My husband and I adopted Jeffrey when we were 20/21 and admittedly did not realize we were going to have our hands full with an American Bulldog! As a puppy and young dog, Jeffrey loved getting into trouble and eating things he shouldn’t. We couldn’t turn our backs before giant 3 foot holes that he dug would appear in the backyard. We were constantly watching him but he always seemed to “Houdini” into places he shouldn’t, to eat things like: dried cement, drywall, charcoal, wrapped Christmas presents (from a locked car!), baseball gloves, cardboard, anything made of paper, blankets and his favorite- socks (which we finally got him to stop stealing only a few months ago!). He was also so strong as a puppy he had no problem pulling us across the yard!
When we moved from NE Ohio to Columbus as young adults, we were worried on how Jeff would handle apartment living, but thankfully he embraced his new lazy, plushy lifestyle and preferred it. Within a couple years of living in Columbus, Jeffrey had emergency surgery for bladder stones, which he dealt with until his passing- he ended up having two surgeries total and required a special prescription diet (but of course he still snuck into the laundry to eat a sock or two every so often). Besides socks and paper, his favorite food was bananas and could hear a banana peel open from across the house.
Jeffrey had a special gift of being mischievous but everyone he met absolutely loved him. He enjoyed taking advantage of our unsuspecting house guests by waiting until they were distracted, then would sneak into their bags to eat anything he could find that was made of paper. He also loved getting a break from his prescription diet by stealing food from right under peoples’ noses; many a piece of pizza were lost that way.
Jeffrey didn’t have a mean bone in his body and was the definition of a gentle giant. He tolerated lots of things without being phased, for example when I would dress him in coordinating outfits or also loud, high energy things- like a house full of kids.. or his dog sister, Frankie. He loved to outsmart Frankie whenever she was laying in the dog bed he wanted by pretending something was outside the window and barking at “it”, then he’d wait for her to come investigate before stealing the bed back. The only two things he wouldn’t tolerate were: if you wore neon, as he thought it was an offensive fashion choice (sorry neon fans) or if someone was too close to the car, especially on a bicycle.
Jeffrey was a “one of a kind” dog and will truly be missed by everyone who met him. We were blessed to have him in our lives for almost 14 years.
Thank you for making sure his last day was peaceful.
Meg and Andrew B.
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