Jak lived in my family since the day he turned 3 months old, 13 years, 6 months and one day. He would have been 14 years old on June 16, 2016.
I groomed him that day and right in the middle of the haircut which I admit, both of us always hated to do, he just collapsed because his little legs got so tired. That's when I knew that he would not make it to his 14th birthday.
Back in Russia in 1983-1986 I worked in the biggest library in Perm area in the department of foreign languages and one day I came across a beautifully illustrated book about different pure breeds of dogs. That's when I saw a picture of a Miniature Schnauzer for the first time in my life, and it was love at the first sight.
The father of my children and I had trouble conceiving and wanted children so very much. It was nerve wracking and in October 1986 we agreed that if the next month we were not pregnant, we would get a Miniature Schnauzer puppy. We got pregnant, did not have time and energy for a puppy and now I have two wonderful young people for children.
When after moving to US in 2000 we were 'discovering' the country, and moved for jobs to Alpharetta, we paid a visit to a Petland store where they let people play with puppies in little rooms. Excellent marketing tactic. That's where we saw this little male Mini Schnauzer who all 3 of us started playing with right away. We decided to call him Jack. My husband at the time asked me 'do you want him?' Without a second of delay I said 'YES' - what kind of question that is anyway? That was September 16, 2002 and our new puppy went home with us that evening. Later we found out that his father's name was Jak (abbreviation for Just Another Kirkland - the breeder's family name was Kirkland), and decided to register our puppy with that same spelling.
So now you see how special was my Jak - I waited for him 16 years. He was such a good dog! He loved riding in the car and traveled with us to New Orleans, North Myrtle Beach, Chapel Hill, Englewood, FL.
Always waited for me to come home and met me with excitement and a stuffed toy in his mouth ready to play with me. When he was much younger that is. But even a couple of days ago I saw him do the same thing even though he was moving slowly and looked very disoriented being so old, weak and miserable.
He could not clime stairs since September and I carried him upstairs for the night. He moved less and less and stayed in his bed longer and longer.
About five weeks ago when I came home form work I found him completely helpless in his bed, his breathing was shallow and labored. I thought I would lose him that night, but he continued to struggle to breathe and deteriorated it seemed daily. Soon he started having seizures which lasted about a minute but were not frequent. Within last two weeks his condition became significantly worse, and yesterday I did research on pet euthanasia.
I read about making a decision to euthanize your pet on the first site I visited and realized two things:
Jak crawled over me in the middle of the night and slept in my left arm pit like he did as a puppy. He spent the rest of the night there with his head on my chest.
Before we left I walked him one last time but all he did was have a seizure once outside ...
For his last meal I hand-fed him steamed broccoli which I only recently discovered he loved and a whole banana. His belly was full. I also gave him a Milk bone treat right before I handed him to the technician at Humane Society, which he hungrily grabbed.
The picture in the car was taken about 20 min before he passed away. When the technician first saw him, she asked if he was conscious - yes, he was, and that's how he looked...
They wrapped Jak's bed with his body in it in their own blanket and I thought it was good that the injection was made without us present.
When we arrived to the pet crematorium they offered us to say good by to the body and actually it felt good to see him so peaceful.
The pic in his bed in a basket was taken at the crematorium before they made a clay paw print for us (my daughter asked for one with just ink on paper, but this is what they do for pet owners). The picture above is how my son and I saw Jak for the last time.
In the last 6 months Jak was very far from being the dog in the video (September 2013), I had to let him go.
I went through his belongings and chose a couple keepsakes. I looked through all of my photographs and put all of pictures of Jak with his Pedigree and his Petco sweater. I paid a visit to his vet and provided them with paperwork for Jak's final services so they can close his file and archive it.
I will ship his paw print to my daughter tomorrow, I am glad that we took both Jak and my new cat Cynthia with us when we visited her last Christmas, when Jak looked like this and did not bother to play with Cynthia.
I made a decision to write this post because just one picture on Facebook will not be enough for me, I had a very special dog with a very special story.
We all loved Jak very much. He lived with us since the day he turned 3 months old, 13 years, 6 months and one day. He was 13 years, 9 months and one day old.
Here is his picture on his 13th birthday, June 16, 2015
I groomed him that day and right in the middle of the haircut which I admit, both of us always hated to do, he just collapsed because his little legs got so tired. That's when I knew that he would not make it to his 14th birthday.
Back in Russia in 1983-1986 I worked in the biggest library in Perm area in the department of foreign languages and one day I came across a beautifully illustrated book about different pure breeds of dogs. That's when I saw a picture of a Miniature Schnauzer for the first time in my life, and it was love at the first sight.
The father of my children and I had trouble conceiving and wanted children so very much. It was nerve wracking and in October 1986 we agreed that if the next month we were not pregnant, we would get a Miniature Schnauzer puppy. We got pregnant, did not have time and energy for a puppy and now I have two wonderful young people for children.
When after moving to US in 2000 we were 'discovering' the country, and moved for jobs to Alpharetta, we paid a visit to a Petland store where they let people play with puppies in little rooms. Excellent marketing tactic. That's where we saw this little male Mini Schnauzer who all 3 of us started playing with right away. We decided to call him Jack. My husband at the time asked me 'do you want him?' Without a second of delay I said 'YES' - what kind of question that is anyway? That was September 16, 2002 and our new puppy went home with us that evening. Later we found out that his father's name was Jak (abbreviation for Just Another Kirkland - the breeder's family name was Kirkland), and decided to register our puppy with that same spelling.
So now you see how special was my Jak - I waited for him 16 years. He was such a good dog! He loved riding in the car and traveled with us to New Orleans, North Myrtle Beach, Chapel Hill, Englewood, FL.
(Englewood, FL November 23, 2007)
Always waited for me to come home and met me with excitement and a stuffed toy in his mouth ready to play with me. When he was much younger that is. But even a couple of days ago I saw him do the same thing even though he was moving slowly and looked very disoriented being so old, weak and miserable.
He could not clime stairs since September and I carried him upstairs for the night. He moved less and less and stayed in his bed longer and longer.
About five weeks ago when I came home form work I found him completely helpless in his bed, his breathing was shallow and labored. I thought I would lose him that night, but he continued to struggle to breathe and deteriorated it seemed daily. Soon he started having seizures which lasted about a minute but were not frequent. Within last two weeks his condition became significantly worse, and yesterday I did research on pet euthanasia.
I read about making a decision to euthanize your pet on the first site I visited and realized two things:
- Jak has run out of life, he had only painful miserable existance left for him
- I am the only one who can have mercy on my dog
It is often tempting, at this point, to postpone a decision still longer by deciding to "let nature take its course." Before choosing that course of action (or inaction), however, it's important to understand that, as a pet owner, you have been thwarting the "course of nature" from the beginning. By ensuring that your pet has food and shelter and is protected from predators, you have already guaranteed that nature will not take its course. By providing medical treatment, you have prolonged the life of your pet far beyond what it could have expected if left to "nature." In nature, an animal that becomes too ill to obtain food or protect itself will perish quickly, though not necessarily comfortably.I called around and made my choices of places to use services at. An appointment was made for 10:30AM on March 18, 2016 and we had one last night and morning to spend together.
Nor does nature necessarily offer an "easy" death even if you choose to let it "take its course" in the comfort of your home. An animal that cannot breathe easily, cannot eat or digest food properly, cannot control its bodily functions, and can scarcely move or enjoy human contact because of pain, is hardly dying "comfortably."
Jak crawled over me in the middle of the night and slept in my left arm pit like he did as a puppy. He spent the rest of the night there with his head on my chest.
Before we left I walked him one last time but all he did was have a seizure once outside ...
For his last meal I hand-fed him steamed broccoli which I only recently discovered he loved and a whole banana. His belly was full. I also gave him a Milk bone treat right before I handed him to the technician at Humane Society, which he hungrily grabbed.
The picture in the car was taken about 20 min before he passed away. When the technician first saw him, she asked if he was conscious - yes, he was, and that's how he looked...
They wrapped Jak's bed with his body in it in their own blanket and I thought it was good that the injection was made without us present.
When we arrived to the pet crematorium they offered us to say good by to the body and actually it felt good to see him so peaceful.
Strangely enough it was comforting to feel his soft warm little body under my hand...
The pic in his bed in a basket was taken at the crematorium before they made a clay paw print for us (my daughter asked for one with just ink on paper, but this is what they do for pet owners). The picture above is how my son and I saw Jak for the last time.
I went through his belongings and chose a couple keepsakes. I looked through all of my photographs and put all of pictures of Jak with his Pedigree and his Petco sweater. I paid a visit to his vet and provided them with paperwork for Jak's final services so they can close his file and archive it.
I will ship his paw print to my daughter tomorrow, I am glad that we took both Jak and my new cat Cynthia with us when we visited her last Christmas, when Jak looked like this and did not bother to play with Cynthia.
(December 25, 2015)
(November 2015 with Cynthia, my cat)
I made a decision to write this post because just one picture on Facebook will not be enough for me, I had a very special dog with a very special story.
We all loved Jak very much. He lived with us since the day he turned 3 months old, 13 years, 6 months and one day. He was 13 years, 9 months and one day old.
Here's my sweet loving protective Jak The Schnauzer when he was younger and strong.
Rest In Peace Jaky-Pooh...
(March 2012)
(January 2011)
(January 2011)
(June 2010 with Ginger-Snap, my daughter's kitten)
(August 2012)
(June 2012)
(March 2015)
(June 2014)
(February 2014)
(June 2014)
(February 2014)
(December 2013)
(November 2013)
(July 2013)
(July 2013)
(June 2013)
(June 2013)
(June 2013)
(May 2013, North Myrtle Beach)
(September 2011)
(October 2009)
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