Great Dane

The story below was written by Sadie's owner....and what a wonderful story it is!

About three years ago my 15-year old daughter asked for a dog. She had been
through a traumatic time and she wanted a big dog to “protect” her while she
slept. Although I agreed with the idea, I did not want a dog that might attack one
of the smaller children or a neighborhood child. So I put my daughter to work
and told her to research dogs that were large and protective, but not known for
being vicious. She researched many options and came up with the answer; our
new family member would be a great dane.

We set out in search of a great dane and the very day we started our search, a
free great dane appeared in the paper (I think it was fate!). I called the owners
and they wanted to re-home Sadie due to her anxiety/tummy issues. She was at
a home where they rescued bullmastiffs and Sadie was very nervous and
underweight. They thought she would do better in a situation where there were
no other giant dogs in her environment. They emailed pictures. For my daughter
and I, it was love at first sight.

We went to get her December 9, 2005. I remember because it was my birthday
and we had a snowstorm. School was closed, the roads were terrible, but I was
afraid someone else might adopt her. So I packed up the SUV, packed up the
kids and we set out for our 3-hour trudge through the snow. Well, it ended up
being more like 6 hours with all the traffic and snow, but we made it there. I
walked up to the door, knocked, and heard the biggest bark I had ever heard.
Not only was there a great dane, but also there were two bullmastiffs standing
there to greet me. I was certainly intimidated. I had never seen dogs this big. I
put the lead on Sadie, walked her out the front door, and put her in the back of
the truck. She went with me as if she knew I was there to take her home. She
rode very quietly. We stopped for gas and a sandwich. I bought her a
cheeseburger and she ate it in one bite.

We made it home in one piece, but Sadie was a little nervous. We didn’t have
bullmastiffs at our house, but we do have five kids and things can get a little
rambunctious at times. We went to bed; Sadie went to sleep with my 15-year
old daughter. Sadie didn’t sleep well. Her tummy was upset. She was up most
of the night vomiting and with diarrhea. I thought to myself, “My God, What have I
done?” Thank goodness we have hardwood floors. My husband looked at me,
but didn’t say anything. I was afraid I had made a bad decision.

After we cleaned the floor, and got the smell out of the house the best we could,
we all played with Sadie and made her feel welcome. We took her shopping for
a new collar, lead, toys, treats and nametag. With her dog intuition she realized
she was loved and she knew she was home. She immediately made her self at
home, bonded with all 7 of us, and became the talk of the town. She loves the
kids. The kids love her. She slept with my daughter until recently when my
daughter left home. It was a hard separation for all of us. Now Sadie sleeps
beside my husband and me. She is still the talk of the town. We recently had a
graduation party and of course, Sadie was the main attraction.

After that first night, Sadie knew she was in her forever home. She helped my
daughter begin to sleep again. She played ball with the boys. She tagged along
side the baby to protect her whenever we turned our heads. She is the best dog,
our protector, our funny girl, and a friend to all. She lives a good life, she is no
longer underweight, and she rests on the couch all day looking out the window.
She takes walks around the neighborhood, chases squirrels, goes to visit
grandma, and loves to play in the water hose. She fills in for the third-baseman,
shoots hoops (or at least think she does,) and plays catch. She knows grandma
comes over with treats in her pocket, she eats grapes off the stem, sits, shakes,
and lays down. She refuses to go out in the rain. She is afraid of storms, and
last night, as the tornadoes came through, Sadie sat in the bathroom huddled in
prayer with us. She is a very loved and treasured member of our family. Yes, she
drools, she passes gas, takes up the entire couch, and eats everybody’s food,
but that’s OK, we LOVE her and she LOVES us. This is definitely what pet
adoption is all about.