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Sadie's Story
Article written by Patricia Celenza
Greetings, one and all from Sadie! You do remember me, don't you?
Yes. Sadie, the now very, very happy Sadie.
I was one of the dogs rescued by the Placencia Humane Society. You read about me and some of my other rescued buddies in the last PHS article.
I was the one who bit Pam Keck, my rescuer. Gosh, I was so frightened! I had such a terrible case of mange, no muscle tone, and it had been a real, real long time since I had been fed. I was so skinny.
Well, Pam Keck did more than forgive my biting her. She found me a really great permanent home! And now I am the star of this article!
Let me introduce you to Sue Harris, this wonderfully special person who gave me a new life in her loving home in Monkey River.
Hello from Sue Harris. One could say that I really do love dogs. My canine critters are poster "children" for rescuing "potlikkas" (Creole for mutts). They certainly have their ways of brightening up our lives.
I already had three dogs, and to most folks, that would seem to be enough. But I had a hankering for a fourth, and so mentioned to Pamela Keck that I was looking for another girl. Of course, she immediately had a candidate, Sadie, who had been rescued as an adolescent from Seine Bight by a young volunteer.
Sight unseen, I agreed to take her, and went to pick her up from Mary Ann and Keith Kaye's house. The Kayes foster many rescued dogs. Their house is my idea of heaven: they generally have at least ten dogs in residence, their own and rescued ones, as well.
Sadie was an elegant, slim young lady, very much like Arbie, another dog I had adopted earlier from PHS. Sadie had the most beautiful Cleopatra eyes, was a little reserved. I had to have her of course, so I quickly signed the adoption papers and off we went in the boat back to our house, Steppingstones, in Monkey River.
My three big dogs were out on the dock waiting for us, and I walked Sadie down the dock on the leash and into the house for her to get used to things, the big dogs trotting excitedly alongside.
It became apparent right from the start that Arbie and Sadie were going to be playmates. Arbie was especially excited when Sadie came, as he was no longer the smallest dog. Unfortunately for him, Sadie continued to grow, and so he is the little guy again ("But I'm the boy!") They immediately began to play like puppies, rolling and play biting all over the house, racing up and down the stairs, skidding on the carpets and generally having the best fun. Sadie seemed small and thin next to Arbie, but she was full of life. After a day and night in the house, we let her loose with the others to play and roam as she wished. She and Arbie immediately began a big game of chase, with Faye and even stately Suzie Q joining in. We are lucky that we have no roads here to worry about, just a lovely stretch of about half a mile of beach, so we can just let the dogs out to amuse themselves.
And such entertainment they provide us! We keep free range ducks and chickens, and the young dogs learn from the older ones that we don't chase them or molest them in any way. They will even mix in with the birds when scraps are thrown out, pretending to be chickens in order to get an extra little snack.
Sadie is my number one campaigner against blue crabs. She hasn't figured out yet that those big claws will bite, and I am sure one day she will come in with a crab stuck to her nose! It's funny watching a stand-off--Sadie versus The Crustacean!
There is also the excitement of wondering what they will bring into the house to play with next--an endless supply of washed up flip flops, plastic bottles, sticks, socks stolen from the laundry constantly appear in our sitting room. Sadie is the worst culprit. She finds something she likes, then parades it in front of you, looking out the corner of her eyes-- "Can I play with this TV changer?" "NO!"
As well as being our funny friends, they are excellent guard dogs, no-one gets near without us knowing. On the other hand, once they know you are allowed to be there, they will just accept you as one of the family, so they are ideal to have around guests. My head girl, Faye, is my number one guard dog. Sadie is number 2. If Faye comes to see me, Sadie has to push in to make sure I know she is on guard, too.
When we leave our dock in our boat, it's Sadie who runs down the beach as far as she can get, and watches as we disappear in the distance, even howling occasionally. She then waits on the dock until we get back, even if it's a few days later.
All my dogs are very loving. They seem to know that they have been rescued. They each of them have the habit of suddenly and for no reason coming over and putting their head on your knee and gazing up at you as if you are their hero. Suzie Q will be asleep, sprawled on her back, when she will suddenly for no reason wake up and come and launch herself into your lap, butting you with her head. It is very endearing, albeit a bit painful!
Yes, "potlikkas" are the best breed of dog! Anyone considering adopting a potlikka shouldn't hesitate, and if you have one or two already, get another one!
The Placencia Humane Society will match you up with the perfect dog to adopt. Please contact Pamela Keck, President of PHS at 520-4057 / 625-3123 or pkeck11@yahoo.com
You won't regret it!
