Jackson gets a new friend

Two and a half years ago when I was moving into my apartment in Southern California I had a bad experience with Jackson. Unbeknownst to me the owners had installed an illegal staircase onto the roof of their three story house. I rented the downstairs floor while the upstairs guys had the second and third floors. I left him in the backyard one day so I could go to work and when I came home on my break I saw not only a moving van but also Jackson's body in a motionless lump on the driveway surrounded by my new neighbors who were moving in upstairs. The first thing out of the man's mouth was "Your dog fell off the roof!" I yelled back "The roof?! What the hell was he doing on the roof? How...?" It didn't matter by then. Jackson heard the voices of the people moving in and wanting company had sought them out. Unfortunately he found his way to the illegal staircase. He fell twenty feet to a half concrete half dirt surface.

I ran up to them feeling my pulse quickening and that sickly feeling in my stomach. Jackson lay there convulsing and drooling heavily and all I could do right then is stroke his face and hair and let him know I was there. As soon as he felt people's hands on him he improved and seemed to be snapping out of it. The new neighbors had a dog, an older black Lab named Elvis who came over and seemed genuinely concerned about Jackson. He came right up to him and laid down right next to him. Even in my agitated state I noticed this and thought it was remarkable. I turned to talk to my new neighbors to try to fill in the blanks about what happened while I was gone. When I turned back around I saw that Jackson was gone! I ran back to my open apartment door and went inside and there he was, lying on the living room floor. I guess he felt safe and being traumatized like that I think he was just literally looking for a security blanket. But the funny thing was that Elvis disappeared with him and when we burst into the living room both dogs were there. Elvis was keeping an eye on his very hurt friend. I'd never seen anything like that. That dog had such empathy and after Jackson recovered (the full body X-ray cost me a fortune) they became best buddies.



When I took Jackson to the vet they gave him a full body X-ray. There weren't any broken bones, fractures or internal bleeding. The doctors were astounded that he wasn't messed up more than he was from such a high fall. But he was hurting really badly and the bruising was very deep. He came out of X-ray limping slowly and wearing a bandana around his neck that the staff had put on him. His kerchief was white and had red hearts all over it. I let him wear it for the better part of a year before it became too dog-eared (pun intended) but I put it away for safekeeping. That will remind me of this little scare. I can't help but think that it did Jackson's slight case of arthritis no good at all. That breed and size of dog gets hip dysplasia and not suffering trauma is a really good thing especially when they get up in years like he is right now. In the meantime I had to give Jackson his pain pills and listen to him groan loudly whenever he laid down. It must have hurt bad, poor guy. But it all turned out OK. Jackson not only made a friend but now also makes a fashion statement. Pretty spiffy.