We loaded him into the truck and headed about 25 miles away to the nearest emergency vet clinic. We were not sure he would even make it, but he did. The vet took one look at him, checked his temperature and told us that he was suffering a heat stroke. His body temp was 108 and she was not sure she could save him. She felt certain that something else was going on that caused the heat stroke because Jake is accustomed to being in the heat and to running in the evening.
We made the very tough decision to put him down. We had to make this same decision two years ago for our older Brittney, General who suffered a regular stroke. Greg and I have shed many tears over the past two days. We know that he was a dog, not a person. However, Jake was part of our family and Greg’s faithful hunting dog for 12 years. He and General were both steady to wing and shot, finished and polished. It is hard to lose them…just hard.
As I type, my office window looks out over their kennels. I keep expecting to look up and see Jake looking back at me. More tears…. Think I’ll close the blinds for a few days.
Here are a few pics of Jake and also some of the other animals we have lost over the past 5 years…all of whom were precious to us. These pics did not scan in like I had hoped. You can click on the pictures and get a slightly larger version of them.
Greg and Jake on a hunt in the mid-West.
Jake was one of three Brits in his litter. Our friends, Richard and Donna Flowers, owned the parents. They also kept Jake’s two brothers, seen in his picture. Jake is the first dog, then Blue and Loop. On Tuesday morning Greg texted Richard that we had put Jake down on Monday evening. Richard texted him back that he and his son were at the vet clinic at that moment putting Loop down. He apparently suffered a stroke. Two brothers gone in less than 18 hours.
Jake and Blue hunting back in their glory days. Blue is the dog closest to the front and Jake is in the back.
Baby Jake and me out in the field for a run then a hug.
Jake loved his food. From the time he was just a puppy to the day he died, he ate like a Hoover vacuum cleaner.
These were my two babies. Ellie (on top) and Temi (with me in the bottom picture) were my friends for 16 years. We lost them in 2005 within 5 days of each other.
