Today is Sadie's 8th birthday! I decided to have a little fun and put her through the monthly photo session I do for the kids every month. I don't think Sadie thought it was fun, though! Some stats: Sadie weighs 16 pounds, eats non-gluten chicken and turkey food, and sleeps through the night (and most of the day).
Here is Sadie, just two months old. The hubs and I had just gotten married that August, and little did we know that Sadie Barkington had been born just one week before our wedding. As the hubs and I got settled into married life, we decided to be all cliche and buy a house in Moundsville, WV. Then, of course, we needed the dog. The hubs wanted a rat terrier and I wanted a golden retriever, so we compromised on a Boston terrier. I spent my days not writing orders for the judge, but instead trolling websites to find a puppy, and we found her in Canal Fulton, OH.
The breeders, who were also veterinarians, wouldn't promise they would have a puppy available by the time we got there. When we showed up, another couple had already snagged one sister. Sadie and her brother were the only ones left. We played with both, but knew Sadie was our keeper.
The night we picked her up was rainy and stormy, and she stayed on my lap for the entire ride. Since it was October and chilly, we immediately stopped by a pet store and bought her some tiny sweaters. The first three years of Sadie's life were perfect - she slept with us, she went on tons of walks, and she was generally spoiled as much as any dog can be. Then came the babies...
I make jokes that Sadie is my first-born, but that's not too far off. And she didn't take too kindly to being bumped out of our top priority spot by a screaming lump of baby. Sadie showed her disdain - she regularly pooped in front of Britton's door, she snuck into Britton's room to pee, and she, still to this day, will wedge herself between me and the kids when I'm sitting on the floor playing with them. I don't hold it against her - she was used to being the enter of our universe and honestly had the rug pulled out from under her when that was no longer the case.
Truthfully, I can't imagine not having Sadie in my life. We need her, we all do. And I'm lucky that she puts up with Barrett's "petting," and when Britton wants Sadie to sleep in her bed all night, and moving from the horrendous heat of Texas to getting lost in snowdrifts in Pennsylvania. Sadie has endured two surgeries on her knees, and we endured paying for the ridiculously expensive procedures, which inconveniently enough required that she not jump at all for six whole weeks. That was a long six weeks (both times)! Back in Texas she went through a plasma transfusion after getting pancreatitis (from eating grill charred bits) and was in the vet hospital for three days. And she also had two teeth pulled, that never came through the gum. She has a degenerating disc in her back that acts up sometimes, and has itchy spots where something in Pennsylvania grass has irritated her, but she doesn't fog out a room like she used to as a puppy. She still snores sometimes, which I find adorable!
Likes: tummy rubs, sleeping with us (which irritates the hubs to no end, and allows her to pee at random, so it's not often at all), playing with her hedgehog stuffed toy, going on walks unrushed, cream cheese, laying in the sun
Dislikes: extreme weather (either too hot or too cold), being left out (like if we go on a family walk and don't take her), thunderstorms
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