Jaik-Jaik “Da Baby”

Jaik-Jaik “Da Baby” is a dog of his own reconnaissance. When he runs outside of the house, he simultaneously relieves himself on our flower box and keeps his eyes peeled for the huge German shepherd down the street. Once Jaik knows his archrival is nowhere in sight, and his bladder is almost empty, he waits for me to put his leash on so we can take our walk. Our walks vary and depend solely on whether Jaik wants to empty the rest of his bladder around the corner at the Corgi’s house OR further up the street where his girlfriend Luna the Husky lives. Finally, once he has made his decision between Corgi or Husky, he sits down and puts his paw up. This lets me know, the unaware human, that he is tired and would like to walk back home. It is clear this dog knows what he wants and is very aware of how to ascertain his daily rituals of comfort. Therefore, the fondest memory of Jaik-Jaik is one that falls in place with his character. It was the summer of 2020. I was not feeling well, and Jaik decided that he needed to walk me.

Yes, you read that right. Jaik needed to walk me.

Summer of 2020, like many others, I got Covid. To sum up the ordeal I have asthma, so my lungs were trying their best to get back to normal once I tested negative. I remember trying to leave the house for the first time after I came out of isolation. My blood pressure kept fluctuating and I had to increase the asthma medication and treatment times. I had difficulty breathing but my mother was yelling at me like Rocky Balboa’s coach Mickey. She kept telling me, “Come on and walk! Let’s get those lungs up!” I walked as far as my backyard, looked over at her, and went about my business. I did that well over two weeks. My siblings walked Jaik so I didn’t have to worry about that aspect but most of the time he would join me in the yard. However, one day, as I came down the stairs to walk into the backyard, Jaik looked at me and stood by the front door. I knew he wanted me to take him out and looking at his face I knew that I had to give it a try.

It was humid already even though it was early morning. Jaik bypassed the flowerpot and ignored the German Shepherd down the street. When he and I turned the corner, and I felt my chest tighten up. I told myself I could go at least two more blocks very slowly. Yet, when we reached the end of the corner, Jaik stopped in the shade and sat down. I couldn’t figure out why he stopped so suddenly because we just started walking. Meanwhile, I felt a little fatigued. We waited about five minutes under that shade and my breathing got much better. Suddenly, Jaik stood up, turned around, and started walking back toward the house.

I will summarize the next couple of weeks after that day. My family told me when I was in isolation, Jaik slept outside my door every night. That day, when we were walking, Jaik had also picked up on my breathing and that is why he led me back home. He would do this again the following day and the day after that. Little by little, we would go further. He would stop with me for a moment then turn back around. We did one block…then two…and after a month we were up to full four city blocks.

Jaik became my support animal that summer. We did not train him to be this way. He just knew his human wasn’t at her best. And to this day my family and I are so amazed at how caring Jaik is. I could not have asked for a better fur baby. He is truly my best friend.

Fast-forward to fall 2022, and I am back to normal. However, now when we walk, I let him lead the way…sometimes…because Jaik also has a long-standing beef with squirrels and orange fluffy cats🤔…lol.