Jackson is an Apple Head Chihuahua, weighing 10 pounds at seven months old. But this little pup brought a huge miracle to Villagers Jeff and Spoons Olemon.
On the day before Christmas in 2016, the Olemons went out golfing at Bacall Golf Course and left their tortoise and two dogs at their Village of Tamarind Grove home.
Jeff said that ADT home security called the couple as they were golfing, informing them that there was movement inside their home and that they were calling law enforcement. The couple left the golf course and headed back home.
When they were just blocks away, Jeff said that a neighbor called and said that their house was burning. The couple then saw that smoke was pouring out of their house and Sumter County sheriff’s deputies advised them to not go in.
Jeff told deputies that they had two dogs in crates inside, so the police broke the window to pull them out. Jackson, who was three months and three weeks old at the time, was the first to come out.
“He looked dead…no movement,” said Jeff.
His wife, known as “Spoons,” gave Jackson mouth-to-snout resuscitation. The couple worked on Jackson for about 10 to 15 minutes until his tail twitched.
“The neighbors cheered when they saw that,” Jeff recalled. Jackson started breathing on his own and began licking his owner’s face. Their other dog, a 13-year-old Chihuahua named Homes, was also pulled out of the burning home.
Unlike Jackson, Homes was very responsive.
The fire department gave Jackson an oxygen mask to help him breathe and he spent the night in observation at a local animal hospital. He was ready to go back home the next day, Christmas morning.
“He is the smartest, sweetest dog,” said Spoons. She said that after multiple failed back surgeries, she suffers from back pain. But luckily, Jackson gives her back massages by pushing her back using his hind legs. Jackson and Homes also help comfort her by licking her knees since she also has pain there too.
Jeff said that the fire taught them a valuable lesson. If it weren’t for putting the dogs in the crate, Jackson and Homes wouldn’t have survived since emergency personnel would have trouble locating them throughout the house as it was burning.
As for the couple’s tortoise, which didn’t survive the fire, Jeff noted how hazardous heat lamps could be since it was his tortoise’s heat lamp that caused the fire.
While their house is being rebuilt, the couple resides in the Village of Liberty Park.
The fire caused chaos only a day before Christmas, but Jackson’s revival made the couple’s Christmas morning memorable as they were gifted with a true miracle dog.