Jack

With a broken heart I share this memorial. Jack was a once in a lifetime dog and we will love him forever.

He was 14 years and 4 months old. He was born on August 30, 2009 at the University of Saskatchewan the week I started vet school to his mom Que, along with littermates King, Queen, Joker, Ace and Deuce. Jack was the last of his litter to pass. In my first few weeks of veterinary school an email was sent out to students looking for “puppy socializers”. The Animal Resource Centre unexpectedly had a litter of puppies and were looking for people to come and help the puppies get used to being handled for lab exercises and training purposes. I met Jack and his siblings on a Wednesday afternoon. We had to wear lab coats and boot covers to ensure biosecurity going into the laboratory setting. These very naughty puppies would jump all over us and try to bite my hair. After a few weeks of “socializing” (an activity that was just as beneficial for my mental health), the four students who visited the most were asked to come and do obedience classes with the four puppies (sadly Ace & Deuce had died from congenital issues). I was one of the lucky four. When I arrived to the first day of puppy classes all of the “good” puppies had been claimed and I was faced with the naughtiest puppy, Jack. After many struggles with separation anxiety from his siblings, Jack ended up flourishing in obedience and learned many tricks!

Over the next 2.5 years my vet school classmate and friend, Danielle, and I would walk Jack and Joker (her “puppy”) on our lunch breaks and take them to the dog park on the weekends. There were no doubts in our minds that Jack and Joker were our dogs, despite the fact that we had to leave them behind at the end of each school year. After three years of “service”, they were ready to go home. I even signed a contract saying I wouldn’t return him as this was a “final” sale (ha!). So Jack made the drive home with me (and Tiger!) to Winnipeg from Saskatoon at the end of my third year. We spent a few weeks living with my parents and Jack managed to run away from my dad and rip up the carpet off the floor THROUGH the bars of his kennel. Needless to say, I think they were happy when we moved in with my now husband.

Jack continued to live with my husband and our other two dogs in Winnipeg while I went back to Saskatoon with Tiger for one more year. Jack, Hot Rod and Rigbee were a trio - there was maybe one tussle in their nearly 12 years together. They were best friends and brothers. Jack enjoyed running around in our backyard and he was good at playing fetch. He was very fast. He loved food - including apples off of our neighbour’s tree. He was a cuddler and loved to have his face pet and scratched. He was the easiest dog when it came to nail trims, as he would just lay on his side and let me trim them with no restraint or bribes. He seemed to enjoy car rides and exploring. He liked going to the lake in his later years. Jack was frequently the recipient of lots of licks from Hot Rod. When he was happy he would howl and prance around our house. While he could have anxious moments and was my shadow, he loved being around people and was known to lie down and rest in the middle of a big gathering.

Jack was an odd dog. I frequently referred to him as “part alien” as he just didn’t do things like normal dogs. He was medically a bit of a “lemon” and had various ailments from chronic bronchitis requiring an inhaler, to random bouts of anemia, to horrible dental disease. Behaviourally he was also strange. He did not like golden retrievers and seemed to herd them, which caused me to believe he was part border collie (more on that later). He had a ridiculous back pouf when his hackles went up around new dogs. Jack was also known for eating anything and everything. He would eat important papers off the counter, pull any food he could reach, and he even had a fondness for eating kleenex or toilet paper. A non-exhaustive list of items Jack ate in his lifetime: a whole tray of cooked chicken, the handle off of a knife, and a chocolate cake. He also chewed on full beer cans and crushed cat food tins with his teeth to eat the food inside.

He was always a bit weird around kids. I know this is because he was never around them in his first 3 year of life, and minimally so for the next 6ish. He would get visibly agitated and either “huff” at them or run away. I was really anxious about how he would do with our new baby when I was expecting our first son. I cried on the way to the hospital while in labour worrying about how the dogs would do. When we brought our first son home we let each dog come and sniff him in the car seat. Jack was instantly interested, but calm. Jack would sit with me during the late nights and even cuddled next to the baby. When baby started eating food and throwing leftovers, Jack was officially enamoured. Jack spent the next 4 years becoming best friends with my first son. Seeing their relationship has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Jack was just as doting on our second son. Although we did not get to experience the same growth of their relationship, we will always have the memories of Jack laying under the highchair patiently, or impatiently stealing off the highchair tray.

As Jack was aging it was becoming more apparent to me that our time together was finite. I knew it was important to me to be able to discover more about his history. While I knew exactly the day and location of his birth - I even knew who his parents were and what they looked like - everything else was speculation. I thought he was a husky crossed with a border collie and a pointer. He had piercing blue eyes, but he didn’t have the typical husky coat. I chose to do the Embark Dog DNA test and was very surprised with his results! The best way for me to explain it is to share their wording exactly: “Village dogs, like the Alaskan-type Husky, descend from distinct lineages that are separate from modern breeds, like the Labrador or the Poodle. Genetically, village dogs are different from breed dogs. So, his actual breed is Alaskan-type Husky. His ancestors were likely also from the same population of village dogs.” So in a way I was right. He WAS different from “normal” dogs. He was 100% a village dog. The additional information on his genetics and traits were very interesting.

We were so fortunate to have many good months with Jack in 2023. I attribute this to the amazing developments in veterinary therapeutics. We were able to keep him comfortable and happy with various medications and treatments. When these were no longer working and his enjoyment of life declined, we knew it was time to euthanize him. This was the both the easiest AND hardest decision of my life. I wrote more about my experience as a healing exercise.

Jack’s death was at home, surrounded by people and animals who loved him. It was peaceful.

I am so thankful for him and his companionship. His kids miss him. Life will not be the same.