The next day thankfully was our day off, so we were able to spend the entire day with Sadie. While the first night went better than expected, the next morning Sadie kept on barking at my husband. My husband is a dog-lover. There’s just something about him that dogs love and he bonds with them very easily. Sadie’s persistence in barking at him left us a bit bewildered. Since we were cautious and slow in our movement when approaching her, we had yet to “play” with her. But eventually my husband made the move to play with her and Sadie went wild! Her barking wasn’t trying to keep him away, she was begging for a playmate! And boy, could she go wild! He got down on the floor and played with her and there was no doubt: she liked him!
I spent part of the day doing some investigative work on Sadie’s history. I was determined to find out more about her. I was not convinced she was a Lhasa because her eyes were so big. I wanted to find out more about the spot Sadie had chewed on her mane. I mentioned in a previous post that I was told it was 2 or 3 inches, but the reality was more like 8! The only shards of evidence I possessed from Sadie’s past were 2 invoices: 1 vaccination receipt from the last owner and 1 boarding receipt from another owner. The latter receipt was from a veterinarian’s clinic in a town about an hour away. I attempted to phone the owner listed on the vet receipt I had in hand, but got the answering machine. I left word that I had Sadie and was hoping to find out more of her history. Then, I decided to call the clinic, not knowing if they would give me any info at all. Happened that I spoke with a woman who knew Sadie quite well, and most of her life at that! I soon realized that Sadie had quite the spunky reputation! The lady immediately knew who Sadie was, and when I pressed to know more of her history remarked, “Sadie’s one of those dogs who never lost her ‘puppy’!” She said Sadie was known around the office as very hyper when it came to shots and grooming. She also revealed a bit of Sadie’s history: Sadie was originally the puppy of a young couple. When the couple had a baby, it was emotionally stressful for Sadie. Since she was already close with the husband’s mother, she went to live with her. So she had the best of both worlds, a home where she was the queen without losing contact with her first parents. About the spot on Sadie’s back: it was because Sadie needed allergy medication! There was so much to learn about this complex little creature! I had been so curious about Sadie’s eyes that I just had to ask. The woman assured me she was a Lhasa, but said anytime Sadie was excited, her eyes bulged! The woman agreed to fax me all of Sadie’s medical records that day. I was thrilled!
The fax came in and was a complete record of Sadie’s medical history from a pup ‘til 6 months before. In a previous post I spoke of Sadie’s whirlwind life from March – August 1999. But I knew nothing of her original owners. And here in my hands were her medical records with her owners’ names listed. Eureka! I would start at the beginning and my plan was to hunt down every owner to find out as much as possible! I made the call to Sadie’s first owners and I spoke with a very nice lady. She was very concerned about Sadie’s well-being and I could tell she loved her. She told me that “Sadie was all we ever wanted in a dog.” After the birth of their first child, they were concerned because Sadie was depressed now that she was no longer the center of attention. They agreed the best thing for her would be to live with her mother-in-law, just as the vet’s office had told me. For the sake of clarity, we’ll call her grandma. Apparently Sadie had lived a very happy life and was a well cared for family dog. But then tragedy struck the family: Grandma’s daughter in Florida became very ill. Grandma had to make many trips back and forth to Florida, and sometimes Sadie would go. But the situation became so serious that Sadie could no longer go to FL with Grandma and since Grandpa was a truck driver, Sadie was boarded for long periods of time. Sadie was not the kind of dog that liked boarding. This upset her psyche. So, Grandma decided that the best thing for Sadie would be to live with her aged friend. Their agreement was such that if it didn’t work out, Sadie would be returned to Grandma. The woman with whom I was speaking had a quiver in her voice when she told me she had told Grandma that she didn’t want to know all the details, because she wouldn’t be able to handle it if anything happened to Sadie. I hoped I wasn’t stirring up any negative emotions, but she reassured me she was so glad to hear Sadie was in a good home. She even offered to send me Sadie’s AKC registration.
My husband & I were both sad that Sadie had lived through at least 5 bad experiences in just a few short months. He asked if I would stop making calls, now that I had found the original owner. He didn’t want to know about any of the negative things that had happened. And I agreed.
I now knew how many homes Sadie had lived in: 1) original couple 2) 1st owner’s mother 3) aged friend 4) niece of aged friend 5) camping buddy of niece 6) co-worker of camping buddy 7) co-worker of #6 8) us! That’s a lot of homes for a 6 year old dog! But I was reassured that the majority of her life was spent in a loving environment. Hopefully, she would forget about the 5 negative experiences soon, if we had anything to do with it!
I spent part of the day doing some investigative work on Sadie’s history. I was determined to find out more about her. I was not convinced she was a Lhasa because her eyes were so big. I wanted to find out more about the spot Sadie had chewed on her mane. I mentioned in a previous post that I was told it was 2 or 3 inches, but the reality was more like 8! The only shards of evidence I possessed from Sadie’s past were 2 invoices: 1 vaccination receipt from the last owner and 1 boarding receipt from another owner. The latter receipt was from a veterinarian’s clinic in a town about an hour away. I attempted to phone the owner listed on the vet receipt I had in hand, but got the answering machine. I left word that I had Sadie and was hoping to find out more of her history. Then, I decided to call the clinic, not knowing if they would give me any info at all. Happened that I spoke with a woman who knew Sadie quite well, and most of her life at that! I soon realized that Sadie had quite the spunky reputation! The lady immediately knew who Sadie was, and when I pressed to know more of her history remarked, “Sadie’s one of those dogs who never lost her ‘puppy’!” She said Sadie was known around the office as very hyper when it came to shots and grooming. She also revealed a bit of Sadie’s history: Sadie was originally the puppy of a young couple. When the couple had a baby, it was emotionally stressful for Sadie. Since she was already close with the husband’s mother, she went to live with her. So she had the best of both worlds, a home where she was the queen without losing contact with her first parents. About the spot on Sadie’s back: it was because Sadie needed allergy medication! There was so much to learn about this complex little creature! I had been so curious about Sadie’s eyes that I just had to ask. The woman assured me she was a Lhasa, but said anytime Sadie was excited, her eyes bulged! The woman agreed to fax me all of Sadie’s medical records that day. I was thrilled!
The fax came in and was a complete record of Sadie’s medical history from a pup ‘til 6 months before. In a previous post I spoke of Sadie’s whirlwind life from March – August 1999. But I knew nothing of her original owners. And here in my hands were her medical records with her owners’ names listed. Eureka! I would start at the beginning and my plan was to hunt down every owner to find out as much as possible! I made the call to Sadie’s first owners and I spoke with a very nice lady. She was very concerned about Sadie’s well-being and I could tell she loved her. She told me that “Sadie was all we ever wanted in a dog.” After the birth of their first child, they were concerned because Sadie was depressed now that she was no longer the center of attention. They agreed the best thing for her would be to live with her mother-in-law, just as the vet’s office had told me. For the sake of clarity, we’ll call her grandma. Apparently Sadie had lived a very happy life and was a well cared for family dog. But then tragedy struck the family: Grandma’s daughter in Florida became very ill. Grandma had to make many trips back and forth to Florida, and sometimes Sadie would go. But the situation became so serious that Sadie could no longer go to FL with Grandma and since Grandpa was a truck driver, Sadie was boarded for long periods of time. Sadie was not the kind of dog that liked boarding. This upset her psyche. So, Grandma decided that the best thing for Sadie would be to live with her aged friend. Their agreement was such that if it didn’t work out, Sadie would be returned to Grandma. The woman with whom I was speaking had a quiver in her voice when she told me she had told Grandma that she didn’t want to know all the details, because she wouldn’t be able to handle it if anything happened to Sadie. I hoped I wasn’t stirring up any negative emotions, but she reassured me she was so glad to hear Sadie was in a good home. She even offered to send me Sadie’s AKC registration.
My husband & I were both sad that Sadie had lived through at least 5 bad experiences in just a few short months. He asked if I would stop making calls, now that I had found the original owner. He didn’t want to know about any of the negative things that had happened. And I agreed.
I now knew how many homes Sadie had lived in: 1) original couple 2) 1st owner’s mother 3) aged friend 4) niece of aged friend 5) camping buddy of niece 6) co-worker of camping buddy 7) co-worker of #6 8) us! That’s a lot of homes for a 6 year old dog! But I was reassured that the majority of her life was spent in a loving environment. Hopefully, she would forget about the 5 negative experiences soon, if we had anything to do with it!
