Jack Grant

MY BEAUTIFUL BOY HAS GONE (27.4.2015)

With a very heavy heart, Shona told us “The day we had been dreading finally arrived on Monday 27th April when we had to say goodbye to our gorgeous boy. It has been a very difficult week having spent so much time caring for Jack but Skipper and Saffie have been a great comfort and I know in my heart we made the right decision.

We have chosen a few special photos of him …. the first one I love as it really reflects his lovely, happy character. The last one was taken a week before he died.

Jack had battled heart failure for an amazing 20 months even though the cardiac specialists said he would only live for four!

His health was generally good throughout this time but the main challenge was getting him to eat and maintaining his weight. My eternal thanks must go the manufacturers of Richmond sausages – Irish recipe, of course! – which were a life saver throughout his illness. However, I was constantly having to think up tasty meals to tempt him and sadly his appetite began to dwindle a month ago. Despite our best efforts, his heart was failing, the light went from his eyes and he just faded away so we had to take the devastating decision to let him go.

We will miss him terribly as he was an enormous character who loved life, especially his walks and trips in the car. As our first rescue dog, he was undoubtedly a challenge but he was such a gentle, loveable rogue he was loved by all who met him.

RIP my beautiful boy – may your legs be the wings they once were, your heart restored to full strength and you can now run like the wind at Rainbow Bridge. Always in our hearts”.

HISTORY

JACK is a 5yr old neutered male. Handsome Jack was surrendered to the pound and was not at all impressed with this. He craved attention and was desperate to go to a lovely home. He is loveable boy and got on well with his buddies in the pound. He is also great in the car. We were looking for an active home where he would get lots of exercise and affection.

JACK’S FIRST DAY

Thought you might like to know that Jack has had a very good first day in his forever home.

He supervised all the grass mowing and has even made friends with the cats although still would prefer them to run away for a bit of a chase. However, they have sussed him as a bit of a softie and now firmly stand their ground so he is a bit frightened of them.

We have a 20ft rope for taking him into the fields, as I am pretty certain he would head off over the horizon, but he is slowly getting to know his name………….. though recall is probably not his specialist subject. Always a bit tricky when they are not interested in food – we’ll have to find an irrestible titbit for him I think. He’s eaten his chicken with great enthusiasm but not so keen on his mixer but I’m sure he’ll get better.

UPDATE ON JACK

Forever Mum Shona says:-

Jack is still improving. He finds life terribly exciting/nerve racking so is still a bit manic on unfamiliar walks and has to be attached to a training line but we have managed to let him off in the fields near the house. He is being trained to respond to a whistle but is naturally selectively deaf when there are more exciting things to chase. I think Jack would eat our guinea-pigs given half a chance but luckily seems rather disinterested in the tortoises. Jack spends ages hunting through the reeds down by the local river and sadly has murdered several mice when I’ve not been able to get to him quick enough. I suspect he used to have to kill vermin to feed himself.

He is still a handful and likely to leg it given the slightest opportunity. Had a very embarassing moment this weekend when he darted under a fence into someone’s property and was found eyeing up their chickens which were thankfully fenced in.

He has completely changed colour, now golden and his long shaggy coat has dropped out. He must have been kept outside I think. He is finally interested in food and weighs 34kg – an increase of 7kg since last October. Actually, he is now on a mini diet much to his disgust. Still spooked by loud noises, banging doors and slippery floors but is gradually getting there. He is an absolute softie and everyone loves him, especially our cat, Hannah.

I’ve been taking him to training classes – he is much the worst behaved but what he lacks in ability he makes up for in enthusiasm and we passed our puppy foundation a month ago – one very proud Mum here. We are now aiming for the Good Citizen’s Bronze Award but this may take sometime.

UPDATE DECEMBER 09

Shona says. “Well, I can’t believe Jack has been with us for two years. It has certainly been an eventful time and a steep learning curve for all. He is a lovely, friendly chap who still exudes nervous, excited energy. This has meant that we have really struggled with his recall as he tends to just run in a complete panic if we take him to anywhere he hasn’t been before. Most trainers rely on food to sort these issues out but Jack is not a foodie dog so it has been a real challenge to get him to focus on us as he disappears over the horizon!! Life is just too exciting and his enthusiasm/panic just takes over. We have lost him on three occasions but thankfully he has been rescued by three good Samaritans and even taxi’d home by our vet on one occasion!! Consequently, on unfamiliar walks he remains on a harnass and long training line which we are slowly reducing in length as he gains in obedience and confidence.

One year after we adopted Jack we decided to adopt a rescue English Springer Spaniel called Skipper who has excellent recall. Our plan was for Jack to learn from Skipper but Jack had obviously not read the script and basically has paid no attention to Skipper out on walks although he loves his company in the house and garden. It has certainly been a perfect match as Skipper loves Jack and likes nothing better than to cuddle up to him. We had a bombshell in Jan 2009 when Skipper had to have a malignant tumour removed. He was put on a 12 month course of chemotherapy which he tolerates really well and with only two months of treatment left and no sign of the tumour regrowing we are hopeful that he has made a full recovery.

I have continued to take Jack to weekly dog training classes. To be honest we started off as worst in the class and I think we have successfully maintained that position. He has entertained all the owners as the class clown and I suspect frustrated the trainer (and me!). However, Jack has slowly improved and having passed his bronze KC award at the 2008 reunion we finally managed to pass our silver award last month. I was a really proud Mum as he has come such a long way in two years. The plan is to go for gold but it may take sometime!!

Jack has been the perfect addition to our household after the sad loss of our previous retriever. We’ve overcome his fear of food bowls and he now gets really excited at dinner time. He no longer gets extremely stressed at 10.30-11pm at night as if waiting for something terrible to happen. He still ‘fly-snaps’ during dreams and is terrified of hoover flexs, telephone cables, hosepipes and especially banging doors but it is work in progress and perhaps one day the demons from the past will disappear. If only he could talk!”

UPDATE 2 JAN 11

Shona said. “Jack has finally graduated from training class having passed his Kennel Club gold test in November. To be honest, I am not sure who was more amazed, the trainer or me. It was certainly an event that neither of us would have anticipated 2 years ago but it just goes to show that perseverance pays and even the worst dog in the class can get there in the end.

I should, however, point out that this qualification does not ensure perfection at all times as I found out to my embarrassment 2 days ago when Jack and I accidentally stumbled upon an unofficial Christmas shoot on our local fields. All recall training was forgotten as Jack gleefully galloped around the 5 gentlemen anticipating a great days shooting down by the local river. They were completely bemused by this gold bomb shell that was just overcome with joy to see them all and pranced around with great enthusiasm. Miraculously, after 5 mins of shouting he did finally decide to return to my side but excitement levels were positively fever-pitch, the damage had been done and I fear he probably completely ruined the shoot!!! I beat a hasty retreat and decided that perhaps Jack was not cut out for gundog training!

Update 9 September 2013

In August, Shona told us that Jack was really quite poorly and needed to be admitted to the Vet School Hospital.

She said he had a lovely stay there and went home feeling much better having peed out 3 litres of retained fluid. He had a huge number of tablets to take which had successfully controlled the heart failure but, unfortunately, his appetite hadn’t really improved so he had lost a lot of weight which made him very weak. He still loved having trips in the car and going for walks and he even managed to lose her in a maize field for an hour! His appetite stimulating tablets were making him feel very sleepy so he could often be found snoozing by the backdoor.

Sadly, Jack is now in end stage heart failure so everyone is feeling very sad although Skipper is rather impressed by the number of treats in the goodie cupboard!

On 9th Sept, Skipper wrote to say” Attached are some photos of myself and Jack – he may be the handsome one but I think I do the best tricks! Jack is continuing to improve but it is a bit boring going for walks on my own. He also seems to get a HUGE number of goodies although he doesn’t seem that keen to eat many – such a waste!! His favourite thing at the moment is roast duck! – talk about expensive tastes! He even seems to get the lion’s share of the liver cake mum made – sooo unfair!! Actually, I’m not really jealous and I have all my paws crossed that he will soon manage to join me down by the river. Anyway, must dash, I can smell the duck coming out the oven.”

We all hope that Jack will continue getting better too and all his IRR friends have their fingers, toes and paws tightly crossed for him.