Jake’s Rescue Dog Story

Jake’s Story

We fostered a 15 month old golden lab named Jake who came into care with uncontrolled seizures and associated physical limitations.  The odds really were stacked against him as Jake’s gait pattern was clumsy and uncoordinated. He needed to be lifted in and out of the car and was unable to negotiate uneven terrain or a flight of stairs.  It was hard to believe he is a young dog as he seemed much older with his various problems. On top of all this, he had been starved of opportunities to interact with other dogs and humans too.  In the early stages, even the vet questioned whether Jake could be rehomed due to his medical issues.  Jake certainly had other ideas and surprised us all with his progress. 2 months later, a wonderful family from NSW adopted Jake just in time for Christmas.  With a lot of patience, gentle persistence and unconditional love Jake has really come out of his shell.  Here is their story we’d love to share with you…   

I thought I’d give you an update on Jake.

He’s doing amazingly well and has REALLY bonded with my husband, he follows him everywhere he goes and bounds up to him if they’re ever separated for more than a few minutes. He’s also making firm friends with another dog who lives up the road, who is a lab x who is a few months older than him and full of energy. They bound around the park together and Jake really gets in and wrestles with him. He and Cindi (our other dog) are getting on well too- last night Cindi even was trying to get him to play with her.

He seems to be becoming more agile- one day when we returned from being out he wasn’t at the door (I was very worried!) and we discovered him standing at the top of the stairs, looking a bit sheepish as he clearly managed to get up but wasn’t sure if he wanted to come down. He’s now mastered both directions so he can follow my husband even more intently. He also gets into the car voluntarily now- making trips much easier!!!

He had a lot of fun over Christmas, we went down to the south coast and he was even going into the (very calm) surf with my husband.

He’s a wonderful addition to the family and despite a few chewed shoes and toys, has integrated really well. Hard to imagine what we did with just one dog before!? What a sweetie and how he’s come along in such a short time. Thank you again for all you did for him.