Sassy 2001-2008

Today the end result of a heart-wrenching decision was achieved.
Our lovely, little girl was put to sleep.

Bad leg + pain + toddler = some frightening situations and one rather scared mom and dad.

This little dog who could make me so very very proud of her.
So willing to learn and do and be just about anything I asked of her.
Want to do agility? "Sure mom! I'm game!"
Want to learn some canine freestyle? "Huh? Okay mom...I'll try".
Want to learn to let a little boy throw you a ball? "Umm.....not sure mom...but okay..See I caught it! BUT NO!!!! I"m not bringing it back to him." (can't win them all) :).

Loved agility that little dog did. And we achieved our starters title...even getting TEAM!?!?!!? BUT we never did get our snooker...that was our nemesis...more mine than Sassy's...she'd get on a snooker field and just do her own thing. Not sure why...but she ALWAYS did that with snooker. Good little gamble dog, liked jumpers and standard but not a speed demon by any means. Would have liked to have taken her further but injury prevented that.

She learned to weave through my legs, wiggle, can-can, and all sorts of canine freestyle moves. Would even heel on both sides though she hated to.

Fishing, fishing, fishing...I'll always remember her bark of excitement when the hook and lure would sail through the air. And if we CAUGHT SOMETHING>>> WOW!!!! over the top excitement.

SQUIRRELS!!!!! ah the joy of the hunt, the thrill of the chase, the wonder of keeping one up in our backyard tree for four hours non-stop! She finally managed to catch it after 7 years of trying! :) Just this summer too. It didn't survive being caught...I didn't mind.

She had the best recall of any dog I knew. All the basics of obedience and more. Good dog!

She was a good dog.

She did have her issues.

• Space and the need for LOTS of it around her. Hated to be pounced on by anything...dog, cat, boy child...pouncing just not a good thing. NOW...that was a good thing in some ways...she taught many a golden retriever better dog manners, to the appreciation of said golden retrievers neighbours.
• Hated Tinker (a buck rabbit we used to have) - only a problem if Tink escaped. Sharing the ball with the boy!
• Sharing ME with the boy. Sharing anything with the boy..though she did learn that treats from the boy was acceptable. Small pets from the boy were okay. But everything was a long uphill battle. And after three years with the boy it was becoming more and more apparent that she was getting rather fed up with the boy.
• Had a bum leg which caused her oodles of troubles. Curtailed some of her long walks. Even short walks after a while would set it off...and that would make her grumpy. But not going for walks would make her grumpy too....so it was a bit of a catch-22.
  

But take all that away and I'd have her back in a flash. We looked into fostering, adoption rescues and such like. I talked with people who knew her and her potential in agility and her personality. I tried to find alternatives. But this was over-all the best one for her. As difficult and as heart-wrenching as it is.... I still know it was the best one over all for her.

I miss my girlie. This smart little dog who the Kitchener humane society told me was going to be a big dog! she turned out to be a medium size spit fire of a dog who loved to be out and about doing stuff with me and the family. head of spaniel, chest of a bull-dog and the attitude of an aussie... great little dog and now we mourn her loss.

Sassafras...you will be missed.