Sweet Sadie

Back in the Summer of 2007, my wife and I stopped by Petco after lunch to pet the puppies.  Fireplug rescue was there, and they were having adoptions.  We had no intention of getting one, but who can resist the sweet faces?

There, in a crate, was the sweet face of Birdie.  Something about the white eyelids caught my heart.  I opened the crate door to just pet her a little.  She stepped out, and put her front paws on my shoulders as if to hug me and say, "You've finally come to rescue me."  

We both knew instantly that she was ours.  We renamed her Sadie, and began a new life with her.  

We had a few trials along the way (she was storm-phobic).  You can read more about that here: Our Dogs

She ran away more than a few times when we lived in Grapevine.  We usually found her at the nearby park, happily standing against the base of a large oak, after treeing a squirrel.  Once, when Dawn was walking her, she got out of her collar, and ran into a horse pasture, where she happily rolled around in.....well, you know.  After several years (about the time we decided if she ran away, we would just wait to see if she came home again), she stopped trying to get away.

We have watched through the years as her health has had issues with fatty tumors.  She had one the size of a softball on her side that we had the vet remove.  Soon afterward, she began growing them everywhere.  They never seemed to bother her until recently, when her throat would make her cough and gag.  Years ago, that was once every five or six months, usually after eating something from the yard.  In the last year, she has started doing it three or four times a day.  

Her legs have weakened as well, and she is finding it harder to get up and down the stairs.  Since all the bedrooms are on the second floor, and she is not one to just stay downstairs alone, I knew it would eventually become an issue.  Yesterday morning, her left front leg once again acted as if it had a mind of its own.  She didn't tumble, although how she avoided it is a mystery to me.  

Over the past year, the eyes that were once so full of life have dimmed.  She can't see much, and her left eye is full of cloudy grey.  She can't hear much either (unless it is thundering).  So much of her time is spent looking around, wondering where her people are, even if we are just a few feet away.

And there are the accidents in the house.  It's not like she needs to go urgently; but more like she just really has no idea what is going on.  Cleanup has become a daily event.

So, it is with a heavy heart that we will take her to the vet tomorrow to say our last goodbyes.  

This afternoon was hers, with a trip to the park for a little picnic, and a half of a bacon cheeseburger from Sonic.  We walked around and let her sniff all she wanted instead of pulling her along.  We took some pictures with her.  Not so we will remember her.  A dog like her will live with us forever.  

After the thousands of dollars of damage she caused in her storm-fueled panics, and the countless sleepless nights trying to console her during a storm, it is time for her to find her rest.  To go to her home with no more storms, and no more pain.  A place for her to run free; like the happy, playful dog she was when we got her.

Tonight, I will make my bed in the floor with her to give her (and me) a few more hours together.  And tomorrow, we will accompany her on her last journey here.  Knowing that dogs have only a few years here, and that this is just "the way it is" doesn't provide comfort.  But if I live to be a hundred, I will always remember Birdie, who became our Sadie.  And her unique personality will be a part of our lives forever.