The story of Sage and me

When I got back from Iraq in 2004, I was seriously messed up. Fortunately, I found a good therapist within a month of my return, and spent 2 weeks in an in-patient program in Seattle.

Part of my therapy involved walking. I loved to walk at Point Defiance, as well as in my neighborhood. Whenever I walked, I carried dog treats, and I got to know all the dogs along my route.

One of those dogs was Sage. I used to pet her through the fence and give her a treat before moving on, just like everybody else.

One day, Sage was out of her yard, on her porch. This was very unusual. I called the number on her collar, the vet, and they told me the number they had on file was disconnected! Had she been abandoned?

I gave my phone number to the fire department just down the block (I was living in a no-pets apartment) and asked them to call me if no one came home.

No word from the fire department. A few days later, I was walking by the same home, and the front door was open. I introduced myself as the lady who had found Sage in the front yard. "Oh yeah," said the man, "She's been getting out a lot lately. I'm gonna hafta start chaining her up in the backyard when I go to work." Chaining her up??? I replied, "I walk every day. Could I walk her, too?"

He relented, and I made it my business to be there before noon each day to walk Sage. Even in the winter, when I couldn't even get my car out of my apartment complex, I took the bus to walk Sage. Eventually I bought a house right across the alley from her, so we never have to be apart.

Sage is my love and my life. All three classes of antidepressants had failed to quash the suicidal urges welling up within me. When the docs gave up and asked what I wanted to do, I said "Let's see how it goes without meds. I have a wonderful puppy to help me."

Sage has adapted to her role perfectly. In the store, she walks beside me, stopping wherever I do. In therapy sessions, she lets go and lets everybody pet her. She knows how to negotiate sliding glass doors. People always think she's way older than she is. That's because they've never seen her chase deer!

I used to put a hunting collar on her, which would emit a loud sound when the remote was activated, just to be able to know where she was. No, her owner never contributed to the cost of that. But the collar wore out and I decided not to replace it. She had demonstrated that she would come back within minutes, enough times that I figured it was safe to trust her.

And that's what's makes me smile -- the trust. I can run up to her and act like I'm going to stomp on her head, and she won't even flinch. I love that. It mean she knows I would never ever hurt her. It demonstrates a level of trust that I don't have for anybody yet, except maybe Sage.

Thank you, Sage, for saving my life. You are the most precious girlie in the whole wide world.

~~Cheryl