Tribute to Jones

After putting the kids down for a nap, I obviously have a million things on the list to do, but taking a moment to journal about my first baby, my four legged friend, is a must. Because our days with him are numbered. Jones is getting a new home. **tears** Yes, it's been forever since I've blogged. I don't have tome for it anymore... But I will make time to write about Jones Franklin as a thanks to him for being all we could have ever asked for... So here it goes. Typos will be fixed when I have more time! ------------ The story of Jones: Jeff and I were dating and loved puppies.  We started stopping by pet stores every chance we got.  One Sunday morning after church, we decided it would be fun to once again go see all the cute pups at the Castleton Mall pet store where one of my friends worked.  The store was as busy as could be, as usual in those days.  This was a few years before puppy mills became known and before this pet store closed (yes, we realize our little guy was definitely a product of puppy mills, sad... But at least he has had a good life post puppy mill days)!  Jeff had always liked pugs, but I thought they snored too much (a friend I'd grown up with had one).  I had heard about this new designer type of puppy that was the new hot thing- a puggle- a mix bn a pug and beagle.  I became obsessed with their cute faces!  When we walked up to the store that day, they had a litter of brand new puggles in the bin by the window!  We couldn't believe it and fell in love at once!  We scurried to find a sales rep available that could get a couple out for us to play with. She handed us a boy puggle and as we walked back to a play room, we passed another young couple leaving a play room holding two puggles from the same litter.  They saw us and said, "You have to take this one in, he is a LOVER.  But we already have a one year old puggle at home and he doesn't look a thing like him!". And that is how we found Jones Franklin.  Yes, he was definitely the most different looking puggle from the rest of his brothers and sisters....by. Far he was the cutest bc he had the most precious pug like scrunched up face and he was way less hyper and more snuggly than the others in his litter.  The brother we took to play with kept nipping our toes and jumping all around the room playing while Jones just snuggled up in our arms and seemed too timid to play just yet.  We fell in love with this one and immediately decided to make the plunge and get our first dog together, even tho ugh we weren't even engaged or living together yet!  Jeff paid for him, a big $400 which was a lot at that time!  He also bought a crate(that we tried various attempts at but just didn't work with Jones' people loving personality).  I'll never forget all the "oohs and ahhs" we got from strangers as we carried him out of the mall that day. He was definitely a little anxious in his first days adjusting to his new home.  I remember having to talk calm and sweet to him when he would shake if he wasn't being held.  He was truly a newborn.  We encouraged him to eat by using honey on our fingers.  Sleeping alone in his crate?!  Yeah right.... The sad moans and cries tore us up.  So up in our bed he snuggled.  He was used to curling up with his mommy and brothers and sisters, so it only made sense.  Well, when he got a little older, we decided a dog bed on the floor of our room next to ours was the best place for him at night, and he has been doing tht ever since.   Jones is one of those dogs that never knows a stranger, he'd love on anybody.  We used to say that a burgeler could come in our house and Jones would kiss, lick, and live all over him.  It is just his nature.  So sweet.   When I was 8 months pregnant in Aug. '09, Jones had a bad bout with some allergies (usually show up in the late summer/early fall months).  I was also bed rest with high blood pressure with our first child, and we had nurses that came to run tests on me and baby every day of the week.  We figured Jones could sense the stress and that it exasperated his allergies.  The shampoo and allergy food wasn't working, so we started using a small dose of benadryl.  It only gave partial relief, poor guy.  Then after begging on the couch with me for five straight weeks, I left him for a full six nights to go have my baby.  It was hard on all of us, as the delivery and our sons NICU stay prolpnged the happy moments of getting to bring baby home.  When we finallly came home for good, life with our very colicky newborn was stressful.  I felt so sorry for Jones having to hear the constant wailing of our little Will.  Jones is the type of dog that stays close by if you let him out to potty, but during this time, he began wandering the neighborhood!  I didn't blame the poor guy, he needed a break from all the crying and some fresh air (and smells) always does a dogs heart good.  :). He never ran away, we would just have to go looking for him a couple times.  And we'd always find him hanging out on the other side of our neighbors house sniffing away or playing on the front porch looking in at the barking dogs inside of a window.  So, we had to start leasing him for potty breaks! Life got a lot happier and easier as Will grew up, and Jones allergies went away that winter, thank goodness. Fortunately, we were able to move to a larger house with a big yard in July of '10.  We said goodbye to our first home and jones did so well with the move!  He loved the new smells outside and all the room to roam.  I was pregnant again (by major surprise), and I couldn't handle not trusting Jones to stay close by on potty breaks without being leashed.  We broke down and got a electric fence and Jones adjusted very well to it.  This pregnancy was much smoother, and Jones handled new baby Evy like a champ. My sons allergies kept getting worse, and we tried various different antihistamines, but we always saw negative side effects.  Will lived with a congested nose for about six months before we found something that worked.  But then we realized that this particular medicine (of which he was on a super high dose in order to see relief) just wasn't sitting well with his system.  Taking will off the medicine helped ease the negative side effects, but the constant runny nose, sneezing, and itching never stopped.  When Will started asking that Jones stay out of the playroom and asking for him to go away, we started to wonder.  Wills allergy test for dog came back positive a month or two ago, so we knew it was time to do what was right for both Will and Jones.  And it wasn't fair for Jones to hear Will be so negative toward him.  When Our littlest one, Evy, was tested forfood allergies, we also had them test dog just in case. She tested positive to dog also, but she LOVES Jones and doesn't seem to have any sinus issues with him (yet).   Bottom line, we love Jones and know he deserves only the best.  He needs more personal attention than we are able to give him.  He needs more short walks than time allows us to give him, and he needs a home where people aren't allergic to him. And Will needs us to do this, for him and his health. Shoot, I always called Jones my first baby.  We even took him to sit on Santas lap one year, for goodness sakes.  He was on all of our Christmas cards until 2011.  He's downright the most loyal and sweet dog, kid/people/dog loving and all, that anyone could ask for. At our garage sale a few months ago, everyone loved him.  When I randomly heard that there was someone looking for an older dog who saw his pictures and heard his story, I knew it was meant to be.  Jeff is having an even tougher time with this than I am.  We both hate being in this situation, but know we need to do what is best for all of us, including Jones.  Oh, we will miss him so. Story to be continued...