Sadie

On Monday we had to make the decision to put down our sweet Sadie.  What a great dog she was!  Not perfect (Over the last year or so she ran away a few times, but that's more our fault...), but really a wonderful pet.  She was incredibly patient and gentle with the kids.  And, she was just plain a good looking dog.  Every season I would enjoy looking out the window and seeing her either sitting in the driveway keeping watch, or running through the yard with her ball.  Which brings up a quirk about her - she was VERY particular about her ball.  She wouldn't chase just any ball, it had to be just like her original "Buddy Glow Ball".  Of course, she loved getting attention.  If you were outside and wanted to sit down and relax for a minute and just have her lay at your feet, not a chance!  She'd be nudging you with her nose, or dropping her slobbery ball in your lap.

Mike and I got Sadie in November 2004, just a few months after getting married.  We actually bid on her brother at a fundraising auction, but really wanted a female dog, so the breeder let us switch.  She was about 16 weeks old, I think - so, young, but not a totally new puppy.  Cute and full of energy, and it sure made Brandy (who was 9 at the time) seem old.  :)  She did seem to miss Brandy and Macy for a bit after they were gone.  This winter has been pretty intense with cold and snow, so Sadie spent alot of time in the house, which I am extra thankful for now!  It was nice to have that extra time with her.

Over the last week Sadie lost her appetite.  This has happened from time to time before, so we were keeping an eye on her, but we weren't overly concerned.  We figured we'd bring her in to the vet soon to have her checked out.  On Monday when Mike came home from work, Sadie would not get up (she had been back out in the kennel for a few days).  After a little bit, she did get up, but was very weak and just standing there.  We got her in the house, and had decided we'd bring her to the vet first thing the next morning.  But then, while we were all at the table, she tried to get up, fell down, and whimpered/made noises like she was in pain.  At that point I just didn't want her to die right there in front of the kids!  So then we decided Mike should take her in right away, which meant going all the way to Grand Rapids since it was an after hours emergency.  He took her in, found out she had bleeding in her abdomen, most likely from a cancerous tumor - the vet said it's fairly common in Golden's of that age.  It was pretty clear that we should put her down, but that's still a very hard decision to make!  My mom came over to be with the kids so that I could go in and be there for it.  She was her true self right up until the end - when the vet was by her she kept putting her paw on her hand, making it that much harder to "do the deed" since she was being such a sweetie pie.  With all the snow and cold we've had, we couldn't bury Sadie in our little pet cemetery with Brandy and Macy (and a woodchuck, as the boys like to bring up....), so we had to have her cremated.  We did not pay the extra money to get her ashes, what in the world would we do with that??

The night it happened Caleb was pretty upset for awhile, but it may have been more the confusion of everything going on - Mike leaving suddenly during supper with Sadie, me getting several phone calls from him with updates and discussions on what to do, then my mom coming over and me leaving.  The next morning the boys had some questions about what happened, but nobody seemed sad.  They have talked about it very matter of factly this week.

We have Harold's dog, Emmy, for the weekend, and even though personality wise she is very different from Sadie, at a glance she has a similar look, and a few of us have slipped up and called her Sadie by accident.  :)