This week has been quite wacky with spring-like and summer temperatures for a few days, and we now have snow today, all within a few days of each other! Hopefully, it will really be and feel like spring soon! When the weather was so nice earlier this week, we took Jack for his first dinner outing, at Alex’s request, and he did well! He was a little apprehensive at first, but he quickly settled in! There were even a few dogs also sitting on the patio, and he was delighted to greet the other furry friends! Our Jack has been through a lot, but he is so resilient, and he is making good progress adjusting, and we think he feels like he is “home.” We are still adjusting to him getting up incredibly early, no matter what time we go to bed—he seems to require very little rest! We are so grateful for our Jack—he is full of personality, warmth, and love!
It is difficult to believe it has already been nearly four months with our beloved Jack! The time is really flying!
Here are some fun facts we have learned about Jack over the past four months:
He is my shadow, and he follows me everywhere!
He loves going on walks, no matter what the weather is like outside! He loves really long walks! Jack is so happy when we tell him it is time go on a walk, and he comes racing down the stairs with his tail wagging!
He loves other dogs, he is very social, and he has a few special furry friends in the neighborhood!
He loves eating the ice cubes out of his Yeti water bowl each morning, after breakfast, and he proudly chomps on ice cubes, while sitting on a rug in our bedroom! I often am stepping on ice cubes, while getting ready in the mornings, as they somehow are all over our bedroom floor!
He loves the snow! Alex took him out in the snow and he had a ball!
He loves to cuddle with us during any time of the day or night!
He is physically strong, and he loves to play with us, and he can be very animated!
He loves his toys, he loves to chew, and he is acquiring quite the collection of toys, which he has consequently spreads all over our bedroom floor!
He primarily sleeps on his back!
He loves rolling his entire body onto a warm load of laundry after it immediately comes out of the dryer!
He loves breakfast, dinner, treats, and rawhides, of course! He is always nearby when we are eating a meal!
He wakes up very early, which is a bit different than Biscuit and Victory. He now jumps into our bed, very early, and licks our faces until one of us gets up to let him go potty and feed him breakfast.
He tolerates baths, and Alex kindly puts on her swimsuit to help keep Jack in the bathtub, as he is so agile!
He is not a fan of the vacuum—at all! Alex helps by sitting with Jack when we need to vacuum; otherwise, he will chase the vacuum and constantly bark at it!
He also is not a fan of the car, as we have been visiting the vet regularly to catch up on vaccines, and we only have one more shot to go, thankfully! We hope once it gets warmer, we can start taking him out to eat with us, along with going for ice cream, and other type of fun outings. (Thankfully, we now have medicine to help with his anxiety in the car, which is helpful, and we are confident we can overcome this fear.)
He is an overall resilient and kind-hearted love bug, who has previously been through traumatic events. Most of all, his personality is starting to shine through, as he gets more acclimated and comfortable!
We are so grateful for Jack! His presence has been incredibly helpful to our little family, as he has helped mend our hearts, while simultaneously he has melted our hearts.
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” — Roger Caras
We all miss Victory terribly. We have all experienced such a tremendous loss, that is difficult to articulate. Victory has forever left a positive imprint on our hearts. We know that Victory’s body is free of sickness and pain; and we know her spirit is always with us. I think of all the wonderful gifts Victory gave to us, which we continue to receive. Victory opened our hearts and taught us so much more about ourselves, including how to be better humans. We cannot thank Victory enough for her unconditional love, joy, light, and loyal companionship she brought to our lives. We know in our hearts that Victory would want us to adopt another sheltie rescue like her, so another sheltie rescue can have a second chance to have a wonderful life like Victory and Biscuit. We have always believed that Victory would send us the ‘right’ sheltie at the ‘right’ time.
This past fall, we let the Michigan Sheltie Rescue and its Director, Carol Strotheide, know about Victory’s passing. To our surprise, Victory worked fast; within a month of her passing, she sent us another rescue sheltie named Jack in need of a forever home. Jack is now a one-year old sable sheltie who we recently welcomed to our family in early November 2025. Notably, he came from the same rescue organization, the Michigan Sheltie Rescue, and he was cared for by the same foster mom that saved Victory 12 years ago. It was providence. Jack comes to us from a suspected backyard breeder, where he lived the first months of his life in horrifying conditions—in a filthy, dark barn, where he did not receive proper care. Jack was subsequently purchased, where he lived a short time, including enduring a broken leg, which required orthopedic surgery, for which Jack fully recovered. Jack was then relinquished to the Michigan Sheltie Rescue during the summer of 2025. We truly believe Victory identified Jack to be a member of our family to help heal our hearts, especially Alex’s heart. Alex is delighted to be a “big sister,” and she is excited to have a front-row seat to witness Jack’s transformation.
In early November 2025, we all traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to adopt Jack, a 24 hour trip, round trip! We were excited to meet him in person after his foster mom, Karen, sent us a few photos of Jack. Karen did such a wonderful job over the three months she worked with Jack and cared for him. We will never forget meeting Jack in person for the first time—he was such a handsome little guy who was very nervous, as he had lived in various placements in a short period of time. Jack is precious—his coloring is reminiscent of Victory’s fur coat, he is a bigger build, and he is such a kind little guy. We often say, he does not have a mean bone in his body. Jack has now been with our family for 11 weeks, as I write this post during the snowstorm, hitting the D.C. area pretty hard. When we first brought him home, after a long drive back to Maryland, he was on the move constantly, not really able to settle himself; and any noise really scared and alarmed him. After 11 weeks together, Jack is doing really well. His anxiety has lessened; noises still startle him, and he dislikes the vacuum and the hair dryer, but he is feeling more comfortable overall, we believe. We gave him his first bath, and Alex was such a good sport—she put on her swimsuit, and got in the bathtub with Jack, as it took all three of us to keep Jack in the tub, but we got him bathed! Jack is not a fan of the car, as we have been going to the vet to catch up on his vaccinations, after his initial vet visit this past fall, where he received a clean bill of health, thankfully. We hope when the weather gets warmer, this spring, we will be able to associate the car with positive experiences like going out to dinner, to ice cream, more fun type outings! Presently, we have been working with our vet on implementing a plan to mitigate his anxiety in the car. We are certain with more time, Jack will feel even more confident, and more of his personality will continue to shine through.
Further, Jack absolutely loves his walks, and he is very strong with a ton of energy! He also loves the snow—perhaps he is a Midwest boy at heart! He would walk all day if he could! He already has made friends with many of the other dogs in the neighborhood, and he loves the ladies! He is extremely social! He gets so excited when we say, “Do you want to go for a walk!?” His tail goes up and wags, immediately, and he lets out a few barks! He has found his vocal cords as well! He loves treats and vanilla ice cream (on occasion)! Most of all, he loves being with us. He is my shadow—he follows me everywhere! He loves his toys, which he loves to chew. Jack is an early riser, and we are working on his sleeping in a little on the weekends! Each morning, he jumps into our bed and licks us profusely, wanting to get his day started! Right now, he likes to sleep in his soft crate in our bedroom, but he is spending more and more time in our bed, as he feels more comfortable. He is a smart little sheltie, too—he immediately figured out how to unzip his soft crate (from the interior) right away, so he just roams in and out as he wants, but he is only sleeping in his soft crate, and he likes to be by our side otherwise. We are grateful for Jack, and we look forward to many adventures together with Jack—he is truly a gift to our little family!
Pictured below is a photo of Jack from his foster mom that she sent to us; and a few photos of Jack, including a video since joining our family!
Here is a photo of Jack from his foster mom while he was in the care of the Michigan Sheltie Rescue.
Here is Jack and Alex together on his adoption day!
Here is a more recent photo of Jack!
Here are a few photos of Jack and Alex together since he arrived home.
Here is a recent short video of Jack and Alex! We highly recommend this body leash, Alex loves it!
Here is a photo of our loves, during the recent snow storm!
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