We went to find our new dog at the home of a couple who rescued dogs and had just taken in a litter of cute, black puppies they thought might be Newfoundlands from the size of their heads and paws. One of the puppies walked only along the walls, afraid to venture onto open floor. She had been abused and had a break in her tail and a cracked rib. The rescuer people were reluctant to adopt her out because of the severity of her situation. But, when we walked outside with all of the rescue dogs milling around, she walked over and sat on Steve’s foot and looked up at him with a look of longing. She had picked him.

We would have to wait several days to take Sadie home, because she still needed her shots. On Valentine’s Day Steve was able to arrange to bring Sadie home a day early so she could be our Valentine. Gail was sitting at her desk and Steve brought in a Valentine’s Day gift bag and inside was sweet Sadie. We later learned that the next day the rest of her litter was exposed to a disease that took their lives.

There were a few months of near constant care to help Sadie overcome her fear and learn to trust again. Even with that, she was a hand full, so active, so curious and so head strong. She was the house alpha from the very beginning. Sadie became so energetic that we adopted another rescue dog, our beautiful wolfhound mix, Reed. The two of them would play for hours. One of their favorite games was running towards each other at full speed and colliding chest against chest. They were well matched. Sadie was so coordinated and agile that she moved like a ballerina. Reed was pure grace and force in motion. He could run like the wind.

Sadie grew both in size and courage. She became playful and very loving, not just with us, but with our friends and family members. Everyone who met Sadie described her as “sweet” or “a sweetheart”. She was calm, kind, loyal very smart and always full of unconditional love. Sadie would often give us gentle kisses of tiny, soft licks on the tips of our noses. Sadie was Steve’s constant companion through good times and bad.

Sadie loved being outside, especially hiking along the banks of the creek. She would wade into the water and swim around if it was deep enough. And she loved to roll and rub in smelly things. Sadie would stand on the top step of the pool and paw at the surface of the water, creating bubbles that she would quickly bite at in continuing, absolute amusement.

Sadie was in charge of everything that went on in the house and yard. She noticed even the smallest things and would sound the dog alarm if she felt we needed to know about something. She loved to look out the sliding glass doors in the bedroom and great room. Some nights when there were animals outside, she would be on full alert and none of us got much sleep.

During one of Steve’s hikes, Sadie and our other dog, Reed, got into a fight with a group of javelinas. They were both severely injured, Sadie with a deep gore wound to her chest, but they survived and continued to thrive. Sadie handled pain and discomfort with great stoicism.

When Sadie’s time did eventually come, Steve held her head in his hands. With her last breath, Sadie looked deep into his eyes, leaned forward and gently gave him one of her little kisses. She is physically gone, but her wonderful sweet spirit remains in our hearts forever.

Steve and Gail