I
recently lost my dog of 10 years, Sadie. She was a beagle, but not your average
beagle. With her short snout and legs, many people thought her to be a puppy,
even in her old age of 15 years. She spent the first 5 years of her life
working in a U of I laboratory as a dogfood tester. Because of this she developed
many strange tendencies that carried over into her life with my family.
One
of her strangest habits was her communication. Being essentially raised in a
lab, she wasn’t ever allowed to bark. Normally, beagles are fairly loud, but because
of her past, Sadie never barked. Especially earlier in her life she made lots
of grunting noises when she wanted something or was enjoying attention. At some
points if she felt left out of something, she was able to whine almost like a
cat. On many occasions we heard her from a distance and thought that the sound
she was making came from our neighbor’s cat, only to find out it was her.
Another of Sadie’s bizarre habits
was her strong hatred of grass. During her time as a dogfood tester she spent
almost all of her time indoors, so she wasn’t used to the feeling of surfaces
other than concrete on her paws. When we got her and first brought her home it
took almost a week to convince her to walk out onto the grass. Throughout the
rest of her life she never really got over this. She would put up with walking
on the grass, but only when she had to. When taken on walks she walked on the
top of the curb along the street and would only walk into the grass to use the
bathroom. Part of this issue stemmed from her early life in a lab, but the
other part was due to her severe seasonal allergies. Being allergic to grass,
anytime she had to walk around in it on her short little legs, she got very
itchy. Even being on various allergy medicines throughout her life, she learned
to hate the grass and being outside in general.
One of the things we especially
loved about Sadie was the games she liked to play. She never learned or liked
to play fetch like a normal dog. Instead, we would bring her into the house and
fling a sock across the floor for her to chase after, sniff, and leave alone.
Every time it went flying, she acted like she thought it was something worthy
of catching, but upon further inspection proved only to be a sock. Overall,
Sadie was a very quiet, shy, strange dog with many peculiar behaviors, but most
importantly an amazing, loving dog and a big part of our family.
I'm really sorry for your loss, Olivia. You honor her well in this blog post. Every paragraph genuinely surprised and delighted me, and you paint a very clear image of her unique traits and tendencies. (I really loved your description of how she whined like a cat!!)
ReplyDeleteThis was a really touching blog post to read. Again, you do a great job talking about Sadie. She must have truly been something special
It's really clear how important your relationship with Sadie was. I remember your secret house parties and Sadie never wanting to turn around on walks. She was an adventure and a lively spirit and I hope she can spend her days on the grass finally.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you and Sadie had a beautiful relationship and that you gave her the best life you could. I loved the way in which you described the little quirks and her past. She seems like a sweet soul and this was a truly heartwarming post. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's spreading love.
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