Missing You Always Capt. Jack


  • I'm new to this forum so I didn't get to know Jack through the posts but I know from previous experience that cancer can be a tough thing to deal with in a dog. I am very sorry for your loss and the pain you've been through.

    Believe me, cancer causes a lot of pain and irritation for a dog so you can be relieved that Jack will no longer have to deal with that. Further, cancer can cause a lot of behavioral symptoms without a lot of outward physical symptoms so you should not blame yourself for either Jack's biting or not finding the cancer sooner. It may not have been medically possible to find it any sooner.

    My prayers for you and for Jack. Know that his spirit will always be with you and he is looking down on you and smiling his wrinkley faced smile.


  • So truly sorry for your loss but at least he is no longer in pain.


  • I'm so sorry to hear about Jack. Like many people here I felt like I knew Jack as well just from reading all of your stories. Having had to make the decision to put a dog down for biting I know the guilt that comes with feeling like maybe you could have done more for him but just reading about all of the work you did with him, know that you did all you can. Again I am so sorry that this was something you've had to endure. Jack and your stories about him will be sadly missed. Your family will be in our thoughts.


  • So sorry for your loss, your family will be in my prayers.


  • I am so very sorry to hear about Capt. Jack. From the first post I read about Jack I knew he was a great Basenji. Not only did he have a cool name he had a loving and devoted family in you and your husband. Then along came Aiden and Jack loved him too once he got over the jealousy. They were a great team and I am so glad you have pictures of them together. You were a great Basenji Mom, so remember that. You stuck it out when he was having a hard time adjusting to the new baby and you trusted Jack with your most treasured gift, Aiden. He loved Aiden, and Aiden loved him, that is the great gift that pets give us, they love us unconditionally, even if you have yucky baby food on your face. haha!!!! So be glad that he is not going to have that battle with cancer, you saved him really, now he is resting Pain Free!!!!


  • So sorry for your lost… We loved Capt. Jack, too, through all your postings, and we're glad you took the time to share them... Remember the old saying, "...It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all..."

    Capt. Jack loved you and at Rainbow Bridge, you know he's pain-free and waiting for y'all to be together again...


  • Lycia and I are offer deep condolences. I'm sure the decision was beyond impossible…But it will be ok, life always works itself out, he didn't have to suffer in sickness which is a blessing. hugs and warm thoughts from us across the pond.


  • IT is the hardest thing we do as caretakers - to do what's best to ensure our treasured companions do not suffer. We all mourn with you for your Jack and the others that we have waiting for us at the Bridge.


  • Okay, I think I'm ready to offer my deepest condolences. Honestly, I have been avoiding this post because I can't stand the thought of Jack being gone.
    I think we've all been through so much with him via your posts – from the beginning when you first joined, through Aiden's arrival, the dog bite issues.....

    It just makes me so sad. I am so very, very sorry.

    Glad you're sticking around and hope to meet your next Basenji when you are ready and the right dog presents itself in need of your home!


  • Thank you all again!! This whole group really helped me get over the tough days!! Thanks!!

    Kira and Aiden


  • I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I know that it's been a while since you posted, but I also know what it's like to lose a companion to cancer, I lost my Kelley (Rhodesian Ridgeback) to bone cancer last November 2007. I then lost my Father to (Prostrate Carcinoma) Bone Cancer July 13, 2008; and I just laid to rest a very wonderful friend of mine named Dwayne who lost his battle w/liver cancer (started as lung cancer) August 26, 2008.

    Cancer is extremely painful, sometimes animals (and humans) hide their pain and discomfort from those they love, because they don't want to be treated any different; and they always seem to rally just before they leave this world.

    My prayers are with you and your family; even though it as been a while, if you're like me the pain seems to never go away.


  • I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Jack was lucky to have you and your family while he was here.


  • Kira, just to let you know I'm still thinking of you and your family. I hope your healing of the heart has started. I'm so sorry it's such a long road.

    Unfortunately, it's a road many of us have had to travel, but never in your shoes.

    Please know I think of you and Aiden often. Dawn(Snorky)


  • I am sorry too and I understand how you are feeling, I lost Vickie last year (an italian greyhound - was poisonned by someone by rat poison) and I swore I wouldn't take another dog until I saw Anubie my Basenji. Now I am waiting for results of analysis of nodules that were removed on Tuesday on the suspicion of cancer. It is heartbreaking for you but you will always keep your Jack in your heart and you took the right decision. It is hard to get one's companion put down, but believe me, when my brother got his sherperd dog put down two years ago because of cancer, he was right, he waited for a long time , the dog was just a pack of bones, being sick all the time and at one point, it was better to say goddbye to her and stop her suffering. We never replace our lost companions but we may meet another one one day that needs a caring home and well…Good luck and don't feel guilty.


  • @Capt_Jack_our_Basenji:

    Thank you all for your prayers! I cannot go into all the details, but unfortunatly Jack bit the neighbor & a Police Officer and since he has a bite record We got a warning of Eviction from the Navy Housing so we had no choice but to try and find him a new home (as our house now has TONS of children in our yard bc we are next to a playground now) BRAT was the first I called and they told me that since he has a bite record they cannot take him and their advice was to have him put down. No vet would put him down (trust me that was my LAST resort) and the Vets said I should give him to the pound…The Pound wouldnt take him either bc of the bite record and said if I tried to sell him Id get sued if he bit the next owner...I contacted the Animal control who delt with his Quarinteen and know Jack well and they offered to take him and think about finding a foster home but under a deadline...Needless to say, because of Liability, there was no other option. To make matters worse, the vet that took Jack said he had cancer that showed up in his xrays...and told me that the pain from that could have been the cause of Jacks biting...We decided after MUCH thought that the best thing to do would be to put him down...i feel like I failed Jack and its all my fault...I should have found the cancer faster...maybe i could have done somthing...

    Huggs to you from Squiggy and I.
    I am really sorry. I havent been here for awhile but always enjoyed your posts. Your love for jack and your family always touched me.
    I cant believe I am tearing up over a dog and family I only know through here. But you and your pictures and stories
    have always touched me.
    I hope you know you did the right thing and gave Jack a wonderful life while he was here.
    You are in my thoughts and prayers.


  • Hi Kira

    I haven't been here in a long time. I actually recently had twin girls. I came here "looking" for you to see how Jack was doing with Aiden. I had so many questions to ask and I found this instead.

    My heart broke & the tears were overwhelming to see what happened to little Jack. I'm SOOOO incredibly sorry for your loss. It sounds like it was an impossible situation with not many options. I'm so sorry Aiden lost his little pal too. My husband sometimes thinks about how our girls will be so sad when our dogs have to cross over. It's all they'll ever know.

    HUGS TO YOU from one B-mommy to another!! Here's to you Capt. Jack may your little B spirit live on & I hope you have big fields to run & play up there 🙂

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