- Thread starter
- #1,191
savingdogs
Queen Filksinger
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2009
- Messages
- 5,478
- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 221
The Story of Sally
Warning: Sad, but with purpose
Sally was a very early dog in my life. When Hubby and I were first married at 18 and 22 years of age, I had a little golden mix (with perhaps some Duck tolling mixed in) and her name was Sara, who I think I already told you all I stole from a humane society.
Okay, I was 18. But we did return and adopt dogs there legitimately later....Sally was one of them.
In any event, one of our adopted dogs went missing after an earthquake, and we were searching for him. Bogey was his name, a catahoula mix, sweet young pup. I did not even know what a catahoula was then. In any event, Hubby and I were taking turns going to the kill shelter checking for him and we had been looking for several months, so we were pretty much giving up on finding Bogey. Sara needed her friend and we missed him terribly.
Well one day Hubby goes in and sees them walking what he thought was a lab, taken from the Pet Of The Day cage, down the row. He asks the attendant, "Is that one getting adopted?" and the attendant just shook his head and said, that no, she wasn't. My husband was instantly stricken, and spoke for her. "I want her, please don't kill her!" He had no cash with him, but went to the bank and took out some and came back within a few minutes. He had to give the attendant important things from his WALLET to convince him that he would indeed return for the dog. So he literally saved her at the very last moment, and you know, that dog ALWAYS knew that. From that day forward, she showed single minded devotion to my husband such as we were not to see again for a good 20 years.
So he brings Sally home and puts her in our bedroom and goes to work. I come home and there is this DOG in our bedroom who has chewed up FIVE PAIRS of my shoes, just one shoe from each pair of course. I'm livid. Why did he bring home this dog, instead of looking for Bogey? Sara was happy to have a friend, but Hubby had to swear on a stack of Bibles that he would train the dog. I said a prayer Bogey had found a home somewhere.
Well, Hubby did train her. He took a great class that actually formed the basis of the dog obedience we still use to this day. Sally had been owned by a handicapped man before us, so she had not had obedience, but was well loved. He had to go into assisted living and that is why Sally had ended up at the HS. She looked like a lab, but was actually lab and pit bull. She was the star of the class.
We had Sally many years (10+), she outlived Sara. She was an avid swimmer and would dive 10 feet down to the bottom of a pool to retrieve toys. She is the dog that I told you all about, who somehow spotted a pediphile in a crowd of people and kept him away from our daughter and in fact, all the children, and we didn't even know until years later about that man. Obedience training really worked, and we became convinced that the bond of a rescued dog and their family can be tighter than tight, and maybe more so because the dog appreciates the human so much.
When Sally grew old, we left LA. We put her down a few months before her time, because we could not take her. It killed us. We did not own another dog for two years and we both literally cried when we went to the grocery store EVERY TIME we saw the dog food aisle. But having that experience, having to put down the dog we adored because we HAD to leave Los Angeles, made us empathize later with people who had to give up their dogs. We have now dealt with many, many people giving up Fido. We have NEVER felt judgemental. After all, we put down Sally. Our children's lives were more important than having six more months with that dog, and we recognize that people have to make those hard choices. But still to this day we wish she had lived another year or whatever she would have had. She was old, but.......we could find no home for an old dog and knew no way to save her or keep her. The best I could do was a dear friend (allergic to dogs) offered to keep her outside for me, but we knew that she would always miss Hubby and always be sad, especially outside, when she was so old. So we euthanized her.
When we first started volunteering and when I very first thought about what "purpose" I had in life, it was not just Boo from ridgeback rescue who inspired us. It was the life of Sally, as well. And knowing that people have to give up their Sallys, and that even if we could just help one at a time, it was better than standing by when we could make a change for the better in the world. We ended up specializing in young dogs, but originally we wanted to help the Sally's of the world have all the "time" they were intended to have.
I think that if Sally is in Heaven looking down on us, she is pretty proud. Because of her, more than 100 lab/pit mixes have homes. I pulled at least 10 litters from our local humane while they were not placing anything with any pit bull in them. And those dogs are some of the ones that I have recieved the BEST thank you letters about and were among the best dogs we have saved. Truly, I think the dog I placed that was named Julie was the best dog we have fostered, Ellie who we currently have being a close second but is not lab-pit. But I think in the realm of dog-dom, Sally was a very important dog and she would be proud that giving up the end of her life meant so much for the entire life of so many. She had a great heart, and I think if she could pick her life, she would pick it again with us. But it took a good 15 years for me to come to terms with it.
Lab/pit is a very good mix, yes it is.
Warning: Sad, but with purpose
Sally was a very early dog in my life. When Hubby and I were first married at 18 and 22 years of age, I had a little golden mix (with perhaps some Duck tolling mixed in) and her name was Sara, who I think I already told you all I stole from a humane society.
Okay, I was 18. But we did return and adopt dogs there legitimately later....Sally was one of them.In any event, one of our adopted dogs went missing after an earthquake, and we were searching for him. Bogey was his name, a catahoula mix, sweet young pup. I did not even know what a catahoula was then. In any event, Hubby and I were taking turns going to the kill shelter checking for him and we had been looking for several months, so we were pretty much giving up on finding Bogey. Sara needed her friend and we missed him terribly.
Well one day Hubby goes in and sees them walking what he thought was a lab, taken from the Pet Of The Day cage, down the row. He asks the attendant, "Is that one getting adopted?" and the attendant just shook his head and said, that no, she wasn't. My husband was instantly stricken, and spoke for her. "I want her, please don't kill her!" He had no cash with him, but went to the bank and took out some and came back within a few minutes. He had to give the attendant important things from his WALLET to convince him that he would indeed return for the dog. So he literally saved her at the very last moment, and you know, that dog ALWAYS knew that. From that day forward, she showed single minded devotion to my husband such as we were not to see again for a good 20 years.
So he brings Sally home and puts her in our bedroom and goes to work. I come home and there is this DOG in our bedroom who has chewed up FIVE PAIRS of my shoes, just one shoe from each pair of course. I'm livid. Why did he bring home this dog, instead of looking for Bogey? Sara was happy to have a friend, but Hubby had to swear on a stack of Bibles that he would train the dog. I said a prayer Bogey had found a home somewhere.
Well, Hubby did train her. He took a great class that actually formed the basis of the dog obedience we still use to this day. Sally had been owned by a handicapped man before us, so she had not had obedience, but was well loved. He had to go into assisted living and that is why Sally had ended up at the HS. She looked like a lab, but was actually lab and pit bull. She was the star of the class.
We had Sally many years (10+), she outlived Sara. She was an avid swimmer and would dive 10 feet down to the bottom of a pool to retrieve toys. She is the dog that I told you all about, who somehow spotted a pediphile in a crowd of people and kept him away from our daughter and in fact, all the children, and we didn't even know until years later about that man. Obedience training really worked, and we became convinced that the bond of a rescued dog and their family can be tighter than tight, and maybe more so because the dog appreciates the human so much.
When Sally grew old, we left LA. We put her down a few months before her time, because we could not take her. It killed us. We did not own another dog for two years and we both literally cried when we went to the grocery store EVERY TIME we saw the dog food aisle. But having that experience, having to put down the dog we adored because we HAD to leave Los Angeles, made us empathize later with people who had to give up their dogs. We have now dealt with many, many people giving up Fido. We have NEVER felt judgemental. After all, we put down Sally. Our children's lives were more important than having six more months with that dog, and we recognize that people have to make those hard choices. But still to this day we wish she had lived another year or whatever she would have had. She was old, but.......we could find no home for an old dog and knew no way to save her or keep her. The best I could do was a dear friend (allergic to dogs) offered to keep her outside for me, but we knew that she would always miss Hubby and always be sad, especially outside, when she was so old. So we euthanized her.
When we first started volunteering and when I very first thought about what "purpose" I had in life, it was not just Boo from ridgeback rescue who inspired us. It was the life of Sally, as well. And knowing that people have to give up their Sallys, and that even if we could just help one at a time, it was better than standing by when we could make a change for the better in the world. We ended up specializing in young dogs, but originally we wanted to help the Sally's of the world have all the "time" they were intended to have.
I think that if Sally is in Heaven looking down on us, she is pretty proud. Because of her, more than 100 lab/pit mixes have homes. I pulled at least 10 litters from our local humane while they were not placing anything with any pit bull in them. And those dogs are some of the ones that I have recieved the BEST thank you letters about and were among the best dogs we have saved. Truly, I think the dog I placed that was named Julie was the best dog we have fostered, Ellie who we currently have being a close second but is not lab-pit. But I think in the realm of dog-dom, Sally was a very important dog and she would be proud that giving up the end of her life meant so much for the entire life of so many. She had a great heart, and I think if she could pick her life, she would pick it again with us. But it took a good 15 years for me to come to terms with it.
Lab/pit is a very good mix, yes it is.
on the goats!
