sloughi rescue

Jack
July 1997 – 12 March 2008

Jack

I find it quite unbelievable that I am writing this tribute to my best friend. His departure was so sudden it still seems quite unreal that I will never see him again. We had such a connection, the like that I had never experienced before. So much so that the vets told me that the brain tumour that took him from me had to have been there for a good 3-4 months, and I think subconsciously I knew – despite there being no evidence of it at all. Friends have recalled conversations I had with them over the last 3-4 months where I had been desperately unhappy with thoughts of him leaving me, which I'd never spoken about before. I had one weekend in particular where I was pretty inconsolable all weekend. A friend asked me if Jack was ill and this is why I was so upset. I said I didn’t know why I was upset about him going, he seemed in perfect health and there seemed no reason for my never ending tears – I just had this sense of dread that something was going to happen. And then it did.

Me and my boy

Jack came to me at an extremely difficult time in my life, a little black and white floppy Lurcher puppy who seemed to have no cares in the world. Except almost immediately I became his world and all he cared about was me. Even at that young age he dragged me through the worst time of my life (which has now moved into the second worst time of my life – losing Jack has beaten it hands down). He went everywhere with me, supported me emotionally when I felt so out of touch with everything else, and that support was constant for the 10 ½ years we had together. This support enabled me to completely turn my life around, encouraged me into working with dogs which was the best decision I ever made and enabled me to adopt Oscar, Jake and just recently Edie. He gave Oscar and Jake the confidence they so desperately needed initially and he absolutely loved the fact that he had his own special ‘gang’ in the dogs we walked on a daily basis. As far as he was concerned, he was the King of the Heath. And I really think he was.

Jack A friend asked me recently if I thought I would end up always remembering him with rose tinted spectacles. A friend that remembers only too well what a devil he could be in his youth. Definitely not. That’s what made Jack the special boy that he was. He could be an absolute bugger at times, I wont forget that, but his depth of soul overrode anything that he did back then, he was never a dog that behaved out of malice, he just liked a good laugh and if that sometimes meant behaving badly then he just went ahead and did it. He had such a spark, such personality – it’s why he was most people’s favourite dog of mine and why he now has so many people grieving for him.

Jack A more recent event highlights very well why he was such a remarkable dog. We were walking with our usual group of 8 dogs across the heath one morning last year. We suddenly saw a Galgo running towards us, I assumed who was lagging behind a man who had jogged past a moment earlier. However the Galgo stopped when he reached us and just stood by Jack. I wondered why he had not followed this man and thought if we moved on he would run after his owner. Myself and the other 7 dogs walked away from this dog. Jack stood with this Galgo and just stared at me. I called him to me but he refused to budge and just stood by this dog. I went back and tried to get hold of the dog to read his collar but he backed away from me, circled round and came and stood by Jack again. Jack continued to just stare at me.

Jack It all sounds a bit like a bad episode of ‘Lassie’ but I knew Jack was behaving like this for a reason, although at the time didn’t really understand what the reason was. I then walked very slowly and very low to the ground towards the dog with my arms outstretched. The dog kept looking at me and looking at Jack but stood his ground. When I reached him he let me take his collar, but stood as near to Jack as he could. Within seconds his owner came bounding round the corner yelling at me to try and catch his dog. It transpired that this Galgo had been adopted only 3 weeks ago and had managed to escape from his house on the other side of the heath. His owner had been chasing him for ages trying to catch him but to no avail, he refused to go anywhere near him or anyone else. He was quite amazed that I had managed to catch him; I did have to tell him that the credit went to Jack and not me. It was incredible to watch him let this dog know that I was ok and that he was safe with me.

Jack

Those who knew Jack personally can hardly believe that the dog who would stand and rather pointlessly bounce and bark at birds like an absolute fool could, when required, be so sensitive when the need arose. I believed it, I had the privilege of living with this dog for many years, and I had the privilege of calling him my best friend. I’m just so sad that he had to leave me earlier than he should have done, and so utterly heartbroken that I will never get to see my precious boy again.

Jack
Jack, you were simply the best thing that ever happened to me, thank you so much for giving yourself to me as you did, for changing my life for the better and for being the best friend I could have ever asked for. You were a one off, and will always have the biggest space in my heart. Have lovely snoozes now, I love you.

Tribute montage to Jack here

Photos for the montage taken in the last 12 months of Jack's life, his once smooth sleek coat had blown because of his Addisons Disease but this is how I remember him, my big best fluffy boy.