All About JJ

Five years ago, Chief and I started talking about getting a dog. We agreed that we wanted to adopt or rescue since there are so many that need good families to join. So we started our search at one of the local humane societies and we basically were told that we couldn’t own a dog because we both worked full time. I was heart-broken. Because we worked, they judged us as being incapable of taking care and loving our dog! Chief decided to look at the Australian Shepherd Rescue Group. He had an Aussie in his college years and she was a very nice dog. We looked at their website and filled out an application. Next, there was a telephone interview and finally they called us with two possible choices that seemed like a good fit for us. We were interested in a one-year-old dog named Journey. He was a small tri-colored beautiful boy with very good house manners. He was good with cats, kids, and he liked horses. We were told that Journey was given up because they wanted him to do agility and was diagnosed to have seizures. They did not want to invest the time into him with the medical condition. Fortunately, his foster mom’s dad is a veterinarian and worked him up and found no evidence of seizure disorder. We think he was given up because he is not very coordinated.

On December 6th, 2003 Journey was to come to our house to meet us in person. The rescue group prefers this because they can observe our surroundings and us while we interact with the dog. He came up the front steps and when Chief opened the door he let out a few barks. We told his foster mom that we were comfortable with him roaming the house. I showed Journey around. He particularly liked the long and low to the ground windows we have in the hallway. It was great for him to look out and see the neighborhood. He went upstairs to check out our bedroom. He seemed to be okay with the house. We were told that he was shy around men. Well, within five minutes of being petted on the floor by Chief and I he was on his back getting his belly rubbed. It was then that his foster mom said that if we would like to adopt him she would be happy to consent. It must be hard to be a foster mom. She gave him a goodbye hug. I could tell she would miss him.

The first night was rough. Journey cried in his crate and I wanted to get him out. Chief is good for me. He is the reasonable one in our relationship. Eventually, he did go to sleep. By the way, he sleeps with us now! The next day was a Sunday. All three of us spent the day getting use to each other. We didn’t really like his name. It didn’t seem to fit him so we changed it to JJ. JJ didn’t know how to walk on a leash. He was a country boy turned city. Every house that we would pass he would want to walk up to the front doors. He would pick up everyone’s newspapers and carry them proudly. I am glad we are over that stage. Initially, we had other and bigger problems with him. The first is that he was very food aggressive. I couldn’t go near him when he ate. He would just growl and devour his kibble as fast as he could. To correct this, we hand fed him for a long time. It is rare when he acts like this but if he does, we do go back to hand feeding him. The other problem we had is that he hated me. Chief will say that I am exaggerating but JJ really didn’t like me. This was so hard for me because I really loved him and I was becoming afraid of him because of his almost continuous growling at me when Chief wasn’t around. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I was the one who had to kennel him before going to work. He was around 48 pounds when we got him and he was so stubborn about going in his kennel. There were days that I would actually have to pick him up. His only defense was to growl. Well, this progressed to growling when I looked at him or when I walked passed him. One day, Chief witnessed his lovely attitude and gave him a major correction. Chief worked with me and I worked with JJ. And yes, on occasion JJ will give me attitude but it is rare. I am so glad we got through those times.

There are so many stories to tell you. He eventually gained trust to have the house to himself. We found out that he was a very busy boy. Let me make a list of some of the things he got into: chewed the ends of our running shoe strings, chewed the kitchen cabinet corners, got locked into a bedroom and took all of the Kleenex out of its box, and my personal favorite moment…he chewed open a case of cherry cream soda, punctured one of the cans so that he was covered in evidence when we got home. Other things he has done that are note worthy: upon arriving to Pet Smart he jumped out of the car window before the car was in park, broke into his Rubbermaid kibble container and ate until he was bloated, tackled a kid in a snow suit, brought us a loaf of bread in the middle of the night, brought us hot dogs that were thawing on the counter, and brought us his bag of treats when we packed for vacation.

He despises rain, loud noises in the house, and the snow blower. Chief finds the last one strange because he doesn’t mind the lawn mower or the leaf blower. He is protective of our car and will “mean bark” if you approach the car. He loves toys, playing chase, tug, and ball. He will wake you up in the middle of the night to tell you to move so he can jump back in bed. He is not a fan of mornings. He and I both like to sleep in. He loves to eat and play in the snow. He really loves our neighbors and, thank God, their kids too. He has an Aussie girlfriend Maddie and his best bud is Roy. He is very social! He likes to mess with his brother Dusty and also likes to take naps with him. He likes to take naps with us too. He is inquisitive. He seems to have an “old soul”. He seems to really care what we are talking about. He is nosey. He has to inspect any bags that come into the house.

In 2006 he became ill. He would vomit daily and eventually would vomit up blood. He was in so much discomfort he stopped eating. Through an endoscopy and biopsy he was diagnosed with gastritis related to food allergy. He was put on medications and his food was changed to KO (Kangaroo and Oats). Through out the year, we would be in close contact with his vet. If he had flair up we would increase his medication. In May of 2007, JJ was very sick. He became toxic to one of his medication and almost died. This medication attacked his central nervous system. He became paralyzed and had tremors. He lost control of his body and body functions. He was rushed to VCA-Aurora animal hospital and we were told that the antidote was Valium and there was a chance we could get him back. We just couldn't lose him. I kept thanking God for the time we had with him. I got a phone call from Dr. Barnes (neurologist) that he made it though the night and was able to stand. He was wobbley but he was standing! JJ fought back and is 100% normal today.

Adopting JJ is the best thing that we ever did. He is our buddy. He is good to us and to his brother. I love his personality. I love that he wants to be near us and when he has had enough of us he goes up to bed or hangs out in his house (kennel). He is always trying to please us. He is easily corrected and remembers! He really is a good boy. He is our best friend. If Dusty could talk he would say his brother is the best! We are lucky to have our JJ.