Jaq's Journal

 

An Ode to Balls by Jaq

Balls are round, some are squeaky

When I see that ball my knees go weaky

Balls are bouncy, balls are fun

Throw the ball and watch me run....

THROW THE BALL! Throw it, throw it, no seriously, throw the ball, why won't you throw the ball, oh please oh please, bally bally bally bally.......

Hi folks, Nugget here, it seems Jaq has gotten himself a bit distracted again. Anywho, this is Jaq's little place where he will most likely not update anything because the balls in the background distract him too much, but I will post some notes for him when I can. I live in fear that he will mistake me for a ball someday, but that is another story. His name is pronounced "Jack" and comes from Mom liking to pair the names up (like Ricky and Lucy). Mom's parents have a sheppard named Gus and in looking for a pairing with that they came across the mice from Cinderella, Gus and Jaq. Jaq is mom and dad's third dog, purely chronologically speaking since everyone knows I'm number one. Right after they found their new house and were preparing to move they went to the PetSmart to get some things and the rescue people had some dogs running around. One of them was a german sheppard. Mom's family has always had german sheppards and she really likes them so she was playing with the dog and they started talking about how much bigger the new house was and the nice yard. Then the lady mentioned that this dog had come in with another dog and they wanted to keep them together. Well, dad was not ready to take on 2 more all at once so that was that (good thing too, it left room for me) Then the lady mentions there is another sheppard at the shelter that they should really see because it was such a good dog. So dad went there the next day without mom who can be easily swayed. As he tells it, he walked into the kennel area where everyone was barking and carrying on to get his attention, but as he came to Jaq's cage he sat there silently and attentively waiting for dad. So dad took him into the play yard where he played but was always on good behavior. He would sit and stay when told to do so. Dad was very impressed by this and started the paperwork to bring Jaq home. Jaq was ready to come home just as mom and dad got the new house. In fact for the first week while dad was there repainting (they hadn't moved in yet) Jaq was there to keep him company. Over time dad would try other commands with Jaq and it seemed he knew how to sit, stay, heel, shake, speak, rollover and lay down. Very smart indeed. He was with them for almost a year when suddenly his behavior shifted dramatically. He was tearing apart the trashcan and getting into cabinets. His housebreaking was not sticking and he was making messes all over the place. Eventually mom and dad decided the change was too dramatic to be just behavioral, the final straw was when another friend was visiting and said Jaq looked thin, sometimes you don't see these things right under your nose because they happen gradually over time. At the vet's he was found to be down to 75 lbs (previously 98 lbs) and eventual testing and bloodwork showed he had Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). This means his pancrease didn't produce enzymes to let him digest his food. He was eating and eating and it went straight through. He was starving to death with a full stomach. Since then mom and dad have been adding suppliments (Pancreatin 6x) to his food and he is back up to 105 lbs and doing fine. He is a large dog but extremely gentle. Dad likes to tell the story of the time Jaq was with him visiting friends and they were feeding him treats and his friends 2 year old wanted to give the doggie a treat so she held it out flat in her hand to him and he turned his head away. He would take treats from anyone else but he would not take food away from a child. Jaq is about 7 years old now and as far as huge monstrous siblings for me go, I guess he's pretty cool.