For those of you that know me, you may already have had the pleasure of meeting Jackie Chan (or a little ankle nip). She is Bolo’s much younger and naughtier sister, She is an enigma into herself.

To say JC has been hard work would be putting it mildly. I’ve had Jackie Chan for 10 years and it’s only just started to get easier! Her nickname is The Terror, more on that another time. And how did she get the name Jackie Chan? Another time on that one, too.

What I can say now is that Jackie had a ‘home’ when I came across her in my last neighborhood. She and her brother, Popeye, were the tiniest things with enormous ears. That’s all I saw of them for the longest time. They would hide out in the brush when I came by walking my dogs, Bolo and Kao Wai, at the ungodly hour of 5am, every morning. They were terrified of everything and everyone.

Must have been a month when I finally saw their bony bodies, and knew they needed more nourishment. So from that day forward, I’d casually walk past them, and then a ways down the street, put some food out. This went on for a short time, maybe some weeks, until they came out and followed us a short distance before running back to the safety of their bushes.

The weeks passed by, and as they did, Jackie Chan and Popeye started to follow us home. That was the beginning of the end, they never left. Sadly Popeye disappeared one day, and Jackie cried in the street for months. It broke her heart. This was all the more reason to take her in. She fell in line with the pack and absolutely fell in love with Bolo and Khao Wai. She and her older sister became inseparable, and Bolo put up with both of them on his terms. He’d earned that, he was already an old man by the time these feisty females came along to live in his house.

When Jackie had lived at her former home (I use this term very loosely), she was constantly tormented and taunted by large groups of teenage boys. There were several occasions where I witnessed someone poking her in the face with a stick. This made her very aggressive towards most people, but especially when someone tries to pet her. This has continued on until today, although she’s great with ‘her people’. She has trust issues, and I don’t blame her. Her early life of neglect and abuse, left an emotional scar on her that has yet to diminish completely.

A few years later, Jackie was heartbroken again when her sister Khao Wai passed away. It’s been only her and Bolo for many years now. She is a loner outside her family, and has no neighborhood friends. She just cannot accept other dogs, mainly other females. This is common enough and Bolo is the same with males. Poor Jackie Chan lives a life not alone, but lonely.

However, I find hope in what is going on with Jackie Chan right now. Bolo is nearing his end of life, and she is changing. Her aggressiveness may never be gone, but our relationship is morphing into something else. She sleeps on the bed now, she never did that before. She reaches out her paw for constant attention, and that too is new. When on walks, she is listening more actively and heeling while I ride my bike. I find this change in her so interesting, and feel so relieved and happy for her that she is settling into life – Better late than never!

She still defers to Bolo and wants to be near him. She feels his time is coming to an end, and she’ll soon be the only one. I feel all things are aligning for Jackie Chan and I to go through our next chapter together, just us girls. I’m giving her all I can right now, I hope with all my heart, she’s feeling that love.

Do you think our pets know when their best friend is nearing the rainbow bridge?