ernie's story

Ernie’s life started in Texas in 2016. We are not sure about the details of his start but we know it wasn’t kind. He was found in the streets of Austin around 6 months old, taken to a shelter where the National Anatolian Shepard Rescue Network (NASRN) found him. They took him from the shelter and placed him with a foster family. A very loving older couple that couldn’t adopt dogs anymore because of their age but wanted to still have dogs in their lives. They had fostered over one hundred dogs and Ernie was the only one to temp them to have a “foster fail”, which means it started as a foster and ended in adoption. 

A month before Nate’s birthday in 2017, Nate jokingly said he wanted to adopt this really cute dog but we would have to drive to Texas to get him. I laughed at him and shrugged him off. We had adopted our first dog, Kobe Pau in 2009. We always toyed with the idea of adopting another but it just never seemed like the right fit. Nate had shared the post with me two days before his birthday, when I saw him, I knew I had to have him. 

On Nate’s birthday, we had gone shopping in Omaha. We had been throwing the idea around for two days whether to adopt Ernie. Finally, standing in The Container Store, we sent the email to inquire about him. By the next day it was official, Ernie would be making the trek north the following weekend. NASRN set up all the details to transport as far as Salina, KS. He would travel with a different person starting Saturday morning up to 100 miles each person, stay over night in a volunteers house and continue the next day. Nate and our friend, Justin met the last volunteer in Salina on Sunday and brought him home.

Kobe and I awaited their arrival anxiously. Ernie made himself at home immediately. I wanted to change his name to Newt (as in Newt Scamander) but when they got home, Nate said we couldn’t change it, “he is an Ernie”. So he became Ernie Scamander Jarecke. They got along and it was nice to see Kobe being a puppy again. Although, we could tell Kobe kept wondering when he was going to leave.

We knew Ernie didn’t have an easy start in life but it did not prepare us for the level of separation anxiety he had. Over the next two years, we tried everything imaginable to help him through it. We started with a kennel and he would escape it to point where he would hurt himself just to get out. We would come home and he would have huge scratches down his abdomen. Eventually, we decided to leave him out of the kennel so he didn’t strangle himself trying to escape it. 

They say your first year of marriage is the hardest. Nate and I had gotten married in October of 2016 and us being together was the easiest part about that first year. Little did we know we were in for the worst year of our lives. On top of the anxiety of never knowing what we were going to walk into when we came home, Kobe passed away unexpectedly in June of 2017 and it destroyed us. He was our first baby. 

Ernie ate his way through two couches, a chair, our carpet, a dog bed and anything he could he could get ahold of. We once came home to blood everywhere. It looked like a massacre in our living room. Ernie had gotten ahold of a tuna can and cut his mouth open. It looked so much worse than it was because the saliva in his mouth had watered it down. That’s how we figured out what he did after we left. He would go up to each door and check the handles to see if he could escape. He had tried to run away a couple of times. We had moments of pure desperation and almost gave him up, it was extremely difficult. At one point we tried convincing my dad and stepmom to take him to work on the farm, after all he was a working dog breed.

Finally after two years Ernie started to settle down. During that time, he became the best snuggle bug, treat obsessed, walk and car ride lover. He can convince you to do anything for him with just one look. He may not be able to speak words to us but he can talk with his eyes. His favorite thing is being with Nate and I. He’s slept between us every night since day one. 

If you were to meet him, you’d be met with an old soul. As though he’s lived multiple lives. He’s calm like the autumn breeze or the sound of soft waves on the shore. He’s the very definition of a gentle giant. Anatolians are known for being “independent, intelligent and a fiercely loyal guardian that is calm and affectionate with their family but suspicious and reserved with strangers.” They are “strong willed and self sufficient”. He can tell the difference in what vehicle is driving down our street. Whether it’s a car or a delivery truck. He’s the biggest goofball and has some wild moves when he gets hyper and wants to play. 

In January 2020, we adopted Ernie’s little sister, Ellie Mamba. She’s a Great Pyrenees and boarder collie mix. We were watching life come full circle. It brought energy to Ernie but he was also ready for her to leave at any moment. He still gets grumpy with her occasionally but we can see how much he loves her. Later that year we had taken Ernie to the doctor for a reason I can no longer remember. We had to drop him off and leave him because it was the middle of Covid. They ended up doing some X-rays and called Nate. Ernie was fine but they discovered he had bb’s inside of him from his time before being rescued. We were crushed to know just how abused he was before he came to us. 

A week before Christmas of 2024, I took him to his doctors because of a limp he’d developed in his front right leg two weeks prior and it wasn’t getting better. I thought it was from a sore between the pads of his foot. Dr. Gealow immediately knew something wasn’t right. As soon as she said that, I knew what it was. We did an x-ray to confirm a growth in his leg but his lungs looked clear. A few days later we went back to do a biopsy of the lump. Dr. Gealow waited up late on Christmas Eve until the results finally came back and sent them to us. On Christmas morning she proceeded to send us a follow up email with her explanation of the results. It was mostly inflammation with the presence of cancer cells. It was confirmed, Ernie had bone cancer. Nate and I didn’t even need to discuss what to do next, we knew the limb had to go. 

So, on New Year’s Eve, we took him in for his 4 hour surgery. We knew we had act quickly, only two weeks had gone by since we had first heard the words “bone cancer”. We were in for a long couple of weeks. We purchased a harness so we could help him walk. Nate and I each had a strap to put on our shoulders so we could pick him up together. We went through so much gauze and other medical supplies to wrap him up, we are basically uncertified vet techs now. 

Dr. Gealow and her team were amazing through the whole process. They got us in touch with The Knox Foundation, which turned out to be a great support system for us. We cannot thank them enough for everything they have done. I feel thankful to be able to call them my friends.

His leg was sent to a university and tested. The results came back positive for bone and also soft tissue cancer. Three to four weeks after Ernie’s amputation, he started chemotherapy. He received one round every three weeks over six treatments. He rung the bell on his final treatment in April 2025. 

We kept calling him a champ all through surgery and treatment. He surpassed all of our expectations adapting to being a “tri-pawed”. He never seemed to complain, just powers through. He tires out easier but still his happy, goofy and playful self. 

We don’t know how much time we bought him so we just enjoy every moment we can with him. 

The Jarecke Family