The idea of a pet brag blog is now beyond catching on. It’s a hit! Pet parents are eagerly sharing their stories – each so tender and unique. What follows is the story of Jaz as told by his “Dad”. I hope you enjoy it.

In Derek’s words….. One of my friends runs a dog rescue with his wife and soon started asking if I had any interest in adopting one of his dogs. Anytime he would ask, I would tell him I wasn’t ready to take on another pet so soon after my cat Ed’s passing.

After about 3 months, he called and said that he knew it may be too soon but his brother had to give up one of his dogs and thought she would be perfect for me. I turned him down for about another month but he was pretty persistent because his brother hated giving her up and knew I would give her a good home.

I finally agreed to go meet Jaz at his house but wasn’t making any promises. He was right, Jaz was a great dog! She followed me around his yard and when I sat on his couch she immediately curled up next to me. I was going out of town the next week but said if he could hold her till after I got back I would come pick her up.

The first month with Jaz was pretty rough. One of the reasons he said his brother had to return her after a few years was that she started urinating in their house. She had the same issue at my house and it was 2-3x a day! After finding a really good vet, he determined she had some kidney and urinary issues that he was able to treat with daily medication.

There was also “the noise”. It quickly became apparent that while being a very sweet dog, someone hadn’t treated her the same at some point in her life. Jaz spent her first two years in Kentucky where my friend had picked her up from an overloaded shelter and driven her back with a dozen or so other dogs to Michigan.

One night during the first week she was with me, she almost rolled off the side of the bed. When I reached over her to stop her fall, she let out a yelp. This is no normal yelp though… it was the loudest, scariest noise I’ve ever heard an animal make and couldn’t believe it came out of this 45 lb. dog! She would make this noise if you tried to step over her or if you reached for her collar.   The vet mentioned that he felt she had been abused at some point and the friend I got her from said he thought the same thing when they rescued her from the shelter.

Although it took a little while for my little buddy to trust me, it’s been at least 6 months since I’ve heard “The Noise” and she seems to be trusting other people again. The employees at the Petsmart by our house now know her by name because she is so loving and friendly to everyone. A few have even commented on the noticeable change since I first started bringing her in.

While it was hard to lose my cat/friend of that many years, I have to say that adopting Jaz really helped and am now very glad I took that chance again.