After years and years of begging for a dog, we finally we blessed with our Jack Russell Terrier Jake Ryan Kapolnek. I will never forget the day that Danielle and Mom brought him home and surprised us by calling us into the backyard. He was so little and had what seemed like big awkward paws that he would eventually grow into. He was a very spoiled pup, his favorite food being turkey. Most of the time "turkey" would be the only thing Jake would respond to. He would even hop out of his bed when he heard the lunchmeat drawer in the fridge opening. Jake loved to snuggle and would always be jealous when anyone was loving Mom and not him. He only bit people twice, and that was Eileen and Jim, because he was trying to protect Danielle after Eileen and Jim were ganging up on him. Jake pretty much hated all other dogs. He really hated his cousin Penny, up until about this year when he finally took a liking to her. Penny loved Jake so much and I bet she will miss him. Jake also loved Roxie, the black lab in Door County. Whenever we were getting ready to leave to DC we would always say "Jake you want to see Roxie?!" and he would wag his stumpy tail and bark. 

The best part about Jake would be coming home to him after being away from school. He would wag his whole body and dig his nose into you. And we all know that the only way Jake accepted you is if you sat on the ground and spread your legs. All of our friends always found that weird..

Jake loved Door County the most, even though it required the dreaded car ride where his tail would shrink into his butt and would always require a timely puke session through Milwaukee. He loved running on the beach and grabbing a stick that would 100 times bigger than him. It was always fun digging in the sand and then he would imitate you. Jake hated when any of us kids or Mom and Dad went out on the waverunners. He would run up and down the beach and bark. I hated when he would doggy paddle as far as he could out in the lake because I always thought he would drown. 

Some other things I will never forget about Jake is that he always smelled like Fritos, he ran like a bunny, he could "sit pretty" for hours and he was the best dog in the world. We love him and will miss our sweet baby always. 

Please feel free to share some of your memories about Jake.