Jessamyne

My dog's name is Jessamyne. Jessa for short. She is an adorably beautiful Red Heeler who tests the patience of the humans that live with her but constantly charms them at the same time. Namely, me. I don't know what my life would be like without her.

Skype call with my Jessa. She loves our little conversations.

Well, I do know. I would be less poor since I wouldn't have to pay on the vet bills she incurred within the first month I owned her. She is just sooo accident-prone!

 I would find myself paying less on gas for my car, since I wouldn't feel the need to go to Salt Lake to visit as often, since she lives there with my parents as I am stuck in a non-pet-friendly apartment.And mom and dad, I mean no offense in suggesting that I want to see her more than you, but you know how it is, right? Right?

There would certainly be less dog hair on my clothes. Dog hair is incessant! It NEVER goes away, even when I am here in Logan with no contact with any dogs whatsoever. It travels. 

There would be several pieces of clothing I and my family members would still have. She loves to chew on things and/ or drag them outside to bury like pirate's treasure. There is a reason I dressed her as a Pirate for Halloween. My favorite story I tell of this is the time I came home from work and found that her latest 'treasure' was my very own teddy bear. 

Red-handed Jessa

I returned home to my Grandma's house, where Jessa and I were staying. She came running outside, crashing through the dog door as usual. Her way of welcoming me home is to practically bowl me over . She is usually not satisfied until I give her at least 5 minutes of attention, or a treat. Now that I can only come home on weekends, and usually only every other weekend at best, she is especially enthusiastic in welcoming me home, but I certainly don't complain. 

But I digress. Back to the story at hand. I walked inside the gate to the back yard, saying my usual hellos to Jessa and Mack, my Grandma's dog. For some reason I glanced to my right and noticed something on the outside table that should not have been there. Yep, you guessed it, my teddy bear. Immediately, it clicked. When Jessa saw my face, she bolted. I must have a "oh you're in so much trouble!" face because she usually knows exactly when to flee out of my path of fury.

I grabbed the bear and inspected it for the telltale signs of Jessa's misdemeanor. Sure enough, I found the bear all covered in dirt, head to toe. I immediately headed inside and found little miss Jessa cowering underneath the table. When I took a step further she sprinted towards the kennel. She sure knows exactly when she is in trouble, without even a word from me. My Grandma then came walking out of the bedroom. When she saw me standing there, holding the bear and reprimanding Jessa, she said "Oh you weren't supposed to find that!"

Apparently, she had found my Teddy Bear buried waist deep in the dirt, in the corner by the house. And I mean literally waist deep. According to my Grandma, the bear was actually sitting int he corner of the flower bed as if a six year old girl placed it there for a tea party or something. And Jessa had pushed the dirt on top of its legs so it was half buried. It was wild. 

I was furious with her, as that Teddy Bear has always been important to me. But with her cute little face poking out at me from the kennel, and the hilariousness of the story, I just couldn't resist the smile that stole across my face.  She is just too cute... :)

Australian Cattle Dog's are known for being alert. This is her alert 

Now, for those who may not know, a Red Heeler's more official name is Australian Cattle Dog. They were originally bred by Australian George Elliott around 1840. They were bred by crossing Dingoes with Collies and other herding dogs, and because of their alert, clever, and hardworking personalities, they have always made great cattle herding dogs. They always need a job to do, and they are easily bored if they don't have one. This accounts for much of Jessa's mischievous misdoings. 

I got Jessa's name from one of my all-time favorite books, Midnight Whispers by Carol Warburton. It is a little-known book about a young woman, about my own age, who moves from England to Australia in the 1800's. It's a great book all about adventure and romance. I have read it an indeterminate amount of times and it is one of my top 10. It is ironic then, that my little Australian Cattle dog's name comes from this character who finds romance and a home in Australia, around the exact same time that these dogs were being bred. I swear I didn't even make that connection until tonight while writing this. The character, Jessamyne is also known for being very beautiful, and I for one think that my Jessa is the most beautiful dog ever. 

She has made my life so much better and I wouldn't change the decision to adopt her for anything in the world. I remember the day I first adopted her. Mom and I went to a pet adoption fair at a Petsmart. Dad had found an ad online for Jessa, whose name back then was Adena (ew), and had inquired about her. CAWs, the pet rescue group who had her, told him that Adena would be at this event and I was immediately interested. I think I even called dibs. :) Mom and I walked into the the event and I scanned the kennels to find this beautiful little puppy. Within seconds I zeroed in on her at the end of a row of kennels. I was surprised but relieved to find that she was not surrounded by any would-be-adopters. I hurried up to her kennel and said my hellos, letting her sniff my fingers. One of the volunteers came up after noticing my interest and offered to let us take her out and to the tent to let Adena run around and get to know us a little. 

I was severely discouraged when Jessa showed very little interest in me once inside the tent and she was off the leash. But I knew that it was the environment that had her worked up and anxious. When I had to take her back to her kennel, she just looked up at me with the most adorable, heartrendingly pleading face as if to say "please take me home??"

"Take me home?"

I was a goner after that. 

Gone Too Soon

Dogs are a special breed of friend. We all know they are loyal and give you unconditional love. But they are more than that. They are confidantes and a complete support system. They make you laugh and cry and everything in between. They have the capacity to be your best friend and a real kindred spirit.

Tragically however, a dog's life span is dramatically shorter than our own. Even more tragically, they are often much shorter than that due to illness or other sad circumstances. Most of us know this all too well.

I certainly do. I have seen my share of beloved pets come and go. A few were taken far too soon. One was taken just hours before I write this. When they are taken like that, it cuts to the very core of our hearts because it is as if a piece of our soul is taken. Because essentially, that is what they are. Pets, and especially dogs, live within our hearts and we love them more than life itself.

Max, a very handsome Border Collie, was our family pet for several years. He was everything a family dog should be. He loved us all, even when we got angry at each other. He followed dad around like a puppy, always at his heels. He was a comfort and a friend. At about age 10, Max got sick. He was diagnosed with an enlarged heart. It is somewhat ironic that that is what it was, since he loved us all so much, and we loved him too. In the end, he had trouble breathing to the point where he couldn't lie down and sleep. We had to say goodbye that night, and there was not a dry eye in the house. We all knew no other dog could ever fill the void left by this amazing dog, and none has. Max was only 10 years old and gone too soon.

Jack came into my life as a rescue of sorts. His original owner used to kick him around and he was neglected to the point of dirt and grime all over his body. He was just a little happy-go-lucky puppy and didn't deserve that. When he came to me, I quickly fell in love. He was my buddy and brought great joy and laughter. He was so sweet that you could tell he had nothing but love for every member of the family. Sadly, as he got older, he started to demonstrate some aggressiveness. He felt distrust towards people he did not know, and he thought himself an Alpha towards other dogs. My mom and I spent many hours trying to teach him right, to correct this behavior. We came to the conclusion that this behavior was created somewhat from the treatment he suffered as a puppy. Finally, we decided that this behavior was just too ingrained in him, that it was just a part of him that we could not correct. For the safety of both strangers and loved ones, and our poor other dogs, we decided it would be best to let him go. I still regret the decision I made. I wonder if there was something I did not try, if he did perhaps have the potential to be well-behaved. I watched that day when the life left my best buddy, when his eyes closed in sleep for the last time. My best friend who lived barely three years was gone too soon.

Arrow is the freshest sorrow. He was the most loyal of the Dazzle Dogzz who loved to visit with people and people loved to visit with him. He was a sweetheart if ever I saw one. He was the ultimate comfort to his person and to anybody who met him. Arrow could do his tricks beautifully and could always impress. In the last month or so, he started to get sick and nobody knew why. Finally we figured out he had an enlarged esophagus. His quality of life was not good, and the poor guy had barely enough strength to even say hello on the last night I saw him. The day before though, he did come outside to greet me as is his usual behavior. I will always cherish the memory of his happy attitude, every time he had visitors He was a social butterfly and a handsome boy. Everybody loved him so much and that is why he was gone too soon.

Our hearts break when those we love leave us, and dogs are no exception. In fact, they are the rule. Max, Jack, and Arrow, we loved you so much, even if our time with you was much too short.



In memory of every pet who had to leave too soon.