The Story of Sage: Crazy Mutt

Good Dog Sage

"What is she?", That's what people ask when they see my family's dog Sage. Usually my response is "A Good Dog", because that's what she is. Sometimes I say that she is a pit-bull mix with maybe a little Cattle Dog, maybe some Boxer, or even Lab, or Catahulah Leopard dog, but no one really knows.

One lovely October day 4 years ago, my mom and I where driving through our neighborhood. Suddenly a puppy crossed the road with it's tail between it's legs looking very frightened. I made my mom stop the car and I jumped out to get the puppy out away from the traffic. Puppy continued to run down the sidewalk and I chased after her until she was cornered at the end of the street behind a church. She was exhausted and had wedged herself between the building and the side of an air conditioner. I reached my hand out and she licked it so I knew that she would not hurt me. She was shaking, scared, and dehydrated. I scooped her up in my arms like a baby and walked her back to my moms car.

The poor dog was covered in ticks, smelled, disgusting, and was very malnourished. She weighed about 25 lbs and had lost most of her baby teeth, so our guess is she was about 6-7 months old. Our family did not have a dog at the time so my mom said that we could keep her until we found her a new home. My mom really did not want a dog that had any kind of pit-bull in her, she's more of a lab person.

For a few weeks, we tried to find her a home. We went through a rescue who agreed to spay and microchip her if we fostered her until the right person came along. The rescue wanted us to give her a name, my mom asked Ross and I but we couldn't think of anything that fit her goffey personality well, but my mom came up with  the name, 'Sage'. It was short, and sweet just like the dog. For many weeks we waited for someone to adopt her but no one was showing much interest.

Sage had a lot of "behavioral issues", we think that whoever had her before she broke free to the streets was a very abusive person. She was extreamly afraid of men, and still is. If you used a strong tone of voice near her, she would crawl and hide under my moms bed for hours and not come out. She became very attached to whoever was feeding her and would not leave their side for the day.

One day about 6 weeks after we found her, my mom went out to run some errands. Sage had grown very attached to my mom and would have puppy panic attacks every time she left the house without her. I really wanted my mom to keep this dog so I decided to video tape one of her little panic attacks when my mom left the house. This really got her.

The next day my mom decided that Sage had found us and we where to be her new forever family (even if she was a "pit-bull"). She's been here ever since. A lot of her problems are gone but she still guards the house, waits for my mom when she's gone, is afraid of men she doesn't know, and doesn't like it much when people start yelling at each other. She's taught me a lot about kindness and I'm thankful for that.

I could tell a lot of great stories about Sage, but I'll tell one of my favorites.
The day I brought my first guide pup, Nick home from Guide Dogs of the Desert. I had Nick in his create in my room when my mom brought Sage home from her weekend at Aunties house. I brought Sage into my room and took a very sleepy 8 week old Nickey out of his create. I let Sage sniff him from head to butt. She turned to my mom with a very pissey old lady grumpy dog look and then began wandering through the house. She checked every corner with her big black nose, checking to see if I had hidden any other little trouble making puppies in HER house. Nick had fallen asleep on the tile next to his create in my room when Sage came back in, gave him a sniff and than laid down to watch him on the tile accepting his presence as a new family member. She never really loved Nick as a best friend or playmate and usually treated him like a little brother, a nusince. But the day his create went mmissing from my room for good and the tears flooded from my eyes, she laid down next to me and I could tell that she was just upset as I.

Sage is my good dog, and she will be for many years to come. The best part about coming home for breaks during school, is seeing how excited she is to greet me. I can't imagine how things would have been if I my mom and I hadn't seen her running that day and brought her into our family. It's true what people say, the right dog always finds you.

Signing Off,
Kyia + Sage