How Jake went from foster fail to a 'barky, spunky dog'

Jake was an underweight mess before he met Maggie. Now, as Forrest Gump would say, the two are like peas and carrots.

Jake was what owner Ashley Allcorn calls a “foster fail” in 2015. Allcorn, who had fostered dogs for Dallas Pets Alive! in the past, was representing Dallas Animal Services trying to facilitate transfers of animals to ease the high volume of dogs coming into the Dallas shelters.

While walking the kennels, Allcorn spotted Jake, who at 18 pounds was a tragic sight. “He barely had hair,” she says. “His nose was completely bare, but he wagged his tail, and he had this cute personality. I thought, ‘This is totally the underdog. He could be so cute if someone gave him the time.’”

Jake captured her heart. She snapped a photo of him and told the woman at the front desk to call her if Jake made the euthanasia list. Three days later, representatives called her about Jake. He was on the kill list. Allcorn returned, thinking she would foster him. She reached out to her contacts at Dallas Pets Alive! to sponsor him. He had heartworms and a respiratory infection, and she committed to keeping him healthy.

While Allcorn was nursing him through two months of medical treatment, Jake began wooing housemate Maggie, an older female who is quiet and particular. “He started to bond with Maggie,” Allcorn says. Maggie, a mutt, is a steadying force. “They’d play and lie on the floor and cuddle,” she remembers. “It became really sweet. He knew he was in a safe place. He blossomed into this hilarious terrier. He’s a loud, barky, spunky dog. I just couldn’t let him go. He’s been with us ever since.”