So after I adopted Lucky, Brandy and I agreed that someday we would get him a playmate. Because Brandy was still in school, I agreed that we would get a second pup once she graduated in 2015 as a sort of graduation present. Once that time came around, I started looking at local shelters for a nice young pup that got along well with Lucky. Brandy personally wanted an American Cocker Spaniel, and I’ll be honest, they are not easy to find. A few weeks before her graduation, we received a message on Facebook from Brandy’s aunt, more as a joke than anything else. There was a three-legged Dachshund mix at the local SPCA. She literally had the same coloring as Lucky, but instead of missing her back right leg like Lucky, she was missing her left front leg.
I figured it wouldn’t hurt to arrange a meeting with her foster parent, Sara, just to see if she got along well with Lucky and me. She was very skittish at first, and she even growled at Lucky the first time they met. Here’s the funny part. Once Lucky got close enough, he inspected her missing leg, and she responded by inspecting his missing leg. After that, they were pretty much best pals. I guess they found common ground. Also, when we adopted her, her name wasn’t Sadie. It was Brandi. Once the shelter found out my wife’s name, they agreed that we should probably change the pup’s. Brandy decided Sadie sounded pretty, so we settled on that.
Sadie’s story is sadder because, unlike Lucky, we know what happened to her. She was born about a year before I adopted her, and was brought in to the SPCA with about four of her siblings. We honestly don’t know what her breed is because she looked different from her siblings who were all beagle mixes. We call her a Dachshund mix because she’s very long and has a short, stumpy front leg. Anyway, a little while after being brought to the shelter with her siblings, the kind people took them all for a walk. Something spooked her, and she pulled off the leash and ran into the Pennsylvania woods. She was gone for four months during one of the coldest PA winters on record. If I were in the shoes of the shelter, I would have assumed she was dead. After four months, the shelter received a call saying that the police were called to a property because a dog wouldn’t come out from under someone’s wood pile. That dog was our little Sadie. Sadly, she had gotten her leg caught in a game trap and had to pull it out, which partially amputated her front paw and exposed the bone. According to the shelter, she recognized some of the volunteers and was in high spirits when they found her. She had her leg amputated and was put into a foster home with Sara. She loves Brandy, Lucky and I, but she’s still a little skeptical of strangers. She will bark at someone until I pick her up and hand her to them. That’s how she knows I trust them. Once she knows I trust them, she usually does. She loves picking play fights with Lucky that can go for minutes on end and are super entertaining to watch. One of my favorite quirks is that because she is missing her front leg, her front is a lot lighter. When she wants something from me, or when I say “Sit”, she will stand back on her haunches with her front paw in the air, and sometimes she’ll wave her front paw. Cracks me up every time.
She will stand like that for minutes if she is trying to get my attention or if she is in the car and wants to look out the window. She’s my pretty little girl, and a phenomenal little sister to Lucky (even if she does outweigh him by a good ten pounds).
Sadie and Lucky fighting for the fleece Steelers pillow… a nightly occurrence.
Sadie won. Lucky is not amused.
She does know how to share, though.
This picture was taken immediately following Sadie’s adoption. From left to right, I’m holding my parents’ Australian Cattle Dog, Blue. My dad is holding Sadie. Brandy is holding Lucky.
Until next time,
JD
