Jessie Arnold Ziffle 2000-2009

For so long, while I had Jessie with me, I had a story in my head that grew and grew and after she died I began to write it. I stopped for a long time and during that time I realized that the reality of Jessie's life was so much more than the book I'd had in my head. It's been over a year now since Jessie died and the grief has not left me. It hasn't really even lessened....I've just learned to hide it better. For over year there has been no day I haven't awakened to the thought of her and gone to sleep praying I would dream of her so I could be with her once again. I have had many other dogs in my life and numerous other animals too - goats, ducks, mice, gerbils, horses & cats. I have love many of them very much but the bond between Jessie and me was so much deeper than any other. People say to me, "It's like you've lost a child". The fact is, the bond was completely different. When I lost Jessie...I lost the better part of me. Our story began before Jessie was born. I'd lost my dog and best friend of 12 years in December of 1999. I swore I'd never get another dog but coming home everyday and not hearing the sound of dog tags jingling began to get to me. I finally decided to get another dog and I wanted a boxer so I began to research them on the internet. It was then that I learned there were actually white boxers. During the research I also learned that white boxers have an increased chance of being deaf but I really didn't care. I finally found a breeder in Lancaster PA who had a female white boxer for sale so I sent a small deposit to hold her till she was 8 weeks old. When she was 7 weeks old I received a call from the breeder telling me he wasn't going to sell her and would send my money back. When I asked why, he told me she was completely deaf, a fact he didn't know when she was first born. I told him I didn't care and wanted her anyway and he said "I was hoping you would say that, I will give you to her free." On March 13th of 2000 I drove with my husband to Lancaster to pick up my new puppy. I do have to say that everyone, especially my husband, was against me getting her. They all said that because she was deaf she would be more aggressive and have more of a startle reflex if you woke her up. I just told everyone flatly that she would NOT! My first introduction to her was watching an 8 pound ball of energy try like crazy to outrun us all.