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Jato
Jato was my first heart dog. He took that needle nose of his and wriggled his way right into my heart.
 We got Jato in June 1996, after going to a Recycled Racers adoption reunion. Rob wanted to see the adoption kennels and Sandy, the RR adoption coordinator, said why not. She started showing us dogs and I really liked a black one. However, Jato knew that Rob was the one to impress. When we were getting acquainted with Jato, he kept trying to snatch my hat. So, I tossed it towards Rob, like a frisbee. Jato launched himself and snagged it out of the air. He & Rob played frisbee with my hat for about 15 minutes. Rob was sold. He was sure he had another frisbee dog. Jato came home with us that day. Funny thing is, after he was adopted, he never played frisbee again. He'd look at the flying disc and you could see him thinking, "You want me to do what?"
Jato participated in lure coursing events up until 2000. That year, his last lure course was the 2000 ASFA International Invitational (I.I.), which was held in Colorado Springs in June. It was his second appearance in an I.I. as he also ran in the 1997 ASFA I.I. in Pescadero, CA. He repeated his performance that year and placed 5th in his stakes. Several weeks after the I.I., Jato had a bad reaction to anesthesia after a minor surgical procedure. His body temperature went up to 108 F. My vet, realizing what was happening, immediately put him in an ice water bath, trying to get his temperature down. It did come down, but it had left him with both kidney & some brain damage. Until the day he died, he occasionally suffered from petite mal seizures. Jato went into kidney failure in early 2002 and we helped him along to the Rainbow Bridge.
Jato was a blue brindle. His coat was fawn colored with a haze gray overcast. Upon the fawn background, he had steel gray stripes. He was a neat, neat dog and, at that time, the dog love of my life. He stole my heart and took a piece of it with him when he left. |
