Merlin

Here there were beautiful collies that needed loving, responsible owners. I saw a lovely young female collie that Cynthia and I discussed and agreed to apply for. However, when I brought up the NorCal Collie page the next day to begin the process, there was a new collie on the ‘available for adoption’ page. This collie was not female; it was not young. This was an almost ten year old purebred male who had drawn a very poor card in the game of life. This was Jake.

Jake had been removed from his owners in very poor condition, practically hairless and covered with sores. He was highly allergic and had probably been given the wrong sorts of food for most of his life. At his advanced age he would normally be made comfortable and put out of his misery. But there was something about Jake. Karen Boselly and the other good people at NorCal Collie Rescue saw that indefinable something, so they provided expert veterinary care and worked very hard on Jake, slowly restoring him to health over a period of months. Thank goodness that they did. I didn’t know it at the time, but that turned out to be one of the luckiest days of my life. Jake’s, too.

After I saw the information on Jake I felt immediately that he was destined to live out his days on our farm. I know that most people want a younger dog, as we thought we did at first. But I could see something in the photos and the description of Jake. I thought he deserved a good home for the rest of his life, however short that might be. I thought that Jake was a dog who would make the very most of a second chance at life.

I completed the adoption request and submitted it. Then the interview process and vetting of us and our property began. The word “thorough” does not do justice to the approach undertaken by NorCal Collie Rescue. When they say they want good homes for their animals, they mean it, and they want to be absolutely certain of it. In good time we were approved and I drove from our farm on the Mendocino Coast to the Sacramento area to pick up Jake. On the drive home through the Navarro Redwoods I pulled over to the side of the road and Jake and I made a bargain. I promised him a loving home, a forever home, and in return he promised to be everything a good collie should be.

And so began my training in how to live calmly, happily, and to the fullest. Jake came into our lives with all those virtues fully developed. He and Bonnie immediately took to each other. Within two days you would have thought they had always been together. He followed me around as I did my chores and he was always there at the gate to greet me when I came out of a stock paddock. When I worked in the garden he found a good spot nearby where he was close enough to supervise and far enough away not to impede. When I read he slept on the floor nearby. And Bonnie was once again the active collie she had been before.

Jake came to us with a special toy, a small ‘Winnie the Pooh’ doll that one of his rescuers had given him. He was very protective of Winnie. Soon he had more toy animals to go along with Winnie, including several that squeaked when chomped down on. If things around the house were slow and needed livening up, out came the squeaky toys. Jake would toss them in the air and catch them, making them squeak. He could routinely get two of them in his mouth at once and occasionally got all three of them. It was a veritable symphony of squeaky toys. If a guest looked bored, out came the squeaky toys. If there was dancing and singing, out came the squeaky toys. If someone was under the weather, Jake brought them his Winnie the Pooh to comfort them. Jake always knew what was needed to make things better.

Wherever Jake went he made friends. People liked Jake. He smiled at people. He was a large, rangy collie, probably slightly larger than the breed standard for the show ring. But Jake didn’t care about the show ring. He cared about being with his family and with being kind to all he met. I referred to him as the “Jeff Bridges of collies” – big, easy going, happy, and a cool dude in a laid back way. He was comfortable in every setting he found himself. It was evident early on that Jake had a wholly admirable approach to life, one that we would all be the better for following.

Jake lived with us for twenty-one months. During that time he was my happy companion every day on the farm. Over his final two days his health deteriorated very quickly, but he was always himself, even at the end. On his final day he made the daily rounds with me, very slowly and with difficulty, but he did it. It was his job, and it needed to be done. So he did it. And he was happy.

When we took him to the vet’s office for the final time he could no longer get up unassisted and congestive heart failure had caused fluid buildup in his lungs. I carried him up the steps into the vet’s office, but in the waiting room I let him stand on his own, as he preferred. A woman in the waiting room looked at him, stroked his head, and said to me: “This dog has the loveliest smile.” Truer words were never spoken. He was Jake to the very end.

Jake’s time with us seems painfully short. But I would not for a moment change our decision to adopt Jake, this remarkable older collie. Quite simply, he is the most memorable, most rewarding dog I have ever had. He was happy. He made me happy. He made everyone around him happy. We both fulfilled our part of the bargain with highest possible marks.