like to start off by telling you a little about Jack. I first found out about Jack when a friend called to tell me about a super, high drive, 8-month-old, male Rottweiler he just took into his kennel. My friend trains dogs for police departments, schutzhund and personal protection. He knew Jack was not suitable for one of these roles. Jack needed a good home, but I had to wait to see him until my friend put some weight on Jack. One week later, I met Atlas von der Graf. Here was this adorable, fun-loving, ball-driven, happy-to-be-alive dog. Needing some weight was an understatement; he was only 48 lbs. Needless to say, I took Jack home. Georgia was in love with Jack from the minute she saw him. After Jack got some weight on him, he blossomed into the most beautiful, athletic Rottweiler dog dreams are made of. Jack is small, only 75 lbs, but I dont need a large Rottweiler; he is perfect. He had the cut and definition of a body builder; he was amazing to see. Jacks days were filled with swimming, runs in the park, tracking and playing ball. He was capable of doing anything but be a guard dog. We always had a crisis walking back from the creek: We would pass the tennis courts. Jack would find all the balls that went over the fence and collect them in a pile because he couldnt fit them all in his mouth, and just lay there with all the balls he found. Id have to throw a ball in the direction we were going to get him back to the truck. Because of his love for balls we discovered flyball. After calling around to a few clubs, Garden State Barkway, was the only one in my area willing to give an 18-month-old Rottweiler a chance. They loved Jack. All Jack wanted in life was a tennis ball. We did have to put some working into catching him; it was a team effort at the tournaments. We had to have Jack run back to a bucket of balls. Jack got his FDX Flyball Excellent Dog title at his first tournament. I was so proud of him; he did so well. The beginning of September 2003 was a great month for Jack, he got his FDX and passed his Tracking Certification. He was awesome at the certification. I only tracked him about 10 times, but I know that whatever I asked this dog to do, he could do it. So we went for it. Pass, fail, it didnt matter. Jack loved to track as much as flyball & I loved Jack. The end of September, Jack strained his back leg. He was restricted to two weeks of rest. By the end of four weeks he looked fine. November 3, 2003, Jack and Georgia got their tracking titles at the Lenape Tracking Club. Two dogs, two titles in one day! Georgia was her picture-perfect self. Jack was his overexuberant self. He never pulled me so hard down a track. Even if he was wrong, I would have never been able to stop him. He knew here he was going; there was never a doubt. He had to get the glove, because after he found it, there was a ball, too!! Two weeks after the test, Jack started limping again. So, back to rest. A week later, he was 3-legged lame. Jack was brought in to VSDS in Millstone, N.J., for an examination. He was diagnosed with a cruciate-ligament tear. |
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