Jackie the Beagle

Jackie came to live with us permanently six or seven years ago. He was the adored dog/child of my son Eric and his wife, Annie. Jackie was adopted from the Louisville Animal Shelter in Kentucky where Eric and Annie settled. They obtained Jackie to celebrate their engagement and the trio was ecstatically happy. Jackie's favorite pastime was playing with his male person and waiting for the mailman. He was very well trained and would sit just outside the kitchen door while the family was eating. I once observed him taking a piece of his kibble to his designated waiting place so he could feel like he was part of the family meal. Once when I was visiting Jackie took a lick of my coffee while I was lying in bed and went into convulsions. Eric, Annie and I rushed him to the animal hospital where large amounts of sedative could not prevent him from shaking. Everyone was horribly upset, including the vet, who sent him on to a specialist. Jackie recovered and he continued to be the adored darling of the family. There was some stress, however, when Jackie developed some spoiled child habits, like jumping up and removing all the magnets and messages from the refrigerator, raiding the cat box, and spreading any garbage carelessly left in the can all over the house. The human people were NOT AMUSED and would periodically ask the human grandmother person if Jackie could come and live with her. A calm would settle over the house and Jackie was once again loved and adored. Then a terrible thing happened to Jackie. His life would be forever changed by the birth of Hannah Margaret, his human sister person. Somehow there was no room for Jackie in the new family. They travelled east to visit the human grandmother person and her new husband, who observed Jackie's bed and dish being unloaded with the family's luggage. Jackie had a new home! It was tough going at first. Jackie was missing his family something awful. He would bite himself and trot back and forth under the bed all night. They tried everything, toys, walks to the creek, rides in the car, nothing worked. Jackie wanted his home back. But that was not to be. Gradually, Jackie settled in with his new family of two humans and a few dog, cat and rabbit friends. Jackie ate too much, perhaps because of his inner unhappiness, and grew very fat. At the present stage of his life, Jackie suffering from some structural problems and has to be assisted up stairs. The male human person and Jackie are best friends. He is a loyal, sturdy, and faithful friend to the humans, and has a lovely farm to roam when he is having a good day and feeling up to it. It was very difficult for Jackie when he first moved to the farm with his family. He was afraid of being abandoned again and followed the grandmother person everywhere she went, no matter how it hurt him to walk. The humans fear Jackie is not long for this world and hope they have made up for some of the unhappiness he has felt over the years. He is a treasured friend and will be sorely missed.