My friend owned a pet store in lower Greenville. She’d been trying to get me to foster a dog, and I kept saying I wasn’t ready.  One day, I came in and we were chatting on the couch, with a puppy sleeping on the floor. Before I realized it, he’d gotten up on the couch and curled up in my lap. She had a foster coming, and I told her it wasn’t necessary. After a few hours at home, there was no way I’d let anyone take him away. He was 8 weeks old. I’d just moved here from Chicago after my dad passed away, so I wasn’t working yet. Jack went everywhere with me. Restaurants, parks, in the car, etc. I grew up with dogs, but never had the connection that I do with Jack. To me Jack is my son. My kid. 

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In October of 2018, I started finding drops of blood around the house. I checked both dogs for the source, thinking it was a cut. I’m a worrywart, so I took him to the vet (Jack’s been my medical money pit), who thought he had a sore in his mouth, which apparently heal fast, so we weren’t concerned. However I was still finding blood. In December I took both dogs to the vet. Jack put his nose on my leg leaving smudged blood. The vet thought it might have been sinusitis, so we treated for that. I started seeing blood and mucus dripping from his nose.