Jack was our Labradoodle. Back in 2003, our daughter Kelly and I decided it was time for my wife to get a new pet. It had been 1-1/2 years since we had to put our two Wheaton Terriers to sleep. So Kelly found a breeder in Kansas with Labradoodle pups. Not the Australian ones -- they were much too expensive and then had to be flown to the U.S. So on a business trip, I stopped by the pickup up our new family member, Jack.

Over the next 13 years, he became our constant companion, travelling with us between our home, our vacation home, and our mother's home. He was only a problem once, before we realized that Jack hated to be confined. We had left him with Kelly while we went on a week long vacation. She keep him in the upstairs loft which had a baby gate blocking the stairs. He decided he didn't want to be there, so he chewed up the railing trying to get out, and then proceed to "mess" all over the carpet. Of course, Kelly had to clean it all up and when we got back home, she called for us to come and pick-up the "worst dog ever". But we soon realized that Jack was fine, perfect actually, when he was free to roam the house. He just really hated being confined.

The summer of 2016, his behavior changed suddenly and the vet diagnosed him with Lyme's disease. We immediately put him on antibiotics and he recovered quickly. But in October, he collapsed outside our house and Pam had to take him to the vet. He was found to have 3rd stage AV block, which means that the heart's upper two chambers (atria) are not coordinating with the lower two chambers (ventricles). His heart rate had gone from 125 BPM to only 40 BPM. A pacemaker implant was an option,. However, because of his size, they would have to do that surgically, which meant opening up his abdomen and diaphragm. Major surgery with major recovery elements. If he had been smaller, they could have done it intravenously. We decideed that Jack's quality of life would be impacted so much by the surgery without any guarantees of meaningfully extended life because of his age, that we would not put him through that. So the prognosis was the liklihood of sudden death within 6-12 months.

It was only 2 months, because on December 23, 2016, Jack was with us as we wrapped Christmas caramels. He came in from doing his business and took his treat. He laid down at our feet as always, but then started to whimper and whine like dogs do when they dream. But this was different. I got down on the floor with him and cradled his head in my arms as he passed away.

Jack was the smartest, most loving, most loyal, and overall best pet I have every owned. I will always miss him and look forward to the Rainbow Bridge reunion someday.