Mike Milo’s Journal

Today my dog Jessica died.

She was named after The Allman Bros. song Jessica which you can hear here if you like.

She was my first dog…

I had never owned a pet until Jessica because my mom was allergic. We got Jessie from a rescue center and she was the quietest in the litter of three. I learned later that was typical of a problem dog and that those types were usually difficult dogs. We kept her anyway.

She was a  feisty dog.

Once we tied her up around the other side of a chain link fence because she was bugging our guests and she promptly jumped over it and hung herself. I ran up to the fence and grabbed her then eased her back over the fence again and turned around and sproing! She did it again. this went on for 10 minutes of her constantly hanging herself every time I left her. She was a smart dog. She knew I wouldn’t let her die there so she gambled. And she won.

She was a smart dog.

We had an obedience trainer  come to our house when we first got her to teach her commands and after 6 weeks of training the dog trainer gave up telling us the dog was too smart. Oh she learned the commands but she only did them when she was on a leash. Once she was off, it was a different story and she paid you no mind at all.

She was an energetic dog.

The trainer told us she should have been one of those circus dogs because man could she jump. When she was in her prime Jessica could jump about 8 feet in the air. She had more energy than any dog I’ve ever seen and she would only sit if you sat. If you got up she got up and wanted to know where you were going , what you were doing and made sure she was coming along.

She was a talented dog.

Jessica had feet that she used liked hands. She was smart enough to know that if when you put down a bowl and it kept moving each time she licked it that she should put her paw in it and hold it. When you gave her a bone she would place it between her paws and bite off of it that way holding it like a flute. If she was with you she had to have one paw on your foot like she was holding your hand.

She was a loving dog.

Jessica would always come and find your hand and then nudge it so you could pet her. When she was little she used to find my hand dangling off the couch and position herself so she would be directly below it and it would rest on her tummy.

Jessica was my dog and I will miss her terribly.