Sunday, April 29, 2007

Jack

 ,

Last summer, a puppy suddenly appeared on the Porch.

I watched his furry pot-bellied swagger and remembered what it was like to sniff that little puppy smell.

It had been a long time.

We have never gone purposely to get a dog.

They find us.

I saw him several days in a row.

He had a collar and never had that pitiful desperate look of a stray.

Our treasured dog had died a year ago and the pain was still fresh.

For about a week he hung out by our yard.

I wouldn't touch him, but I fed him.

Finally , he looked up, our eyes met and I was a goner.

I opened the door and said, "you might as well come on in"

It was a rocky ride for awhile.

He was so big and such a young puppy.

He ate everyone's shoes, sometimes while they were still on our feet!

When he had puppy accidents, it was a gallon of puppy pee!

He knocked the neighborhood kids down and they wouldn;t play in the yard.

With lots of love and patience, he learned to quit biting us (it's not hard being our dog, our standards arent' real high!)

He has boundless good cheer, never once had he snarled or cried.

It makes me smile just to see him.

He gets so excited he rolls on his back and kicks his feet inthe air!

I was hoping since he is so big, he would be a guard dog like the dear departed ,but the other day when firefighters came to empy the fire hydrnat in the yard, I had to go get him because he was rolling all over them, licking them....a giant red truck with flashing lights, four burly men in his yard...not a bark!

Oh, well,

He is a great compainion, rides with me everywhere.

When he sits in the passenger seat, he is as tall as me. I steer with one hand and put the other one around him and every now and then, he reaches over to kiss me...Tom says I have a boyfriend!

Picture with no caption    Picture with no caption

In reading back over my journal, I revisited the day our beloved dog ,big protective growly Butterfly , left us.

 

It was a year to the day later that Jack showed up on The Porch.

I guess it was time.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds lovely.  I don't think our guinea pig can compare.  De ;)

Anonymous said...

WONDERFUL!!!    i'm sooo happy you invited him in   he's a beauty   about the size of one of my dogs   and my dogs would lick the strangers to death too    are pets wonderful!   hugz~kbear

Anonymous said...

I am glad you found him, I can see by the look in his eye he is some character and well loved!
Wonderful story.

Anonymous said...

Obviously... it was time and the fates conspired to bring that boy to you!  Give Jack a big hug and belly rub for me!!!!  I loved all the pics!!!!  Libby does the same crazy thing on her back!!!  lol

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

Oh, Marti, he's just a big beautiful puppy. So glad you all found each other. I've read several journal entries about pets this week... must be pet awareness, or save-a-pet week. Every day should be as such. They are so easy to fall in love with, but I never understood how people can fall out of love with their pets, and abandon them. Did you read Indigo's entry about pets? Here's her link:

http://journals.aol.com/rdautumnsage/ravens-lament/entries/2007/04/28/what-hurts-the-most/667

I enjoyed meeting your big, loveable, friendly Jack. He'd like my Max and Misty, I'm sure. Bea

http://journals.aol.com/bgilmore725/Wanderer/entries/2007/04/28/the-dog-who-adopted-me/1868

Anonymous said...

    Funny how easily they find us when we least expect to fall in love again. I swear the bigger they get, too, the siller they are. Sheeba bounces around like a fool when someone comes to the door, and then lays on her back and whimpers once they come in. Your Jack is cute, too.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

"Sniff that little puppy smell", I think there are specialist sites for that kind of thing!
http://journals.aol.co.uk/acoward15/andy-the-bastard

Anonymous said...

I came by to thank you for visiting my journal only to end up getting a smile from yours!! It's amazing how they seem to know we're safe and love is coming from within our homes. My dog Pickles is part blk lab, part husky shy but lovable as can be. She's also my hearing dog. Pickles is the only one that I ever went in search for and in reality I guess she did find me, since the agency said her personality was perfect for me and it was. She is also a Katrina dog. Another small note on the entry on Shadow, strange as it may seem since I wrote that post yesterday. She showed up this morning with a small bundle of a grey tiger kitten at her heels. It seems one of her kittens did survive after all and she brought it by to let me know.
(Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

What an AWESOME hound!!  I have a weakness for animals of all kinds (except birds, never again!!) which is why my house if full of hair and the air-freshener aresenal is fully stocked.  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Russ

Anonymous said...

That is so cool! Sometimes the best things just happen!
Kelli
http://journals.aol.com/kamdghwmw/noonmom

Anonymous said...

Dogs are the best!  I have two who have picked us out.  I have one on each side of me at the moment.  The worst part?  One of them just pooted!  Whew it stinks!
Traci

Anonymous said...

he is so cute, My dog is so spoiled he wouldn't know what to do if he had to try and protect us. LOL.

Anonymous said...

What a face - And a personality that only a Butterfly could see!  I'm glad you started a new begining!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I had to visit your Porch after the nice comments you left about my poems.
Love the dog, he looks like he is full of personality.  You mentioned the Gulf, I live in Pinellas Park, near St. Pete.  At first, when I saw your name Sunnyside I thought maybe you came from Queens too. My hubby is from Sunnyside.  I like you journal and am putting you on my alert thingy...take care...Sandi

Anonymous said...

Dear Marti
this entrya bout your dog is soo sweet! and that's Caitlin in there right?:) so cute! love you,natalie

Anonymous said...

He looks like a definite "keeper" to me. What a face! LOL
Call me crazy, but I think animals sometimes come to us for a reason.

Vicki

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful story. An Angel Dog!