Jackson Gepperheimer

So, I'm going about my business, living my life away, thinking I have the cutest dog ever, and come to find out not everyone thinks so! **GASP** **SHOCK** **HORROR** I never knew people felt this way! After I posted the picture of Jackson on my blog last night I was talking to my mom and said, "OMG can you even stand that dog? Look how cute he is!!" She goes..."Well, he's not really that cute." WHAT???? REALLY? I MEAN REALLY MOM???? We have had him 5 years now and I'm just finding this out??? What does she see that I don't see? Or actually what do I see that she does not see??? I see such a precious little face when I look at him. Such sweet eyes. Sure I felt that other people in the family thought their dogs were cuter than mine.....(cough, no names mentioned here, cough, TERRI..., LOL), but Whateva, ya know???

There is no doubt, the Gepperheimer has issues. We adopted him from Angels for Animals in Salem Ohio. John still flips them off when he drives by, LOL! I had requested a terrier-type dog. They called me and we went in, and thinking I was getting a Schnauzer or something like it, I was surprised to see this big 40+ pound rust colored dog, with a funky ear that sticks out (above it looks like it is laying back, but that ear actually sticks straight out), part something and part something else, with a wee bit of terrier somewhere down the line. Wait, this was not the dog I had imagined!! However, 10 minutes in the room with him and I realized that this dog was a sweetie pie and we definitely wanted him. This could have possibly happened with any dog they brought into that room. Jackson just happened to be the lucky one. From the minute we brought him home, at 2 years old, he was deathly afraid of John. Funny enough, all John was looking for was "Mans Best Friend." The dog is terrified of him, even 5 years into it. Travis darn near tortures the thing when they play and he is fine, but if John looks at the dog the wrong way, he cowers and hides. We have deduced that he was abused by someone who looked amazingly like John. We also figured out that he was left outside on a chain, because when it is raining, the dog will hold his business all day long rather than go outside. He also, in the 5 years we have had him, has NEVER let John put him out on his chain to go to the bathroom. When he gets excited he tends to pee.....often marking the shoes of unsuspecting guests coming for a visit, however, this has gotten much better and is almost a non-existent trait now. He also does not like to be disturbed when he is sleeping, and he is every bit as grouchy as Travis if you wake him up before he is ready.

All of this and I still love the little guy. It is amazing the joy a dog can bring to your life. Such complete and unconditional love. You can yell at them for barking in the yard, and yet let them in and they will lick your face off! You leave them all day long in a kennel in the basement, and yet when you come home they are so darn happy to see ya, they could care less what their day was like. They are just looking forward!! When he runs up to me with his one ear sticking straight out, showing me his "boo boo" for a treat, it just amazes me! I love his little self!!

I guess the gist of this post is that even though not everyone see's what I see in Jackson Gepperheimer, I'm the lucky one who gets to take care of him every single day! So it doesn't matter what anyone thinks!! What an epiphany! Life is good!!!