Sarah Nell - The Adventure Continues

Sarah Nell's story is much like the millions of other stories I've heard over the years from fellow rescuers. What makes Sarah's adventure so special is that her time with me would be her third lease on life. Each story is as unique as the next. What I didn't realize when I stared into her eye when we met on that fateful day was that I was her only shot at finally living a happy life. I didn't realize that I was in the presence of a stately celebrity. Thus, she had an estate. However, like we see in many of the gossip magazines, coming from a great background does not equal a happy life. This was Sarah's past.

There are two different kinds of dog people in the world: those that see dogs as animals serving a purpose like a tool and those that believe in anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is the personification or giving human characteristics to non-humans. This would be me. I speak for my dogs: "Look at me! Hey! Hey! Play with me! Down here!" I envision them doing natural human behaviors. They are like my kids. I can hear the Miami Dog Whisperer, Richard Heinz, all over me now for this thought process. I can't help it. I've raised and trained many dogs in this form of behavior with great success. It almost fulfills a dogs natural freedom to some degree and builds trust between the dog and owner.

Sarah Nell came from the camp of thought that dogs, like other animals, serve a purpose. Sarah Nell was one of the last remaining GSPs from the well known Lawton Chiles line. Chiles, the former Governor of the State of Florida, used his line of dogs for hunting many types of birds. One of Lawton's most famous quotes was, "That dog won't hunt!" Chiles was referring to his then opponent Jeb Bush during the 1994 Governor's race. I would later come to believe that Chiles was subliminally talking about Sarah. Sarah was kept in a run in central Florida for years throughout her time with Chiles. A few years after Chiles governorship, he past away from a sudden heart attach. Sarah, along with her brother, were given away to a hunting buddy of his, James Johnson Jr., who lived in Coconut Grove.

Sarah's bad luck with owners did not end there. Sarah's and my paths would never have crossed if it hadn't been for Johnson tragically being killed in a car accident in the islands.Amongst many of the running jokes that Sarah brought to my life, I was to become Sarah's third male owner. It was quite possible that any male she came across would come to a violent or tragic ending. What I soon discovered was that Sarah was a slow witted slobber of a lover for men. She was the ultimate man's dog!

Sarah was left in the Johnson backyard forgotten and unwanted. A relative, who came to settle Johnson's estate, discovered Sarah Nell. Doing the best he could, not knowing much about animals, dumped a bag of dog food on the ground for her so that she would not starve. Left in the environment, Sarah had filed down her teeth and became terribly infected on numerous fronts. Not only did her former owners lie about her being spayed to avoid paying fees to the State, but now she had a massive uterine infection, pseudomonas in her floppy ears, and a massive skin infection that caused her to scratch violently. She was a walking medical nightmare.

Sarah's estate included any and all medical expenses. Sarah was quickly spayed and her internal infection cleaned up in the process. Besides the pseudomonas super germ in her ear and her blind eye, Sarah was as healthy as a puppy. It is hard to believe that infection and sickness can cause such a dramatic attitude change in a dog, but it can. To prove herself feeling better than ever, Sarah would bolt around our small condo discovering all the glories of being free and knock everything over in the process. It was clear she never was given the ability to even play with toys. Sarah was goofy and a bit slow witted. When something new was discovered, I could almost hear the choirs sing from the heavens. She would smile at me approvingly saying, "That was awesome, Daddy! What's next!"

When I first rescued Sarah Nell, I thought I would be giving an old dog a comfortable bed for the next six months until the inevitable came to pass. Just like an ancient relic dug from the Earth, once cleaned and restored I discovered a priceless piece of my heart. Those six months turned into the best four years I have ever had in a relationship with a dog.