Sage

January 1, 1993 - October 7, 2000

We are not breeders. We are an active duty military family. As a wedding present 8 years ago my brother gave us money specifically to buy two dogs. We had not decided on a breed, we just knew we wanted a "family" dog because we intended to have children someday.

After a lot of research we narrowed it down to Labs, Retrievers, and Shelties. Then we moved into an apartment that allowed dogs, but only if they were 30 lbs and under, so that was God's way of pointing us toward Shelties. We never even knew anyone with a Sheltie until a former boss in NC adopted one and when we met Dillon, we were hooked.

Our first, a 10 month-old blue-white (Sophie), was from the same breeder as my boss in NC and joined our family in January 1993. The second, a beautiful sable (Sage) from Cataway shelties in MD came home with us in March of 1993. (Cataway sold her as "pet" quality because Sage had big paws to grow into. Indeed, she was our Amazon Sheltie.) My wife's friend decided to breed her blue in FL and we received our third, a tri (Isis), in December 1995.

We have moved frequently and our first "kids" have been with us for most of the journey. We moved into a spacious home with a fenced yard adjacent to an empty field immediately after getting the first two dogs. "The girls" have lived in Virginia, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Louisiana. Our last move was to Okinawa, Japan, 2 1/2 months ago. We were only allowed to bring two dogs, so we left Sophie with my wife's parents in RI (she's doing great). The decision of which dog to leave was hard, but since Sage and Isis were best buddies, always wrestling together, we couldn't bear to separate them. So, Sage and Isis came over with us to Japan. Although they didn't enjoy the trip, they did well on the way over; no accidents and no apparent bitterness about all that time in their "bed-beds." 

Now the hard part. We recently lost Sage to pancreatic cancer over the course of 72 hours. Her departure was sudden and has left us with broken hearts. She was our best friend and first Sheltie raised from a puppy.

Sage was an incredible animal with a personality to match and we were so blessed to have her for 7 1/2 years. The list is endless of what we will miss: her vocalizations to play and eat, the soft fur of her head and ears, her tendency to "steal" our warm spot on the bed or couch, snuggling on our pillows on our bed, wrestling with her two sisters, her enjoyment chasing us in open fields, the way she would take treats from our mouths ever so gently, the way she would curl her bum up to get scratched on the back, the way she would go limp as a wet noodle if you picked her up or held her in your lap, her "smile," and the list goes on...

All through her brief illness she did not let out one whimper. We told the vet she was in a lot of pain, but he didn't believe us at first, because she wouldn't even cry when he palpated her abdomen. But we knew our dog. After treating her for a "stomach virus" for 24 hours, he did an x-ray that revealed a large mass. We opted for surgery to determine exactly what we could do, but it was all over. Sage's pancreas was ten times the normal size and the mass in her abdomen had vibrosed all of her organs and intestines together. She was a mess.

She was so strong it makes us feel guilty we didn't notice any change in her behavior earlier to possibly intervene in her illness. She remained playful until Tuesday night (10/3/00), which is partly why it is so surreal she could have been so sick. We wanted so much for her to stay with us for our three years in Japan and it has devastated us that she passed on. It's not that we expected her to be immortal, but we had no warning we would have to let her go to the Bridge so soon, and that is what is most difficult for us. We are thankful she had a vital life and only those last few days seemed to be filled with pain. On her last ride to the vet for her surgery, she looked at my husband with, I believe, eyes of relief. She had to be in such agony.

After we were told the severity of Sage's illness, we brought the whole family, Isis included, to say our reluctant goodbyes. As we caressed her and talked to her, we let her pass on to Rainbow Bridge. We miss her beyond belief. She will always have a very special place in our hearts and we look forward to the day when we can think of her without all of the sense of loss and heartache. And we will look for her at the Bridge when we follow her Home.

We called our family in RI to tell them what happened and they later shared an interesting story. Apparently, on Sunday, Sophie got very excited when she went outside with Chris' sister. She got her "happy tail" and started barking at a corner of the yard she is not inclined to go to... the impression they had was that Sage had come to say goodbye to her big sister.

Sage, we will miss you terribly.

With All Our Sheltie Love,
Corey, Christine, Alexandra, Madison and... with tail wags and licks, Sophie and Isis, your sisters.

Sharena

We knew when we first brought you home that you were someone special. You took your place as "Queen of the House." You slept in our nightstand at first, then when you were big enough to jump into bed with our boys, you slept there.

You chased our older boy and jumped at him as he ran, tearing his pants sometimes, but you just wanted to play. No more kick ball games when you were around, you had to steal the ball all the time. The boys couldn't play hide and seek either, you would bark when they would hide, showing the other where  they were. And if you didn't get to ride in the car, or go to camp with us, you acted mad or pouted, you knew we loved you. You loved to sniff things out, sometimes getting in trouble.

Your way of showing your love was to rub your cold wet nose on our legs or hands, and once in a while, if we weren't paying attention, you got a licky-kiss off on us, getting our full attention then.

You guarded the house at all times of the day, protecting us in your own way. Always a friend and a good family member, there when we needed someone to understand, and someone who never minded us talking and sharing our problems, too. We will miss you dear girl.

Years of love and service went by, faithfully caring for us, herding the cats when they needed it, getting more stubborn as time marched on, because you were still the Queen. Near the end, the last 6 months of your life, if you chose to sleep on our dirty clothes at the bottom of our bed, unable for the last few years to jump up anymore, choosing only to be near us. On August 15, 2000, our 25th wedding anniversary, you decided to not get up that day, but to move to a new home in Heaven.

Your coming to us was special, and certainly your leaving us was too. We will never forget you, the mark you have made in our family's lives is deep, we still deeply feel our loss of you.

Your loving family, Mike, Janet, Dan and Dave Summers