I do not know how much money I have spent on her. Truthfully I don’t even care to know because it doesn’t matter to me. I do not know how many vet visits there have been, or how much time spent, or how many tears, etc. and etc. All things considered, there is no way that I would go back to the day I adopted her from PAWS and make a different choice (if I had the opportunity to know how things would end up however, I might have saved more money in preparation).
We had a dog when I was growing up (a sunshine colored little cocker spaniel that liked spaghetti leftovers and was in love with one of my sisters) so it wasn’t like I hadn’t had owning dog/pet experiences before. I just hadn’t had a dog that I was 100% responsible for which is an entirely different hunk of cheese.
She was such a ridiculously sweet puppy (5 months old) that PAWS was in love with her enough to lie for me in order to take her home. They’re very particular in how they adopt pets out; if you live in an apartment they’re required to confirm with the manager that it’s okay to have the pet. Understandably, they don’t want the pet to end up coming back to them after someone tried to hussle it in to a building without permission. Sadly I met Sadie (formerly Kiaha) when someone already had a 24 hour hold on her so I had to go all the way back up to Lynnhood (yes, I intended to spell it that way) the next day in hopes of doing the same 24 hour hold thing with her. I did so, because I fell in love with her immediately. Of course, someone beat me to it. It just figures that day was a Friday and I would have to come back Saturday (when my apt mgmt office would be closed) to put my own hold on her, on the off chance that she didn’t get adopted (I figured she would because she is so awesome).
That Saturday evolved into two trips to Lynnhood and back; one to put a hold on her and two to get a copy of my lease (in hopes of taking her home that day) that had “pet rules” in it and return to PAWS since it indicated that having pets was indeed okay there. I had to borrow a neighbor’s lease since I was much worse about keeping paperwork in my early 20′s than I am now. After providing the lease copy a woman working at PAWS called the maintenance pager and pretended to have a conversation in which my apt mgr approved me to take her home. Then she was mine.
I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into. She chewed like a madman…my furniture, my books (!) and even my car. I couldn’t take her on a walk at first that didn’t result in not only seeing red, but also red chafed hands because if we weren’t at a full paced run she was not happy and pulled on the leash like a mother (PAWS lied about that too because they said she was “great” on the leash). She was insolent; one night after disciplining her for something that I do not remember she got on my bed, looked right at me and promptly peed on it. The attempts to trim her nails resulted in me backing her into a corner and getting full on growled at (with no trimmed nails to speak of after the fact). The first time I took her to my mom’s house for everyone to meet she broke into a full speed run up the stairs into my mother’s room and all I heard (because obviously I was left behind) was a resounding, “OUCH”.
Then I learned to take control (for the most part). I bought her a halti and wrestled with her for over an hour (despite the fact that the ‘dog whisperer’ Petco guy was able to slip it right on her in the store) in the backyard at my apt before she finally rolled over and gave in. Mucho growling and grass stains later I was able to take her on a walk without seeing red. After what was probably another hour of wrestling and eventually pinning her to the bed she learned to roll over and allow me to trim her nails (and has rolled right over ever since).
At a time when I did not feel safe in general because of my own personal choices, that dog made me feel safe. The first time she did so I was taking her out at night before bed and she heard someone walking around at the neighboring building. She sat right in front of me and let out this intense and pointed growl towards the direction of the person, and I was fascinated at the time that this little (well, not so little in size) puppy was not only aware of potential danger, but also willing to take care of it if need be. The second time, someone I had a restraining order against tried to come to my apt and get in (complete with banging on the door, calling cops, waking neighbors, etc.) and despite my having trained her successfully to cuddle with me at night, that dog sat in the bedroom doorway the entire night.
She’s the reason my dad realized he wanted a dog (and now has two); after watching her when I was out of town years ago he expressed how much he missed not having her around when I returned and took her back. The following Christmas my sisters and I found him a lab as a surprise present and he loves that dog to death.
Baby Lucy
She has so patiently dealt with many a second dog that I have tried to bring into the home, and for various reasons are no longer in our home but residing in other loving homes. But they all took to her and looked up to her.
Baby Holly
Quite honestly, even though her health issues aren’t something that will ever be “cured” I’m so lucky that one vet’s theory (there’s been more than a few in her health issue history) was not correct. At one point my dad and I were sitting in a vet office in Carnation staring at an x-ray, both crying because they said that she might have cancer. Which then resulted in a $1000 bill to get an ultra sound, etc. only to find out the problem was them not tapering her steroids down so she ended up having a reaction to it (where it was literally like moving a mountain to get her to walk or even move and she lost a million pounds of muscle mass).
The bottom line of this entirely too long blog entry, is that dog has done way more for me than I could possibly ever do for her. I’m sure there are some people that would say it’s a little ridiculous to spend whatever amount of money on an animal. That’s fine. The thing is, at a time when I really needed to learn some things in my life, it wasn’t just my P that taught me the important stuff that allowed me to get to a better place, it was my Sadie too. No matter the amount of money or time, I will spend it. And I will be happy to do so.
P.S. I owe a great debt to my friend Matt that suggested
Ballard Animal Hospital as a good vet when I moved down to Seattle. They’re the ones that not only correctly diagnosed her, but also have correctly dealt with her meds and blood levels and such to keep her as healthy as she has been (even considering all the problems that have resulted from her alternating medical needs). And they’re the vet that told me today how lucky she is to have me and validated that I’m doing a good job with her, all health issues considered. Which was really soothing to hear, coming from a vet.
