Jennie’s Story – The Puppy That Nobody Wanted

Jennie’s Story — The Puppy That Nobody Wanted

Yesterday at 2:45 pm I lost a big piece of my heart. My sweet Jennie, you began your journey to the Bridge. Once again our hearts are broken. But we feel we gave you one last gift of love … setting you free of the pain you must have been in although you never complained.

Last year on September 25 we dropped you off at the vet to have your teeth cleaned. He discovered a lump at the side of your neck and removed a small piece to send to the lab for a biopsy. A few days later he called to say the lump was a very aggressive cancer that would spread throughout your body. Needless to say, we were in shock. You had just turned 15 years old and there were no options for treatment.

Over the months the little lump grew and became the size of a lemon sticking out of the side of your neck. But you never once complained. You loved life too much to complain and you acted completely like your normal self, always getting so excited at feeding time. We took you to the vet every month and he was quite impressed with your condition but kept reminding us that it was a terminal cancer that would soon take your life. You refused to accept that and lived a good quality of life for six months. But suddenly things started to change.

You still wanted to eat but the food just wouldn’t stay down. You lost weight and the sparkle left your beautiful eyes. You were trying to let us know it was time.

So we gave you that last gift of pain-free peace even though it broke our hearts. You were with us for nearly 16 years. Now you are with your mother, Bailey, and your sisters, Sarah and Holly.

You will never again be known as “the puppy that nobody wanted”. We wanted you more than anything and you will always live on in our hearts. Rest in peace, little one.

**When Jennie’s sister, Holly, was spending her last days on Earth, Jennie was right by her side.**

**Even though the tumor was growing rapidly, Jennie still loved carrying her toys around**

**This picture was taken shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer**

**Jennie spent her last hour laying in the sunshine. This was her final photo.**

Jennie’s original story continues below

Jennie is a very tiny Jack Russell Terrier. She is, in fact, Sarah and Holly’s baby sister, having the same parents.

She was born in September of 2004. Her littermates found permanent homes as soon as they were old enough. It seems that no one wanted Jennie. It may have been her dwarf size that discouraged people from giving her a home, or it might have been the ears. Jack Russells are supposed to have ears that turn down and flop over. Jennie’s ears stand straight up and she has already been mistaken for a Chihuahua on two occasions in the one week that she has lived with us. In any event, others may think she’s “ugly”, but we have found that her loving personality by far makes up for the way she looks.

Jennie is actually a carbon copy of her big sister, Sarah. Looking back, Sarah was also very small and looked pretty much the same as Jennie does now. Sarah did eventually grow up and become a beautiful Jack Russell. I just have the feeling that Jennie will follow in her sister’s footprints.

We met Jennie for the first time on Christmas Day, 2004, when we went to Shelly’s house for dinner. She was scooting around trying to get attention, and she definitely got John’s attention. When it was time to go home that evening, John decided we had to take her home and give her a chance at a good life, even though we both agreed that we would not bring anymore dogs home for the time being. I believe we made the right decision because Jennie fits right into our family (even though some people think we both need to have our heads examined having 17 dogs living with us. Sometimes I think we need to have our heads examined, but actually they are all clean, very well behaved dogs that get along well together. They really make our lives complete.) I won’t mention the fact that when I peeked around the corner into the living room this morning, John had Jennie on his lap and was actually talking “baby talk” to her. (Ooops, I wasn’t going to mention that.)

So Jennie will live out her life with us, her two sisters, and the rest of our little clan. The important thing is that she finally has a permanent home where she will be cared for and loved, Chihuahua ears and all.

Please check back when the 2005 pictures are being published to watch Jennie grow up.

The links to the Picture Pages below will take you to pages on my old website. It may ask you if you want to download the music from the original site. You may cancel this request and go directly to the Picture Page. Feel free to browse all these original pages but then please use the back button or close the tab on your browser to return to the new website. Thank You!

Click Below For Autumn’s Story