We all knew this day would come but I'm not sure we were fully prepared to say good-bye to Jessie! Yes, the inevitable has happened, Jessie has been adopted by a wonderful couple, Deane and Janet. They have no other animals or children so Jessie can be top dog, so to speak, in their world. And believe me he will be!
Janet and Deane live on the Tualatin River. Janet is semi-retired and Deane works nights so Jessie will have company most of the time. When it is time to play, he has a wonderful yard and the Tualatin River all to himself. Just down the road, there is a community park area with easy access to the river so this should be an excellent place to introduce Jessie to swimming, since he has never been swimming. Swimming was something we were always looking for in Jessie's recovery, as it would and now will, help rebuild his atrophied muscles.
Janet and Deane's home is two story so this was a new experience for Jessie, going up and down the stairs. He was pretty tentative at first but that was only on the first attempt. By the time we left, he was up and down the stairs like a champ.
Jessie will also be going camping, hiking, backpacking and canoeing on a regular basis. They were set to go camping this week-end but decided to just stay home and bond with Jessie. They were even going to put the tent up to get him used to the idea.
Well, my dear Jessie, we will all miss you terribly! You brought us great concern that turned into unspeakable joy as we traveled with you through your ordeal to your forever home! What an incredible journey we have all been through and I am sure that Janet and Deane will continue to keep us informed as you become firmly ensconced in your new home and routine with two very special humans. Jessie we love you and shall look forward to each episode that keeps us in touch with a very unique boy. So now it is with a mix of joy and sadness that we bring closure to this inspiring chapter in Jessie's life and that of Golden Bond Rescue's ongoing mission.
November 2001
First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to Jesse's hip surgery. He is completely healed. Everyone who meets him for the first time just can't believe that he went through two major surgeries just a few months ago.
Jesse has been with us for almost three months. He is loving, cuddly, energetic, silly, curious and fun to have around. We lost our yellow lab in January, and Jesse has helped us recover from that loss.
We live on the Tualitan river. One of Jesse's first big adventures was to learn how to swim. This took a couple of weeks. He wasn't afraid of the water, he just didn't want to pick up his front feet off the bottom! We kept encouraging him, and helped him out into the water a few times and finally he decided it was worth it it swim out to fetch his favorite toy. Now, we all go swimming together.
The next big adventure was riding in a canoe. He was surprised when the canoe moved as he stepped into it, but it didn't;t take long for him to get into the canoe right in front of Deane. Now Deane and Jesse do on canoe trips on the river-with Jesse sitting quietly or reaching over the side to take a drink of water. So far there has been no tipping over!
Jesse goes camping, to the beach and has gone to work with Janet on several occasions. Janet works part time so Jesse gets to be around one of us most of the time. Janet's workplace has even designated Friday as "Dog day" just so Jesse can go to work with her!
It's fun to see Jesse's muscles and endurance increasing. When he first joined us, Jesse would be tired after walking a couple of blocks. Now he can walk four miles without any problem.
We feel grateful and blessed to have found Jesse.
