NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — For a few years, we lived on a cul-de-sac in Walton Hills. We had almost two acres and the world’s best neighbors.
Our neighbor Jeff and my husband, Bill, were constructing a lower deck behind our house. Jeff knew we had just lost our rescue dog, Diesel, to kidney failure and were hoping to find another dog. He told us that someone he knew had one dog left in their litter of English mastiffs.
We visited the family, fell in love with Jax, and brought him home. He was 125 pounds and a year old. Still a puppy — a very large puppy.
He proceeded to gnaw on one of our leather couches, chewed up a Longaberger basket, munched on the floor moldings, etc. I then discovered that he loved to chew up boxes that had large pieces of cheese inside. Cleaning up the shredded boxes became very old quickly!
On a visit to his veterinarian’s office, I discovered pet-safe chewies – a miracle that solved the problem.
We didn’t have a fenced yard, but Jax was good at just walking around the property. One day, I couldn’t find him and was walking around looking for him. A neighbor was driving by and informed me that Jax was at the stop sign.
As I hustled up the street, I saw that he was walking back home along the side of the road.
Another time, he wandered over into another neighbor’s yard and was looking into their back window. He surprised them — and also himself! He immediately hightailed it home.
We are now living in North Olmsted. Jax spends the majority of the day playing “neighborhood watch” (barking at anyone who walks on the sidewalk and at those pesky squirrels).
He is 8 years old now and arthritis has slowed him down. But he is still the love of our lives.
Ted the standard poodle has tons of energy. (Photo Courtesy of Bill and Dotti Root)
Ted is the other love of our lives. Again, back in Walton Hills, our next-door neighbor’s daughter was pregnant with her third boy and needed a new home for their family dog. We agreed to a week’s trial to see if Ted would adapt to our home and to Jax.
It turned out to be a good fit. Ted has become Jax’s personal trainer, making certain that Jax is exercised.
Since a fence was impossible on our property there, we had gates installed on all of the openings on our decks. The dogs would lie on the upper decks and watch the deer and squirrels in the woods below our house.
To my enjoyment, Ted is a ball player. I found a sling that tosses a rubber ball 100 feet. It is a great way to exercise him, as being a standard poodle, he has lots of energy.
Now in North Olmsted, we have over an acre of fully fenced land, which is a very good thing since Ted loves to run anywhere as fast as possible. Daily, we let the boys outside knowing that they are safe.
But then one day, they disappeared. How could that be possible, since the fencing was 4 to 6 feet high? Walking along the back of the property, we found a very large gap in the chain link fence — their escape route.
We called them, and they came running back into the yard. My husband found a number of items in the garage to mend the fence until we come up with a better solution next year.
Bill and Dotti Root,
North Olmsted
Do you share your life with an animal that is near and dear to you? Tell us something about your pet – all species are welcome – and send along a photo of the two of you. Be sure to tell us which Greater Cleveland community you live in. Send everything to Ann Norman at anorman@cleveland.com.
