In Memory of Jake - 1993 to 1998
Click on any of the thumbnails below to start a slide show to see full size photos:
Jakes first day home
Jake, our new baby
First day home being spoiled by his Dad.
Jake is the "only" dog Max every played with, here they are playing with the pull toy.
They even shared their treats, Jake stated on one end while Max started on the other.
Jake had a lot of affection for Max, here is he giant paw resting on the little guy!
They also rested together and riped up a few toys together!
Jake was about a year old in this photo but the relationship had never changed with Max
Jake out grew his crate so we had to remove the top. That was still his favorite place to sleep.
Both dogs wanted to be with Jerry when he was working outside, Max and Jake liked being outside together.
My all time favorite photo, sharing a look out the window but Max had to have his own foot stool so he could see too!
Another end to a happy day.
These are some of my favorite photos of Jake and his brother Max. These are some of the happy times we remember because they were so close yet such great difference in size. Max was a 5 pounds toy Poodle but he and Jake grew up together and loved each other. Jake would have protected Max from anything and never hurt one little bone in his body.
They played together, slept together in front of the fireplace and even shared the same chew treats. In their almost 5 years together this never changed except Jake kept getting bigger (90 lbs) and Max (5 lbs) didn't. Somehow Jake knew how to even be gentle as he grew and didn't apply much strength with playing with pull toys. But it wasn't unusual either to see Jake running through the house with a pull toy in his mouth and Max being drug behind.
This relationship between Jake & Max did create some complications though. Because Max came to live with us a couple months before Jake and was about 4 months older, Jake developed an identity crisis. All 5 pounds of Max thinks he is a Great Dane, and Jake though he was 5 pounds. We had gotten Jake when we still lived in a condo knowing that in two months we would be moving to acreage. When we got here Jake loved the room to run but on his first encounter with the neighbors St. Bernard, Jake almost died of fright - while Max ran out and bit the St. Bernard. We we just lucky the giant dog didn't seem to notice him:^) I have never heard a dog scream, but Jake did.
In desperation we found a local doberman breeder who brought their little her female Dobie (a month older) to teach Jake how to be a "Doberman"!! They had a play date a couple times a week for a month or so until Jake figured out they were alike and that he was a real "Doberman"!
One of our favorite times was watching Jake run through the pasture. He had about 10 acres to run and a creek that separated the two pastures. For 4 years Jake has had an ongoing game with coyotes. His last coyote chase was about three weeks ago, we were so glad we saw that because they were all so funny. Jake spotted the coyote on the other side of the creek from the house. He took off running, down the first pasture and thorough the creek. As he got to the other side of the creek the coyote decided to run under the fence. Jake was right on his trail only the coyote went north and Jake went south. All of a sudden we saw the coyote come back...was sorta like "hey you went the wrong way!" Jake stopped and turned around and the chase was on again. There was never contact between the coyotes and Jake but it appeared they had some kind of agreement that the game was fun.
At dinner time, Max would run across the living room to attack Jake. He would jump up and try to bite his neck, Jake would just wait until Max was through showing who was boss, then they would both go and eat. This was a nightly ritual and Jack wasn't allowed to eat his dinner until after this little ritual.
We all remember when we first bring our babies home, so I included some photos above with Jake with his Dad, Jerry, his first day home. Jerry had never had a Dobie before and fell in love with his wonderful temperament and loyalty. For Jake's entire life he wouldn't take sides between us. He hated it if we disagreed loudly and would go to bed until we calmed down.
We will always remember Jake and it will bring a smile to both of us!
Jake's Mom & Dad, Sandy & Jerry Stillwell
Email Sandy