Growing up there were always animals in our house. My parents and I had many dogs, many cats, rabbits, a chinchilla, a mouse, birds, a hermit crab, and fish. And the occasional salamanders or frogs that I collected from the swamp (and then later put back). 

 

In 2008, when I was 17, I convinced my parents to let me get a new dog that was truly just mine. My dad said "as long as it's small." I ended up with a Lab/Bluetick Coonhound/Great Pyrenees mix (not small). One of our favorite vet techs had told us about Petfinder.com and it opened up our eyes to the thousands of dogs in need of adoption. I found a litter of puppies in Alabama that would be transported up to Vermont where we would pick her up off a truck and take her home in April. This was our very first experience with a dog rescue. 

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As a puppy, Jezzie challenged me at times and I wondered why I thought it was a good idea to get a puppy, but really, she was one of the best dogs ever. She was off leash all the time and listened extremely well. She never chewed anything she wasn't supposed to. She loved my black lab, Luke. She came to work with me every single day. She accompanied me through the bank drive-thru to cash my check every week, leaving huge strings of drool on my driver's seat as she waited for her treat. If my parents watched her while I went out, she waited by the window and could hear my car coming while I was still minutes away from pulling into the driveway. 

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Tragically, in the late fall of 2009 after an emergency vet visit, she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, and she did not see her second birthday. There will never be another dog quite like Jezzie. Though her time with me was cut short, she made a huge impact on my life. She was my heart dog, and she inspired me to get into rescue. After she died, I knew what I wanted to call my future business. Ten years later, I finally have Jezzie's Place.

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If interested, you can read Jezzie's whole story, in the four-part blog postings:

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• The Dog of Many Collars - The Beginning

• The Dog of Many Collars - Part II

• The Dog of Many Collars - Part III

• The Dog of Many Collars - The End

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