A sad day today as a great family lost their pride and joy, and SHAK lost the best ambassador we could of ever wished for. After being unwell for a while, including having part of his bottom jaw removed with a tumour, Jake left us all for Rainbow Bridge. An MRI scan revealed a further 3 tumours, 2 being on his spine on the other being in his spleen. Despite being so brave and strong, Jake couldn't go on.
Jake's story is one I will never forget. He was without doubt the smelliest and most matted dog I have ever seen. After being dropped by his transporter at a vets, I walked in to collect him and was met by such a stench. "Whats that? I enquired thinking there was problems with the drains. "Your dog" came the reply as I was handed a lead and shown the door.
The big guy scrubbed up well though, and when the Nichol family came to me on the look out for their first family dog, I knew exactly who they needed. The rest is history, as Jake became a permanent fixture at nearly every SHAK fundraising event. The support that dog gained for us simply by his Dad showing the pictures of how he used to be, was truly amazing.
Above is a picture of him the day he arrived, and also a picture of perhaps his proudest hour, winning Rescue Dog Of The Year 2011 at the Hillheads Dog Club Show.
There is nothing I can say that will make any of this any easier John and his family, but I will say this. You can always be proud of yourselves and him for turning the smelliest and most matted dog ever, into the finest example of what we do, that any charity could ask for.
Jake was perfect, and you were all perfect for him, if ever a dog and a family were meant to be it was you and Jake. My thoughts are with you all.