Jackie would have been 15 this year. She passed away in Jul 2011. I am not someone who put photo around, but I have four, five of Jackie's photo in my room. Once in a while, I would take it out and rub her forehead, and it seems like I am still about to smell her special puppy smell.
I got Jackie when I was in my early twenties. I had just ended my first relationship, and needless to say it was the end of the world for me. I worked but it was difficult to eat; I was around, but I was drifting too. I was just waiting for the time to pass so that the wound to heal. Perhaps my colleague knew the one thing to heal my broken heart was a puppy, and she brought me to a pet shop one night after work.
She was right. I fell in love with Jackie the minute I saw her.
There were litters of jack russell around, mostly white with spots of brown. Jackie was alone in a cage by herself. I asked for the reason and was told she was too tiny and could not fight her way to the food. Hence need to be separated so that she could be fed properly.
The shop assistant passed me two puppies, one was Jackie and another was a white coat with brown spots puppy. The later was about a size bigger than Jackie. The minute I set both of them on the floor, the "whitie" went off on her own happily while Jackie hung pretty close to me.
I brought Jackie home that night.
Mom and dad weren't too hot about having a dog in a flat. But they did not raise too much of a protest given it was my down time :>
So there was a reason for the unfortunate breakup; we got Jackie!
I never had a pre conception as to what type of dog I would like to have, but I am a big-dog person. I like to be able to ride my dog, and able play rough when I want to without hurting my dog. We had big dogs since we were young, those days when we still lived in the kampong. So it was true love with Jackie, though she was tiny. She fitted nicely into my palms when I first got her. When she was still small, we used to put her into a big plastic bag and hung her up by the door knob when we were mopping the floor. She would sticked her head out once in a while, other than that, she would be curled up, napping till we are done.
Jackie brought us a lot of joy over the 13 years that she was with us. She was usually the first one to greet me when I was back from my night shift. She was also the first to wake in the morning. Dad trained her pretty well, she knew how to find her way to the toilet for her big and small businesses. She did the same when she visited our auntie with her. It was amazing how she did that, given that we never really showed her where the toilet was. When she was about a year old, she would carry the toys that she brought out to play back to where it was.
When the grandchildren came, her jumpiness mellowed. Perhaps she knew that she was upgraded in status, and she needed to help to watch over the kids. Jackie seemed to get along best with the youngest. Whenever the little guy sat next to her, she would lick him slightly on the hand and allow him to stroke her head.
The last two months of Jackie's life was really painful for everyone. Her stomach started to bloat one day after she lost control of her bowel. For the next couple of days, she could not really eat nor could she shit.
We brought her to the vet at Mount Pleasant. I knew there was some issues with the vet at Mount Pleasant many years ago, but I speak for ourselves. I love the vet and the nurses there. I could feel they love animal genuinely. I had been to quite a couple of vets before we finally settled at Mount Pleasant. I could never felt any love for Jackie from the previous vets. I was comfortable with Mount Pleasant, and had always brought Jackie to Mount Pleasant ever since we found them.
The vet did an x-ray and could not really tell what was wrong. She said the best way would be to open her up so that they could fix her on the spot if they could do so upon opening her up. They said they could run other tests as well, but instead of poking Jackie all round, and also to reduce the cost, it would be better to open her up.
The operation went well. But her diagnosis was bad. Jackie had cancer, and the vet told us it was amazing how she could handle the pain. The vet provided the option of putting her to sleep during the operation. Yes, they were that good - they called before the operation and they called during the operation. But I was selfish, I could not let her go without the good bye. The vet stitched her up, and I went down after work to see her.
Jackie was groggy but she was awake when I reached. She tried to stand when she saw me, and wagged her tail hard... I stayed with her for about 45 minutes and stroked her to sleep before I went off. The doctor could only put her on steroid and pain killer to ease her swollen body, but she warned Jackie would not last long.
The next two months was a lot of care. I placed Jackie in my room, and I would help to rest her, and re tucked her middle of the night so that she would be more comfortable. My sister did plenty too, and so did our parents. Everyone just wanted to let Jackie be as comfortable as possible.
Finally one day, I accidentally saw Jackie trembling in pain. I knew she needed to go, and we had to bring her back to Mount Pleasant. I would never want to let go of her, but she was suffering. The vet asked, "If it is you at your 90s, and you are suffering, do you want to stay or go? "
That was a crying day for the family. Even my dad shed some tears. After all, Jackie was family.
I got Jackie when I was in my early twenties. I had just ended my first relationship, and needless to say it was the end of the world for me. I worked but it was difficult to eat; I was around, but I was drifting too. I was just waiting for the time to pass so that the wound to heal. Perhaps my colleague knew the one thing to heal my broken heart was a puppy, and she brought me to a pet shop one night after work.
She was right. I fell in love with Jackie the minute I saw her.
There were litters of jack russell around, mostly white with spots of brown. Jackie was alone in a cage by herself. I asked for the reason and was told she was too tiny and could not fight her way to the food. Hence need to be separated so that she could be fed properly.
The shop assistant passed me two puppies, one was Jackie and another was a white coat with brown spots puppy. The later was about a size bigger than Jackie. The minute I set both of them on the floor, the "whitie" went off on her own happily while Jackie hung pretty close to me.
I brought Jackie home that night.
Mom and dad weren't too hot about having a dog in a flat. But they did not raise too much of a protest given it was my down time :>
So there was a reason for the unfortunate breakup; we got Jackie!
I never had a pre conception as to what type of dog I would like to have, but I am a big-dog person. I like to be able to ride my dog, and able play rough when I want to without hurting my dog. We had big dogs since we were young, those days when we still lived in the kampong. So it was true love with Jackie, though she was tiny. She fitted nicely into my palms when I first got her. When she was still small, we used to put her into a big plastic bag and hung her up by the door knob when we were mopping the floor. She would sticked her head out once in a while, other than that, she would be curled up, napping till we are done.
Jackie brought us a lot of joy over the 13 years that she was with us. She was usually the first one to greet me when I was back from my night shift. She was also the first to wake in the morning. Dad trained her pretty well, she knew how to find her way to the toilet for her big and small businesses. She did the same when she visited our auntie with her. It was amazing how she did that, given that we never really showed her where the toilet was. When she was about a year old, she would carry the toys that she brought out to play back to where it was.
 |
| See how tiny she was, the ball of wool was used as a comparison. |
When the grandchildren came, her jumpiness mellowed. Perhaps she knew that she was upgraded in status, and she needed to help to watch over the kids. Jackie seemed to get along best with the youngest. Whenever the little guy sat next to her, she would lick him slightly on the hand and allow him to stroke her head.
The last two months of Jackie's life was really painful for everyone. Her stomach started to bloat one day after she lost control of her bowel. For the next couple of days, she could not really eat nor could she shit.
We brought her to the vet at Mount Pleasant. I knew there was some issues with the vet at Mount Pleasant many years ago, but I speak for ourselves. I love the vet and the nurses there. I could feel they love animal genuinely. I had been to quite a couple of vets before we finally settled at Mount Pleasant. I could never felt any love for Jackie from the previous vets. I was comfortable with Mount Pleasant, and had always brought Jackie to Mount Pleasant ever since we found them.
The vet did an x-ray and could not really tell what was wrong. She said the best way would be to open her up so that they could fix her on the spot if they could do so upon opening her up. They said they could run other tests as well, but instead of poking Jackie all round, and also to reduce the cost, it would be better to open her up.
The operation went well. But her diagnosis was bad. Jackie had cancer, and the vet told us it was amazing how she could handle the pain. The vet provided the option of putting her to sleep during the operation. Yes, they were that good - they called before the operation and they called during the operation. But I was selfish, I could not let her go without the good bye. The vet stitched her up, and I went down after work to see her.
Jackie was groggy but she was awake when I reached. She tried to stand when she saw me, and wagged her tail hard... I stayed with her for about 45 minutes and stroked her to sleep before I went off. The doctor could only put her on steroid and pain killer to ease her swollen body, but she warned Jackie would not last long.
The next two months was a lot of care. I placed Jackie in my room, and I would help to rest her, and re tucked her middle of the night so that she would be more comfortable. My sister did plenty too, and so did our parents. Everyone just wanted to let Jackie be as comfortable as possible.
Finally one day, I accidentally saw Jackie trembling in pain. I knew she needed to go, and we had to bring her back to Mount Pleasant. I would never want to let go of her, but she was suffering. The vet asked, "If it is you at your 90s, and you are suffering, do you want to stay or go? "
That was a crying day for the family. Even my dad shed some tears. After all, Jackie was family.
I love dog and I think most of our family members do too. There is connection between the dog and us. I swore to not have a dog as a pet after Jackie; the parting was just too painful. But who would swore off family? So I do see dogs in my life again.
Jackie, we love you.
Jackie, we love you.
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