My Dog Rusty

Our sweet Jack Russell Terrier, Rusty, is sick. He is getting old. I gave him to Joe for Valentine’s day 12 years ago. We had just watched, My Dog Skip, a couple of weeks before and decided we wanted a Jack Russell.  Joe was still living with his parents, so we took him to the farm. And he has lived on Mema’s farm ever since. Even when Joe and I moved in together, we couldn’t take Rusty away from his “farm home”. All of the dogs (there are 5 now) have more freedom on that farm than what they would have living in the city. So we let him stay.

When we lived with Mema, Rusty became Danica’s dog. She would go to his pin and let him out so he could run around the house as fast as he could. Danica would just laugh and laugh. He is so sweet with Danica. Rusty will bark at a stranger for sure; he even tried to bite my brother-in-law one time. Rusty has a reputation of being a mean dog, but it’s just that he is so protective of us. He’s always loved children, though. I can remember taking my niece, Lauren, to Mema’s house when she was around 2 or 3 years old. Mema was so worried about her being around Rusty. But Rusty walked right up to her and licked her hand. Then he let her pet him. It was so sweet. So when we moved Danica to the farm, Rusty was my least concern.

This past weekend, we went to Mema’s house to see Rusty- as we feared it might be the last time we would get to see him. Mema was walking him around the yard on a leash since he has gone blind in one eye. Danica wanted the leash so she could walk him. She sang Doc McStuffin’s theme song to him over and over (we told her he was sick and was going to the doctor the next day).

Then Monday, Mema took him to the doctor. Rusty had a high fever so they gave him a shot to help bring the fever down. They are not talking about “putting him down” right now. It seems they are focused on getting the fever down and making him more comfortable before they make that decision. Mema will be checking in with the doctor next week. Please pray for Rusty and our family as we continue to make decisions about his health and wellbeing. We love you, Rusty!