Jake was a blue roan working boy who we lost last November, after a long 18 month battle against renal failure it was time to let him go. He was everything you'd want from a dog as he was a great companion and no matter what mood you were in he could always cheer you up. A credit to his breed he was extremely energetic and playful, particularly enjoying the water which he just loved being in to the stage he would swim more than walk when possible. He always looked on the bright side of life and just took whatever life threw at him and kept on going.
Jake also gave me photography as a hobby, when I was younger I had little interest in cameras but when at uni my Mum had developed a spool of photos to keep with me to remind of Jake. As digital cameras came down a bit in price I invested in my first one (A Fuji Finepix 1400z) so I could have some more pictures of Jake while away but I found I enjoyed using the camera and spent more and more time with it. Over the years I've gradually moved up from a 1MP point and shoot compact camera up to an SLR pro-spec setup. Jake was always my main subject as he didn't mind posing for pictures, sitting where he was told and waiting until he heard the whack of the shutter before moving. Now of course I'm so glad to have such a large collection of pictures of Jake as it truly means he can never be forgotten.
This picture probably remains my favourite of him taken a couple of years ago down in the Lake District where Jake loved the abundance of water to play in:
A gallery with a selection of his pictures over the years is here:
http://johnmcl7.smugmug.com/Jake/Jake-1996-to-2009/10085388_BKAdu#692120923_hmHe9
