“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard?”

Winnie The Pooh

Baby Jake  October 9, 2001 to September 1, 2015

 Dedicated to my sweet husband Jon Paul

It seems as though Jake was always with us.

His full name was Jacob Ann, after my middle name.  We also gave him the middle name of Josephine after his paternal grandma.  We often called him “Baby Jake” because he was Winnie’s little brother, one litter (9 months) apart.

I was there when his litter was born.  We were given the first pick and God smiled on our family when my husband chose Jake.

Winnie, his brother, was the last pick of his litter.  The breeders called him “little Napoleon.”  He was the runt, but he ruled the roost.  He was Mister Personality.

Jake was gentle and mellow and, at the same time, manly.  By all accounts, he was perfection.

Winnie would lick your face off, if you let him.  Jake would barely stick his tongue out and hardly make contact.

When we gave Winnie a treat, he would take your hand with it.  When we gave Jake a treat, he would gently take a tiny nibble.

Winnie was everybody’s friend, he would have led a crook to the loot, if he’d had an opportunity.  Jake was sophisticated and discerning.

When the boys weren’t glued to each other’s sides, Winnie preferred to be indoors with the peeps.  Jake needed his fill of nature.  We sometimes called him “Nature Boy” and referred to the plants he liked to lie on as the “Jungle”.  We would say, “Jake’s in the jungle right now.”

When Winnie was 8, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and eventually succumbed, after a long valiant battle.  Jake never fully recovered from the loss of his brother, his best friend; partner in all things precocious, adventuresome and naughty.

We adopted a little sister named Mamba, a cuddle muffin Affenpinscher, a year before Winnie died.  If Winnie was Mister Personality and Jake was debonair, Mamba is a rascal.  She is an intelligent, cozy, tender, cuddly, playful, precious tyrant!  She can coo one moment and snarl the next.

When Jake was a few weeks old, I broke my arm in a horse back riding accident and wasn’t ready to care for him once he was weaned from his mother, but I wanted to socialize him and introduce him to his new home.

This was the first time he came to our house.

This is the day Jake finally moved in.  Look at Winnie welcoming him home!  

 Bosom buddies

Our friend Pam used to call Jake “Movie Star”.  He had no idea how gorgeous he was.  If it is possible for a dog to be humble, he was.

Our family portrait

Jake and Winnie were Famous in the Neighborhood because of their Dramatic Antics in the Window at Passersby

They would first bark at the passersby and then begin barking at each other, then they would attack each other.  As if to say, to the outsiders, “this is what we’ll do to you!”

Bonding With the Boys

Our first Christmas without WinnieThey look posed, but this was a candid photo.  Mamba loved to be near Jake.

A good ear scratch and a view of boaters on Lake Chelan, his happy place

Regal until the end

I can’t quite wrap my head around your not being here.  It’s quiet without you and the house feels empty.  Mamba is still looking for you.  The yard feels different now, too.  I haven’t vacuumed the last remnants of your hair or washed the sheet you used to lay on while you luxuriated on the sofa.  I suppose, I’m not fully ready to say…

Good bye beautiful boy, you were perfection.