Jake's 1st Adoptiversary

One year ago today, we brought Jake home to become part of our family. It's crazy to think it's been a year already and yet, it seems like we've had Jake forever.

It was a Thursday and I was just going to drive 4 hours to Milwaukee to "see" Jake... not bring him home. I had no idea at the time how he would capture our hearts and how well Charlie would accept him.

That was our biggest hurdle: Charlie's acceptance of another dog. With her fear-aggressiveness toward other dogs, I thought we'd never be able to get a second dog. But in letting Charlie choose Jake, it worked like magic.

The day after we brought him home, we had a big April snowstorm. Jake adored the snow and had so much fun playing with Charlie in the backyard. I knew then that our Wisconsin winters would not affect this Texas-born rescue dog!

April 2018

April 2018

Just a few days ago we had another huge April snowstorm... almost exactly a year to the day from Jake's first snow in Wausau. I had to smile at the irony. And once again, he was in the backyard like a kid on Christmas morning... so excited with the fresh blanket of new snow.

April 2019

VIDEO (April 11th Snowstorm):

VIDEO (Snowstorm Shenanigans):

Jake was not the dog I thought I wanted. He was not the dog I had intended on adopting. But sometimes life chooses for you... and you get what you need, not necessarily what you want.

I needed Jake more than I knew at the time. He is Charlie's opposite in so many ways and compliments our life perfectly. Our family feels whole with Jake in it.

Jake is very social and wants to meet ALL the dogs and ALL the people when we're out on walks. It's hard to tell him that not everyone wants to meet him though! I can take Jake anywhere and know that he'll be fine. He's not scared of anything, whereas Charlie is scared of almost everything. He's very chill and easy-going.

Jake is a cuddler and a lover. He wants nothing more than to be as close to his "pack" as possible. He insists on giving kisses and full-body hugs every day, every chance he gets. He follows me around and I call him a "mama's boy," but I know he loves his Charlie more than anyone else.

When I take the dogs for their separate nightly walks, Jake howls and cries the whole time we're gone. I know he misses me, but it's Charlie that he doesn't want to be separated from. He probably annoys her like a little brother, but they really do love each other.

Charlie has a spring in her step again and playfully wrestles and teases Jake all the time. She romps with him in the backyard and take turns chasing each other. They are hiking companions and she shows Jake everything she knows.

Jake makes me laugh every single day. He's a goofball to the core. I don't think he even knows how funny he is, which makes him even funnier. He's got a bouncy step when he walks and his ears flop playfully as he prances about.

He's a youngster at heart with a short attention span, going from one toy to the next always looking for fun. Jake likes to sleep as close to me as possible. Every time he gets up to rearrange himself during the night, he plops on top of me and slides off leaving himself tightly pressed up against me until I need to push him away to gather my blankets back around me. Even if I seem annoyed, he makes me smile and laugh because he's just so sweet and innocent.

I'm so happy to have this love-monster in my life and he makes us all so happy!