Adoption Post-Adoption Stories and Pictures

Sarah's Story

Sarah came to GALT on September 16, 2001, at the same time as Rachel. Of the two girls, Sarah was the one with special needs, as she is completely deaf. It was quite an adjustment period for her, and she spent many hours unsure of her new environment. Sarah was lovingly fostered by Kathleen and Brian Moake, until her forever home was found with Angel Sater in Austin. Below is Angel's update on Sarah, dated April 8, 2002. Makes your heart warm, doesn't it?

Sarah is, of course, sweet, beautiful, affectionate, and adorable. She's also kind of klutzy, rambunctious, a bed-hog, and likes to chew on my coffee table as much as her bones and toys!

There is lots of good news to report. Sarah has gotten taller, longer, and has gained a few more pounds--no problems with her eating regularly. She and Beau and Brandy are all happy together, though Sarah would still love for them to run around in the yard with her more. I mentioned last time that there were 9 puppies in the yard backing up to my yard. There are only 4 of the 9 left, plus a beagle puppy, and the mother dog. The puppies are growing quickly and are roly-poly, but 2 of them are still small enough to get through one section of the fence (for a while, I would have up to 13 dogs in the yard at once, since the mother dog would dig holes under the fence and they would all come to visit). Sarah LOVES those 2 puppies, and they LOVE her. They come over many times a day looking for Sarah, and she chases them, and chews on their ears, and rolls them onto their backs. She can't believe her good fortune to have these interesting, wiggly playmates!

I am slowly getting Sarah to her side of the bed at night, although she would really rather lay on me and my pillow. When we are on the couch reading or watching TV, most of the time she is content to be right beside me, but sometimes she'll lay across my lap and sleep for hours. We are all amazed at how small she can be when she curls up, and how HUGE when she's jumping from couch to chair to couch, legs flailing like weapons and ears flapping! Speaking of ears, I play with her ears a lot, and she's gotten much better about letting me check them and put medicine in them.

After a bit of progress, we are back to struggling with how frequently Sarah has to go outside to urinate. The last urinalysis showed that her bacterial infection was gone, so she is now taking medication that would help if she has crystals in her urine that keep irritating her and making her need to go all of the time. Sometimes she can make it 4 or 5 hours, and sometimes she goes every 2 or 3. I have a pad on the floor that she uses if she can't make it until I get home for lunch or home from work in the evening, and it gets used almost every day. She still has to go out at least once every night. The vet and I will keep investigating...

Sarah is such a good-natured and loving dog, and I think she's very happy here as well!