We dont know Sadies birthday, so instead we celebrate her new life day from the day I rescued her 4 years ago. Sadie had a very rough start in life...she was originally seen roaming a rural neighborhood for weeks, always keeping her distance from people and scavenging for food. One lady thought she was a coyote at first, but when she realized it was actually a dog she started leaving out food. Eventually the nice lady was able to lure Sadie close enough with food to catch her, and had the local shelter transfer her to the vet I worked for. Our clinic did a lot of shelter work, so injured strays were often brought to us for medical care. We did our best to help them, but knew not to get attached as they did not always have a happy ending. Animals with no ID tags or microchip got 3 days for an owner to show up before they could be adopted out or euthanized...so we had to do our best to keep them comfortable and cared for until then. My first experience with Sadie was seeing that I had been assigned to her anesthesia case at the clinic. We assigned vet techs to surgical cases depending on the level of experience that tech had with the degree of difficulty of the case, and also our shifts/lunch break times. Sadies chart had her listed as an Animal Services number, and that she had been brought in the night before on emergency on a rabies pole. She was about a year old, had an embedded collar, was very thin, had infected open wounds and a fever of over 105. The notes also said she was extremely fearful and to handle with caution. I think I did a mental eye roll after seeing all this....as it was not going to be an easy dog to handle. I went back to the kennel area, where one corner kennel was covered with a blanket and a sign saying DO NOT WALK and do not open cage door...and more fun caution/will bite stickers...awesome. The vet told me the dog might actually be nice, but is sick, painful, extremely fearful and a big escape risk. I moved the blanket and saw a dark colored dog huddled in the back corner of the cage shaking....she wouldnt even look at me. I tried to quietly tell her it was okay, but she wanted nothing to do with me....so much for a decent pre-anesthetic exam. As the morning went on, an emergency threw off our surgery schedule...and Sadies procedure time got bumped back into my lunch hour, so I had to switch cases with another tech. I still hung around to ensure she was pre-medicated and transferred to surgery without too much drama...which luckily went better than I thought it would. She recovered from surgery alright thanks to lots of sedatives, and she stayed in our hospital for the next week. During that time we started to notice a change in Sadies scared behavior....she very slowly started to come out of her shell. She started to eat a little, wasnt as huddled in the corner all the time, and would actually look at people when they walked past her kennel. I was also impressed that for as incredibly fearful as she was, she wasnt aggressive. Fear aggression is pretty common, especially in neglect/abuse cases with un-socialized dogs. I still muzzled her for her daily treatments of painful injections of antibiotics, pain meds...and the rectal temps (I also didnt even know she had a tail until we anesthetized her!), but she always laid quietly, almost frozen, on the ground and never fought our treatments...and one day even gave my hand a little lick when I removed her muzzle. By the end of the week, she had begun to trust us enough to start to barely wag her tail....but her wounds had healed enough that she could be transferred back to the shelter. We had all grown to like the scared sweet dog, but our houses were full and I surely didnt need another dog, I already had 2 senior citizen dogs...so we wished her well and hoped she might find an understanding home at the shelter. A week went by, and for some reason I couldnt stop thinking about the scared dog. Cases like this came in all the time, and I knew to emotionally distance myself...I couldnt save them all. For whatever reason though, I had gotten attached to this one. So I called the shelter and spoke with the shelter director. I had volunteered at the shelter all through high school, and was now working for a clinic that did a lot of work with the shelter...so they knew me well. I was told the scared dog was not doing well...she had barely eaten all week, refused to let anyone come near her, and was trying to escape/climb the walls to get away. They tried her in the adoption room, but she freaked out and nearly escaped. All their foster homes were full, the shelter was full...and they had planned on euthanizing the dog that weekend to make room. She agreed the scared dog was sweet, but was too much of a liability to adopt out, and was a lost cause....it wasnt a decision they wanted to make, but the shelter was full. For whatever reason, I told her I wanted the dog. She asked me if I was serious...and I guess I said yes. I wasnt sure what I was going to do with the dog, but I thought she had potential...and at least wanted to see if I could get her in a private foster home or rescue...she deserved a chance. The shelter director agreed to keep the dog until Saturday for me, while I scrambled to figure out where to place the dog. In the mean time...I had been telling Greg about the case all week, he had grown up with a border collie, and liked dogs like that. The day I finally decided to tell him my plan to rescue the scared dog, he had been acting a bit nervous too...turns out he had been getting up the nerve to propose to me all day! Of course I said yes to the ring, and he said yes to the dog...we still joke that Greg got the better end of that since Sadie is more precious than any diamond ring! The day I went to pick Sadie up from the shelter, I had hoped she might remember me and envisioned a joyful reunion where she happily greeted me and jumped into my car....of course that did not happen. I filled out the adoption paperwork, where they again asked me if I was sure I wanted the scared dog, who I had named Sadie, and that they had lots of other nice normal dogs that I could have my pick of. I agreed it was a crazy idea, but I wanted Sadie...they even gave her to me at half price as she was going to be euthanized otherwise, so Greg and I still joke that she is our clearance rack pup! They didnt want Sadie in the lobby, as she was so freaked out...so I went to a back room to get her. I thought she might recognize me a little bit....nope, she wanted nothing to do with me....just bucked like a wild horse on the leash and tried to climb the walls! The staff member asked again if I really wanted this dog, and I said yes nervously as Sadie fought to get away from both of us. She told me good luck as I went out the back door, where Sadie managed to break one of her slip leashes (luckily I had her double leashed) trying to get away from me! In a panic I ended up tackling Sadie and throwing her into the back of my car before slamming the door. Not the happy reunion I had hoped for, but oh well. The whole ride back to the clinic Sadie sat huddled in a ball shaking in the back seat. I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into this time, and maybe adopting Sadie wasnt my best idea ever...but too late now to change my mind. Back at the clinic, Sadie seemed slightly more calm and the vet and I were able to do an exam on her where we found one of her incisions had opened up while at the shelter....Sadie was so scared yet cooperative, we were able to re-suture it with her awake. Sadie was also covered in urine and anal glands, so I managed to give her a bath without too much chaos. I got her home and settled in a crate away from my dogs, where she ate a tiny bite of food and curled up in a ball for what was probably her first night of sleep in weeks. The next few days were spent trying to acclimate Sadie to normal life and a simple routine....and my two old dogs. My old lab mix Kasey wasnt too thrilled with the new addition, and kept her distance. Jay my little special needs Papillon was interested in Sadie, but not sure what to think. Sadie might have been terrified of people, but immediately loved dogs. She play-bowed to Jay, who looked surprised at this gesture and walked away in a huff with his Mr Red Bull (his favorite toy), not amused at all. Sadie also finally got to meet Greg, and for whatever reason...even though she was scared of everybody else, she loved Greg! Sadie was originally just going to be a foster project, but Greg loved her so much that we decided to keep her! Over the next few months, Sadie put on over 20 pounds of muscle and lean fat with a proper diet to get her to a normal weight....and her rough wiry coat turned into soft fur. Her wounds healed, and while she still has scars, they are covered with fur. Greg and I worked on introducing Sadie to life as a member of a loving family...it was clear she had never seen toys, bowls, a leash, furniture, wood floors or carpet, ceilings....everything was terrifying and new. The vacuum almost made her go through a window. Stairs took a while to master, and doors were hard to understand. It took us weeks before she would even walk out the front door on her own. I doubt she had ever been in a house or car before, and things a normal stray would be used to were very scary for Sadie. I eventually took Sadie through 2 different levels of positive reinforcement obedience training, which she excelled in and it greatly helped her ability to cope with fearful things and situations....along with learn some basic commands. Slowly but surely, Sadie started to realize life could be fun and people werent all that bad. Less than 2 months after bringing Sadie home, my beloved Kasey, my black lab mix who had been by my side for 14 years passed away suddenly from an aggressive cancer. I was heartbroken at losing my Kasey, but was surprised to see that Sadie immediately stepped up as the new protector of the house role after Kaseys passing...while still allowing the fearless leader Jay to rule the house. Sadie was so gentle and patient with the little dictator, and practically worshipped the ground Jay peed on. Jay may have been just 6 pounds, but he was a fearless little guy, so scaredy-cat Sadie always let Jay lead the way and his braveness and bomb-proof attitude helped Sadie learn that the world wasnt so scary. It was incredible to watch their relationship as they were such an odd couple but really enjoyed each others company. Sadie was very depressed after Jay passed away last year...but she cheered up a lot after Gulliver joined the family, as Sadie now gets to play the big sister role finally! Having a giant puppy to care for and show off to has brought a new found confidence in Sadie this past year, which has been wonderful to watch Sadie grow mentally….and also as Sadie and Gulliver are now such great friends. Today, thanks to lots of time, patience, love and training (from us and Jay!) Sadie is a happy healthy dog who loves life and hides her emotional scars well. She still has her random fears and is nervous about strangers approaching her, but has come a very long way...and we are very proud of her! We will be celebrating with some squirrel chasing fun, and a yummy treat. Good dog Sadie, happy new life anniversary! :) *Side note…while Sadie may have a lot of fans, she’s not a big fan of a lot of people she doesn’t know well approaching her. However if you want to be-friend Sadie, your best bet is to approach her slowly, not make eye contact, and offer her a tasty treat…bonus points if you have a friendly dog that can vouch for you not being an ax murderer. ;)
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 02:57:48 +0000
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