Kindred Spirit Shilohs has obtained it's name from our
hearts. We truly feel our Basset Hounds spirit, Jake, has come back
to us in our Shiloh Kodiak. All pets do "quirky" things,
but Jake was truly one of a kind and will always have a special place
in our hearts. His personality and sense of humor (yes dogs do have
them) have returned to us through Kodiak. .I brought Jake home when
he was about 10 weeks old. I was in a pet shop buying some crickets
for my sons Iguana when I saw his sad beautiful face in a cage. What
kind of life was this puppy going to have if he weren't rescued from
this sad way of life. Besides, it was love at first sight.

Jake was my buddy. We went everywhere together, from
camping, fishing & crabbing, hiking, to Canine Companion events and also joined
me at work quite frequently on weekends. He was patient with my sons, even
when Timmy decided to use him as the "motor" while wearing
his roller blades. Jake just chugged along pulling Timmy all over the
neighborhood. What fun they had!
Jake endured many things in his life, including the
dreaded doggy-costume parades. They include being a NYPD cop, equipped
with play cap gun, holster & badge, on to being a drag queen bride.
He had the perfect face for it all and everyone he met just loved him.
One of the funniest things Jake ever did was truly unintentional
but we still laugh about it. I had always joked around with him telling
him to "pee
on Daddy" when he was teasing him with a treat or toy. It was always
in fun and Jake of course never did it, but we had fun with it. "Come
on Jake....just once, pee on him"!!!
When we brought him home from the hospital after his
back surgery, he had to wear a sling under his abdomen because he was
still paralyzed in his back end. We were walking to the truck, and
while digging for his car keys, John suddenly felt something wet on
his leg. When he looked down, there was Jake's happy face just looking
around.....happy to be going home and peeing all of his Daddy! Being
paralyzed, he had no bladder control and wearing the sling had pushed
his "winkie" to
the side. Oh how we laughed. That even in such a difficult situation,
Jake brought tears of laughter to our faces. J
akes last few years weren't easy
on him. He suffered pneumonia, lyme disease, 2 ruptured discs that compressed
his spinal chord so severely he was instantly paralyzed in his back end.
We couldn't stand loosing Jake yet, and he underwent surgery. Several weeks
later, he started showing signs of regaining some mobility in his rear
legs.
This was fantastic, but seeing that waggly tail moving again
when he saw us enter the room was amazing. We sadly lost Jake 1 1/2yrs
later, shortly before his 11th birthday to Lymphoma. Jake was an unconditional
loving member of our family and is deeply missed.