We adopted Jake when he was 1 year old. He had been beaten with a baseball bat. He was so afraid of humans. There were times when we thought we we going to have to give up on him. It took 6 months to get him to wag his tail. He was with us 11 years. He was my husbands buddy. We miss the big goofball. Mikes tribute to Jake: We had to say goodby to a very close and loyal companion last week. Jake was quite a guy, glad we where able to save him from a bad start in life. His spirit was just about broken when we brought him home, didn’t realize it and it took some time to make him happy again. It was amazing to me that he seemed to take the kids in. Would’ve had pity on the poor SOB that ever messed with them while he was around. Dogs have spirit, loyalty, and grace that a lot of humans simply do not have, they possess magic that no other animal on earth has.