After Axl died, we knew we wanted to get another big dog.
At first, I wanted another one
right now. I think it was mostly because I felt bad for Diesel, I thought he was lonely. But also, there were lots of things I was used to that only a big dog could do...cuddling in bed like the dog was a person, being able to pet him without having to bend over, big dog hugs, etc.
But then we realized that Diesel was okay. And then I didn't think I was over Axl enough to get another dog right away.
Then we realized how easy life was with only a little dog who was used to us and who we were used to. "Raising" Diesel is effortless...he doesn't have to be let out a ton, he doesn't eat much, he's not a huge fan of walks, and he keeps to himself a lot of the time (as long as he has access to our bed for napping).
We'd randomly talk about getting another dog, but it was usually in abstract.
We decided we didn't want a puppy. Training a puppy and raising a baby just seemed like too much.
We decided that we probably wouldn't get another Doberman because the process of cropping the ears was too expensive and such a pain.
But every other breed we talked about................just wasn't a Doberman.
Adam started looking on Craigslist for dogs. One night, he found a Doberman that seemed perfect. We decided to call the next morning.
The dog was already spoken for.
Another month or so went by and we were completely comfortable with just having Diesel. Another dog wasn't even in my thoughts. But apparently it was in Adam's.
Thursday morning, I was at work and my phone rang. It was Adam.
"You only have that one appointment at 10am today, right? Well, you'll probably want to come home this afternoon for a bit, there's someone coming over that you might want to meet."
"Really. Who?"
"Well, I found this dog. On Craigslist.
It's a Doberman.
But she's red.
And she's a she."
We've never had a female before.
"And she's not fixed. She's two years old. The owner is going to bring her by this afternoon so we can at least meet her. Are we ready for another dog?"
At this point, I started freaking out because really, in my heart of hearts, I wanted a Doberman, not any other breed. This one was a red female, which was just different enough from Axl to not make me feel like I was just replacing him. "My heart is beating like crazy right now! Just let me know when to come home."
After my reaction, Adam called the owner back because apparently there'd been a lot of interest in this dog. He told the owner Axl's story and that his wife was really excited and hopeful. He said he knew there were lots of other interested parties, but that we would most likely take her, so please take that into consideration.
The owner wanted to meet us, see our home, which made us feel like she'd been loved. So that was good.
I headed home around 2:30 that afternoon, and that's when we met Sadie!
She stole our hearts right away.
Sutton thinks she's pretty funny.
For being only two years old, she's one of the most mellow dogs I've ever met. We didn't hear her bark for about a day.
She has a little scar on her nose. And an excess of eye boogers in the morning. Her ears don't stand up. She's so cute.
After about 10 minutes...we told her owner we'd love to keep her if he was good with us. He let her off her leash, and she got excited to run around our backyard.
She lets Sutton crawl all over her and stick his hands in her mouth. This evening we were all in the car and Sutton and Sadie were in the backseat...we heard giggling and looked back...Sadie had her head laying on Sutton's carseat and he was trying to put his foot in her mouth.
She's figured out how to open our fence gate. She uses her pointy Doberman nose to lift the latch and then she hits the gate with her paw. I wonder where she learned that? So we immediately put a rock on the other side of the gate so it won't open, and got her a name tag with our phone number.
She's a lover. At first, she attached herself to Adam and always needed to be by his side. Now, she loves us both and is always trying to cuddle. When we let her outside to potty, she has to wait for Diesel to be let out there too, or she won't go.
She has a lot of Axl's habits. They yawn the same, stretch the same, make a lot of the same noises, and curl up in a ball on the couch the same. It's hard. But it's nice too.
At first she wouldn't play fetch. But she's starting to figure it out. We sit out in the backyard on a blanket a lot and she always has to lay on the blanket with us.
She loves sleeping on our cool hardwood floors. She sleeps a lot. She's just so chill.
We're not really sure what Diesel thinks. Sometimes he plays with her. Sometimes he's annoyed with her and wishes she would just leave him alone. You can tell he expects her to do some of the things Axl did, but she doesn't always.
Her nose is pink cause she's a girl. :) Axl's was black. I have a hard time calling her a "she" since I've never had a girl dog before. I wanted her middle name to be Lou. Sadie Lou. Adam said no. He's not a fan of middle names for dogs. Whatever.
She made herself right at home on our bed. That first night, we couldn't get her down. I had to pull on her collar while Adam pushed her from behind. She's a small Dobie...60 lbs compared to Axl's 100, but she sure can hold her ground.
She's so quiet and calm that sometimes I can't find her. She always ends up being either on our bed, on the couch upstairs, or in the dark on the couch downstairs. I think she's happy to have parents who love her and love to cuddle with her.
She'd had two previous owners. The first one wasn't abusive, but left her alone a lot because he traveled for work. She'd be left in a mobile home for 5 or 6 days straight, being let out only once a day to potty and run a bit. That owner felt bad, so he gave her to the second owner. He had her for only a month before he gave her to us because he already had 2 dogs and just felt like 3 was too much.
So that's Sadie's story.
We feel so lucky to have found her, she's such a perfect dog! We got to pass over the puppy years and get right to the good stuff. She's settled in our family so easily and it seems like we've had her around forever.
It's definitely hard when she does the things that Axl used to do, and it's weird to think that Sutton will grow up knowing Sadie and won't ever remember Axl. But she fills a huge void in our family and came along at the perfect, albeit unexpected time.
