04/06/2019
This is Sadie’s human. On June 3rd 2015 I adopted Sadie the Adventure Dog, a sweet and goofy Golden/Beagle. She stole my heart and was my best friend, travel buddy, partner in crime, and emotional support for a little over 3 ½ years. Due to complications from her pancreatic disease, she passed away on February 26 of this year. On her “Gotcha Day” anniversary I still have difficulty writing about it, but it is long overdue that her Facebook family were notified properly. My apologies that it took this long. It was a long difficult road after her life-threatening pancreatitis attack last June. My life became all about caring for my best friend. A raw diet and enzymes kept her going longer than I expected, but due to her compromised immune system she got a resistant skin infection. After 3 courses of antibiotics with no others left to try she was still miserable with no end in sight so it was time to make a very difficult choice. We decided on a hospice option of giving her medication that would make her feel better, but would damage her pancreas beyond saving. We thought we would only get a few weeks, but we got a whole month. She was itch and pain free and happy; so much like her old self that when the signs appeared that told us it was time to say goodbye it made it that much harder. But it was worth it to have her last month be filled with happy days. She had her “Best Day Ever” and early “Gotcha Day” celebration the day before we went to the vet. The serenity in her eyes during that last ride together was the only gift I could give her to repay all the love and friendship.
One of the kids in the neighborhood had a special bond with Sadie. This girl and Sadie were determined to give each other affection when I was out for Sadie’s walks. There was no keeping them apart (not that I tried). I was out in the yard yesterday and she brought her new beagle puppy named Sadie over to meet me. She said she was so sad when my Sadie died that she pestered her mother until she could get a Sadie of her own. She said I could get hugs and kisses from her anytime. I cried a little and that sweet pup licked the tears off of my face. And so the love goes on.
My first canine companion in twenty-five years was a learning curve and Sadie in particular was a major lesson in persistence and problem solving. She had a lot of challenges and we got through them together. She got me though a lot of grief and pain and I am so grateful I fell in love with a picture on the internet and took a chance on that sweetest face. Her foster mother said that she saw immediately that we had a chemistry and that we did. I will miss my little adventure dog more than I can express. Thanks to all for taking the journey with us. I will be sharing photos both past and present and a video of her enjoying her early gotcha day treat.
For anyone looking to adopt, older dogs may sometimes be a little more work to care for, but they are so worth it. Sadie, by no fault of hers, was rehomed multiple times. I was her fourth home that we know of and being her last home was the most rewarding thing I have experienced in quite a while. We most definitely rescued each other.
This page will stay up for a while as a tribute, but it is unlikely that I will continue to post going forward. If I do it will become a page where I post all of the information I gathered on Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) and raw diets. If this is of interest to the followers of this page, please let me know in the comments.
