From commentor JAHILL10:
The first picture is of Jake the day we brought him home from the Philadelphia SPCA in 2005. All head and legs, wormy, hungry, and happy to be someplace other than the shelter. My husband and I went there looking for a “scruffy dog” about two years after my Scottie dog of 14 years, Bonny, had died of cancer. I was resistant to the idea but my husband thought that “it was time” to find a new puppy to love. But after walking up and down aisles of abandoned, full grown pit bulls we were about to give up. I also had two cats at the time, one a dainty, elderly calico, and I was fearful of bringing a dog capable of chomping a cat in half into the house. I wanted something apartment sized, Bonny-sized… I was ready to walk out and try another day. My husband, on the other hand, decided to go exploring. Ignoring KEEP OUT signs, police tape, and orange pylons separating the adoptable dogs from the new arrivals he strolled down the forbidden zone and suddenly yells to me from across the shelter. “Come here! You need to meet this one.” Embarrassed and muttering, I reluctantly went to him and there in a holding pen was the scruffiest dog imaginable, skinny and adorable. Our eyes met and my husband said that was that.
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It took some doing. Jake had just been dropped off at the PSPCA from Animal Control who had picked him up roaming the streets so they hadn’t had the chance to put him through the usual screening and he had to be “tutored” before they would let us take him home and our landlord had to be convinced that the pet deposit was still in effect, but we were determined. I went from reluctant window shopper to true believer in no time flat. We named him Jake and after we fully realized how lucky we had been to happen upon one of the best doggies ever, we sometime call him “Jackpot” Jake.
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It wasn’t all easy. We found at first that he was deathly afraid of children, especially running and yelling children because, we assumed, he had been chased by kids when he was living on the streets. After some basic obedience school and a lot of practice, he is much better around kids. Around adults he is the happiest, most welcoming soul in the world. A scritichy-scratch on the spot above his tail will win you a lifetime friend. And somehow Jake knew how to sit up and beg without being taught. He took my cats in stride and sometimes acts more like a cat than a dog. And overlaying all of that is an almost lethal level of cuteness. The second picture is of him three years later chasing his ball in the park. We wouldn’t trade him for the world.
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“Hope is that thing inside us that insists…that something better awaits us if we have the courage to fight for it.” –Barack Obama
asiangrrlMN
Oh. My. Goodness. Jake is utterly adorable, and that first picture really tugged at my heart. Thank you (and your hubby) for persevering and taking this lovely boy off the streets. The second pic shows what love and time can do for a pup.
SiubhanDuinne
Oh my. What an adorable little guy — and what a huge difference between the two pictures. I’m glad your husband is a scofflaw who ignores “Keep Out” signs, and I’m pretty sure Jake is even gladder. You are good people. Just adorable.
WereBear (itouch)
What a bundle of cuteness. If people only knew what treasures await them in the shelter.
Sounds like the right dog at the right time.
stuckinred
Arf
Amy
Jake is absolutely adorable!
JPL
Another wonderful story and the pictures are adorable. One of the reasons I love these stories is because they promote pet adoption. Not all shelter adoptions come out with such happy endings but the majority do.
jurassicpork
What cute little guys. Barb and I wish we could get a dog. But Popeye the cat wouldn’t like that very much. Plus, we wouldn’t be able to afford one.
Our backs are up against the wall and we’re truly screwed thanks to the Massachusetts DET. Anything you guys could do to help would be appreciated. More details are here or here.
Keith G
Another beautiful Houston day dawns with another beautiful story.
debbie
What a great way to start the day with stories like this!
debit
What a cutie! And I agree with @JPL: I hope these posts encourage others to consider adopting from a shelter.
Kristine
What an adorable pup! Thanks for a great story to start the day.
fucen tarmal
john cole, please, its football season, if you are gonna engage in some juicy shit flinging, please try and do it mid-week, i missed out on the fun in real time….us monday morning quarterbacks need to get our reps in.
blackfrancis789
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28religion.html?_r=2
That is a class that should be mandatory.
Or in my case, being an altar boy.
Annie
Wonderful story — just an absolutely adorable guy…
General Stuck
JAHILL , Jake is adorable, and happy as a clam.
Joy
How sweet! Pound puppies are the most grateful animals. All it takes is a little patience and work. How wonderful you found each other.
geg6
@blackfrancis789:
Gotta say, that’s what did it for me. Knowledge, especially knowledge about religions. And especially knowledge about my own (at the time, involuntary) religion. Once I found out the actual history of my own and started investigating others in the hope of finding one that I didn’t see as disgusting or, at least, insanely magical thinking, that was the end of religion and gods for me.
As for Jake, that action pic is the cutest thing ever and probably should be prohibited as too cute for anyone’s good.
Persia
He is the cutest thing in the world!
Violet
So cute! Glad you guys found each other. He looks like a real gem.
phillygirl
Can I meet him at the Schuylkill doggie park? As a PAWS volunteer, I love the story of you guys crashing the shelter barriers to rescue a little guy not yet certified as “adoptable.” Everybody’s adoptable.
SIA
This story makes me happy. Jake is a very fine fellow.
JAHILL10
Thanks for all the fine thoughts, fellow commentors. Jake’s head is very big this morning!
Cain
Hey for Jake!
I feel bad for the pit bulls though. :( :(
Will nobody think of the pit bulls??
cain
estamm
We have a Cairn Terrier that looks a lot like this puppy. Is Jake a terrier or terrier-mix of some sort? Terriers make wonderful pets.
JAHILL10
@estamm: As near as we’ve been able to detect Jake is part terrier and part schnauzer. It’s the only way we can account for the way his hair is. But I have to agree terriers are wonderful dogs. So much personality packed into a small package!
@Cain: We aren’t of the school that all pit bulls are mean, not at all. Many I have met are sweet dogs. It depends entirely on their owners and how they chose to raise them. But a full grown pit bull with unknown habits in a small apartment with my sassy cats was not an experiment I was prepared to try.
cathaireverywhere
Good for you for persevering and finding him. He is such a cutie- love the action shot!
When I adopted my Mayzie, I had to harangue to SPCA to finally get her home with me. It took 3 weeks, because she couldn’t come home with me without being spayed, and first all of the volunteer vets were full and then the transport van broke down. I offered to pay for her spay myself, take her myself and they could call the vet and check, but no dice. It was ridiculous. I think my daily visits and insistence on seeing her finally made them get their rears in gear, and they finally arranged for her spay. Last I heard, the director of that SPCA has been replaced.
Cain
@JAHILL10:
I realize that, it was more of a general comment about pit bulls. They don’t get adopted because they are feared.
cain
jill
i know jake. JAKE IS THE BEST DOG EVER! he is a wonderful soul & to say that he is lethally cute is actually an understatement. love you jake!