In Memory of Jackson

Jackson

It is a sad time right now for the PalmerRaineyan Pack, as we lost Jackson early last Friday morning. We had a house-sitter staying at the house while we were in Michigan, and she had called us Thursday afternoon to tell us that Jackson didn't finish his breakfast, which is odd for a 100-pound dog like big Jack. By the evening he was very lethargic, and by sundown he was throwing up. She took him to an emergency vet and while they were drawing blood, he had a seizure (no history of epilepsy) and then went into cardiac arrest. They revived him, but he went into a second cardiac arrest shortly after and they were unable to bring him back.

We don't really know for sure what took him; his white blood cell count was through the roof, which more than likely meant he had cancer, and because dogs are fairly stoic it would have been nearly impossible to know. Jackson was just shy of 10 years old and had a very good life, but he is leaving a big hole in our hearts and at home. Here's 10 things we loved about Jacksonville, one for every year of his life:

1. He ate the most food but was always the first done. I don't think he knew how to chew. Of course he did have a few teeth knocked out by a horse when he was a puppy, so maybe chewing wasn't really an option.
   
2. He was so big he could steal food off the counter without craning his neck. On separate occasions, I lost two buttered slices of bread, a slice of pizza, and a McDonald's cheeseburger (for which he was briefly nicknamed Cheeseburgler).
3. He would play with himself by flinging a ball or toy in the air and lunging after it.
4. He was hilarious to watch playing and wrestling with Xander, our 20-pound terrier mutt, throwing him around like a rag-doll.
5. He had big ole' floppy ears and looked like Alf. We turned him into a bobble-head Alf on grooming day.
6. Speaking of grooming day, it was hilarious how he would literally wrap his front legs around Ash's leg when she took him to the groomer. "Don't leave me here!"
   
7. He was the biggest freaking dog, but he was the biggest wuss when it came to thunder storms.
8. He'd get so excited at dinner time, he'd back into the water bowl, spilling water all over the place. And it never gets old watching a big dog scramble for the traction on the hardwood floor as the dogs get excited to go outside. Graceful, he was not.
9. That dude hated remote control cars. Hated. We have these trashy neighbors across the street that have this big loud whining remote control car. He'd sit in front of the window barking and growling at it for hours.
10. His tail was like the spawn of a baseball bat and a feather duster. And he was such a happy dog he would thump his tail on the hardwood floors if you just said anything nonsensical in a completely different room. It always cracked us up, hearing the thump-thump-thump; he wouldn't get up or do anything, just lay there and wag his tail against the floor, thumping.

View a couple more photos by clicking on the photo above.