December 1999 to June 2000

I often use the phrase “poor Jesse” when talking about him and the reason for that is rooted in the events of the day we picked him up. It was the morning of Boxing Day 1999 that we set out for Horsham to get Jesse and we left Jemima at home so we could concentrate on Jesse in the way home. We arrived at the Subercaseauxs and knocked on the door. After a minute or so Mr Subercaseaux opened up and we exchanged pleasantries. There was no going back now and I could feel the strain in his voice. There was no crossing of the threshold either. Jesse was handed over together with his towel. Mr Subercaseauxs eyes welled up and I nearly did the same. “Don’t worry” I said softly, “I’ll look after him”. We said brief goodbyes and left. We put Jesse in the back seat with me sitting next to him. As we drove away Jesse jumped up on the back seat with his giant paws over and looked back at his old home. I almost cried. Thinking back to the moment still brings back the same feeling. Right there, right then, Jesse had no idea what was happening to him except he was being taken away from those that he loved. He stared back as his old life was left behind. He carried on looking back even after we turned the corner at the end of the street until I pulled him down “Come on Jesse, don’t look back, Jemimas waiting for you when we get home”.

Poor Jesse. He fell on his feet with Christine and I but I still feel the sadness of that moment. He seemed to forget everything when we got back to Jam Pot Cottage however. As soon as he saw Jemima he bounded into action with the odd loping run that he had but Jemima was not happy. The interloper was back and this time on her turf. We put them in the garden together for what became a repeat of the previous week with Jesse trying to play and eventually Jemima flattening him. We tried to get her to go easy on Jesse but she was not amused. You could play a game with just Jemima and she would be fine but as soon as Jesse was introduced she would stop and walk away. Later on that first night we introduced Jesse to his bed but he hopped out and jumped in with Jemima. He settled in next to her but as he did so Jemima looked up in disgust and got out to lie on the floor. The evil looks she sent my way that day are legendary!

The intransigent behaviour continued for a number of days and we wondered whether the whole thing might have been a mistake. Jemima was put out in a very real way. It got to the point where Jesse would walk into the room and she would walk out which meant that evenings in front of the TV were often spent with just Jesse. Jemima would take her place at the top of the stairs and every now and then would venture downstairs, take a quick look to see if Jesse was still there, but when seeing that he was she would leave again. After a few weeks Jemima managed to bear being in the same room as Jesse and I had to work hard with giving her attention to get that far. Doggy games gradually got better with Jemima occasionally allowing Jesse to hold the other end of a tug rope at the same time but I wondered if she would ever come round to liking Jesse at all.

It took 6 months. One saturday evening in mid June as we were sitting watching TV Jemima entered the room. I cannot explain why but she seemed different. Perhaps it was the look on her face or the slightly wagging tail. “Hello moomin”, one of her many nicknames, I said in an encouraging voice. She ignored me, walked straight up to Jesse who was lying by our feet, and began licking his head and his face. My heart leapt! “Look!” I said to Christine excitedly. Jesse stood up and Jemima gave him attention – lots of it.

From that moment on she took him in – Jesse was her friend finally and he adored her even more as did I. Looking back I had expected something different to happen, for Jemima to accept him after a few days or at the most a week or two. The way it turned out was more difficult but the moment of acceptance was heartwarming. I don’t know why it happened right then and in such a lovely way but I was lucky to witness it. Jemima still flattened Jesse once or twice a day still but as it was more playful Jesse, as well as I, enjoyed it immensely.