Jack Bailey

Remembering Jack

We have found it extremely difficult to think about what to write about our precious boy, Jack. The heartache is so strong. He’s our first family dog, having to say goodbye is the hardest thing we ever had to do. 

Even with Oscar padding around, our home seems so very empty.

Jack has touched the lives of so many, young and old. He was a gentle giant who loved everyone. He was well known at Poppy Woods (a National Forest where we always walked) and he will be missed by many. He loved to chase squirrels though he never did catch one. Jack hated water, he never liked to go for a swim. He would just take a little dip and did what he could to not to get his precious tail wet. Jack was an absolute clown at times, every day he did something silly and without a fail, he would have his mad moment on the sofa after dinner. He knew how to make us all laugh.

We feel so privileged to have been blessed to share Jack’s life. We can’t thank IRR, Christine, and Chris enough to let us adopt the most precious soul.

Jack was a very sensitive boy when he came into our lives. It took a while to overcome some of his fears. He had achieved so much over the years, he completed his Kennel Club Citizenship Award and he was awarded Best Dog of the Class after being nominated by other dog owners. 

Jack has completed awards with sign language without any verbal commands which has inspired other owners to use hand signals with their dogs. We are both deaf so at home, we would talk to Jack using sign language.

Jack received his therapy dog badge in 2015. He was allowed to visit many care homes with his dad who worked in the community.

Jack was a healer, he know how to make anyone feel better, especially Katie, Jack’s mum. Katie struggled with depression after a traumatic experience and developed epilepsy. She also struggled with anxiety and it got so bad to a point where she was afraid to go out. Jack helped Katie through this as it meant that Jack needed to be walked every day. Katie looked back on how scared Jack was and how he overcome his fear which help motivate Katie to overcome her anxiety by walking him every day. He was always there for her. Jack knew what to do whenever Katie felt down; he would just plonk himself like a lap dog on Katie to cheer her up. He always preferred to sleep in his bed. Whenever dad (Richard) worked the night shifts, Jack always jumped on the bed to sleep with mum. Jack knew how to help Katie feel safe.  

Jack was such a good brother. We have another dog, Oscar. He was originally Katie’s parent’s dog. He came to live with us when he struggled to cope with being alone after his late friend, Lady had passed away. Oscar loved Jack’s company and he was much happier with him so Katie’s parents asked if he could stay. 

Jack and Oscar became inseparable, they always slept together, forever play fighting, and did all the walks together. They never once had a disagreement and were best friends. 

Jack also had two other cat brothers. Charlie and Miles. Jack was too much of a softy he used to let Charlie and Miles get away with anything this meant he would give up his treat/dinner if they tried to steal it so they could have it. He also didn’t mind them attacking his precious tail.

In 2018 Katie gave birth to a daughter, Gracie-Mae. We introduced Jack slowly. He was so good with the newborn. He would lie next to her all day long and whenever she cried he would let us know and would rest his head on her. This used to help comfort Gracie-Mae. Jack did become a bit overprotective whenever we had visitors. He used to stand in front of Gracie-Mae and wouldn’t let anyone past him. We had to tell Jack that it was okay and eventually Jack accepted others going near her. 

Jack and Gracie-Mae became best friends. I think Gracie-Mae thought she had her own lion because of how big Jack was. Jack loved that he could go on extra walks so we could get Gracie-Mae to sleep in her pushchair. And then when Gracie-Mae started nursery he used to go on a Nursery run with us. Whenever Jack saw Gracie-Mae coming out of those nursery doors he would get very excited to be reunited with his sister again. As Gracie-Mae got older and more active, Jack would let Gracie-Mae do anything to him, he was such a softy and he would even let her put silly hats on him!

Jack was such a happy boy, even when he started to age. He never had any health issues and never needed vet trips apart from his annual check-up. In late 2016 we were worried as Jack had muscle wastage on the left side of his head, he had a biopsy and later this confirmed that it was age-related which we were so relieved about. Jack continued to be happy and healthy until 2019 when arthritis in his back legs kicked in and occasionally he would struggle, he went to the vets for pain relief to help him manage it along with physio. Then he was diagnosed with kidney disease in which meant he had to go on a special diet. Jack got a bit fussy, occasionally we had to hand feed him. The pain relief helped and he eventually got used to his diet. 

Jack hated physio at first but then realise he would get his favourite rich tea biscuit. This helped manage his arthritis and he continued to enjoy his walk. 

In late January Katie woke up in the middle of the night and saw Jack was not in his bed and found him in a bad way. He was rushed to the emergency vets. Jack had suffered a stroke, he couldn’t eat, walk or hold his head up. The vets asked us to think about Jack’s quality of life. We were devastated by the news. We asked the vets if it was okay to bring Jack home and to think about the decision. 

Jack came home, he was wagging his tail at us but still couldn’t lift his head. We offered him his favourite rich tea biscuit. He took a bite and this was the first time in 48hrs he had eaten. We knew if Jack was anxious he won’t eat and coming home helped him feel a bit more relaxed. Both Rich and I took it in turns during the night sleeping with him. The next morning Jack lift his head for the first time and this was when we could see it in his eyes that he was fighting it. 

We couldn’t go ahead with the decision and want to give Jack some time. Richard helped Jack go to the toilet as he couldn’t walk. Jack tried so hard to stand up by himself, we could see he was trying hard and a few days later he slowly took some steps by himself. 

Chrissie, Jack’s foster mum who has always been there for us right for day one sent a hardness for Jack to help with lifting and support him with his balance. This helped a lot. We used this every day until he was able to walk without falling. Two weeks later Jack regained his mobility and was able to run again. We were so happy to see him fighting it. We went back to the vets and they were shocked how he come round. 

To prevent another stroke Jack had to have his blood pressure taken every 2 weeks. He hated the vets, he would get so anxious and this would bring this blood pressure up, it was just too much for him. We didn’t want to remember him being anxious all the time in the final months of his life. We requested a home visit for Jack and because they knew him well, they agreed to come out. Not every vet allowed this because of the pandemic so we were lucky. Jack did well on his meds and his mobility improved. 

7 months later, 3 weeks before he passed, Jack started to slow down. His walks became shorter to the point where he just want to walk to the bench to lie down and watch the world go by for an hour. This meant he could greet his friends whenever they came into the park entrance. We could see it in his eyes that he was getting tired and because we loved him that much we didn’t want to let him go. 

On 11th August Jack had a good day, he walked longer than normal. That evening he jumped on the bed to snuggle with his mum, Katie. He doesn’t usually do this unless his dad is out. He slept on the bed for a good couple of hours. I think Jack then knew it was almost his time. The next morning we all woke up, Jack just laid down and didn’t want to get up, he didn’t want his breakfast which is not usual. Richard came in to show Jack his lead for his usual morning walk. Jack didn’t react to this. Jack has never done this and it broke our hearts. He looked at us to tell us that it was his time. His back gave up on him and he was in the last stage of his kidney disease. 

On the 12th August 2021 at 8:30pm our precious boy, Jack passed peacefully at home where he was happy and comfortable with his head on his dad’s lap and mum and Oscar lying right next to him on his bed. Gracie-Mae had given him a good night kiss before she went to bed. 

Two months later, whilst emptiness/heartache is so strong Gracie-Mae squealed with excitement and pulled mum into the conservatory and pointed at the rainbow and said, “look mummy it’s Jack’s rainbow”. This has helped us to know he is still here with us.

Thank you Chrissie and Chris for always being there for us throughout Jack’s Journey. We couldn’t ask for better foster parents. Whenever we needed advice/talk you are always there. Thank for you all the wonderful gifts you had sent Jack over the years. Without you, Jack wouldn’t have gotten this second chance.

Jack, thank you for choosing us. We are so proud to call you our son. You were always there for us. Not a day goes by where we don’t think of you. We love you so much and always will. The memories we had made we’ll cherish in our hearts forever. Until we meet again our precious boy.

SAYING GOODBYE IS SO TERRIBLY HARD (12. 8. 2021)

A heartbroken Chrissie told Pauline, “We lost Jack, our ex-foster dog, a few weeks ago. He was such a precious soul”. 

Katie, his mum, has, understandably, taken Jack’s death very very hard and Chrissie, who also loved him very much, is doing her best to console Katie but, sadly, there are never enough words that can make up for us losing our babies. 

Fly high with all the other IRR angels, Jack. For sure, one day we will all be reunited.

History

Jack is a 2-3 year old Golden Retriever. After arriving in the UK, Jack was fostered in Shrewsbury. His fosterer said.

“Jack loves Attingham Park. He was a little naughty this morning, pulling etc and is very full on with other dogs, but is friendly. We met a 15 year old GR who fancies him for a toy boy! He thinks cows are amazing, he has never seen such big dogs.

He was good in the National Trust Shop and didn’t pee on anything. We had a cuppa at the end and he sat down and then lay down by my side watching all the workers putting up a big tent!”

JACK HAS GONE TO HIS FOREVER HOME

Jack has gone to live with Katie-louise and Rich in Derbyshire where he has settled in wonderfully and has become a much loved member of the family.

JACK’S STORY FROM HIS NEW HOME

12/12/10

After a long drive Jack is finally in his new forever home and has settled down really wanting to play with a ball after a good sniff around in his new home and he soon fell asleep on his back next to his bed!

20/12/10

Jack is doing really well. Had him almost two week and been as good as gold in his home and already he loves all the attention he’s getting and he loves training with his parents. He is a really quick learner! Jack loves his daily walk though does needs a lot of work outside and does tend to pull a lot and doesn’t listen at all when it comes to other cats and dog and especially squirrels. We are working on his pulling trying to get him to heel with a new Haiti. He also needs a bit of work on meeting other dogs. Jack tends to bark a lot though he has done really well with Lucy and Prince.

Also we have been trying to leave Jack on his own and at the moment he doesn’t seem to take it well. He does have a bit of an anxiety with that.

17/1/2011

We had Jack just over a month now – he has become so attached to us and is our big baby. He has made us so happy and he is a big part of our life and we do like to spoil him.

He is so much better on his halti and is now best friends with Oscar & Lady (Katie-Louise’s parent’s dogs) and is also getting better with other dogs he meets. He doesn’t bark at much as he used to though there are time we do have to remind him. He also learnt how to roll over!

28/1/2011

Jack has got now has his own dog trainer from Bark Buster UK that comes every so often and is doing really well. We are currently working on his recall which is so much better it shouldn’t be long till he’s allowed off his lead.

“Richard and I would like to say big thanks to Irish Retriever Rescue for letting us adopt Jack and Jack would also like to say thanks to his foster parents Chrissie and Chris for looking after him while he was looking for his forever home”