She came down the lane nearly thirteen years ago, a sad little black pup. Her eyes were downcast, as if she thought she had done something wrong, to be abandoned on a country road alone. Ann met her as she was walking our two dogs that morning, and decided this little creature couldn't be left to the perils of a life without a home.

Although we felt there was little chance of success, we tried to find the owner of this sweet little pup. We failed, and to our everlasting good fortune we decided to keep her. She was named Jem, and a gem she was.

She quickly became a member of our family which included two other dogs and two Siamese cats. Although Jem tolerated the cats, she always looked faintly annoyed when one of them leapt over her as she rested in her favorite doorway.

When Jem was about five years old, we moved to a larger acreage with a field and small woodlot. Her greatest pleasure was "sweeping" the pasture for "prey" and I can still see her, tail high and nose to the ground, showing what surely was a hound's lineage in her demeanor. Although she was a determined and often successful hunter of small rodents, Jem was a sweet-tempered and loving companion to her family, human and animal. As she aged, her activity level decreased but her sweet nature never changed. After we had said our final goodbyes, our wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Linda, wrote "Jem was the luckiest dog in the world the day she stepped into your lives". Ann and I feel the luck was all ours, to have known and cared for this loving and faithful canine companion for nearly thirteen years.

Jem was cared for in her early years by Dr. Dennis Cowles of the Coralville Animal Clinic in Iowa, and later by Dr. Linda Sifford at the Root River Veterinary Center in Preston, Minnesota.