Sasha - A Very Special Dog Tale Of A Very Special Epi-Dog
“An enjoyable tale for animal lovers of all ages”
“All dogs are special, but there are some dogs that belong in the hall of fame. Sasha is one of those dogs”
“As someone who’s never owned a dog of my own, Sasha’s tale is one that touched me deeply and brought a smile to my face”
Sasha: book excerpt
Chapter 1
Puppy Power!
Christmas had come and gone, and winter was proving a difficult adversary for anyone looking forward to a break in the icy cold weather we were facing. My wife and I, together with our two girls, decided, one cold, bleak January morning to pay a visit to our local dog pound. Let me explain here that my wife and I are what might be described as ‘dedicated’ dog rescuers. Our home was, and still is, home to a number of wonderful dogs, all of whom have been subjected to abuse or neglect in their previous lives. We have adopted each one with a view to providing them with the care, love, affection and security and every one of them is an important member of our family.
From the worst case of abuse, Sheba, once used as bait to train fighting dogs, to Dexter, thrown from a moving car at high speed on a busy motorway, Dylan, beaten within an inch of his life as a puppy, or Penny, abandoned on a railway line when her ‘family’ of travellers moved on, these and all our dogs have responded to our care by rewarding us with the unconditional love that only a dog seems capable of giving to its owner.
So, returning to our visit to the dog pound, we’d adopted a number of dogs from there in the past and knowing and appreciating the hard work that the staff there put in to their care for the often pathetic and unwanted dogs that found their way to the pound, we arrived with a gift of a large box of chocolates for the girls who cared for the dogs on a daily basis. While there, one of the girls took us into the rear office where, in a small dog crate, we saw a tiny, white puppy, with black markings, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier no bigger than a small rabbit. As soon as she saw us, the puppy went straight into ‘take me home’ mode, her tiny tail wagging at about a hundred miles per hour and her little tongue hanging out in anticipation of some treat or affection. We were instantly smitten, even more so when the lady at the pound took the puppy out of the crate and placed her in my wife’s arms. After a minute, Juliet passed the pup to me, and it was clear to see; we had to have this little bundle, so small she was able to comfortably fit in the palm of my hand.
The whole decision-making process had taken no more than two minutes and we began filling out the paperwork that would allow us to adopt the puppy, who we placed on the floor and watched as we filled in the forms. The tiny pup dashed here and there, ran in circles, then back and forth over the length of the office floor, her tail never still as it wagged with happiness.
Paperwork complete, we now faced an agonising wait as the rules relating to stray dogs meant the dog had to be held in the pound for seven days, just in case the original owner turned up to claim their missing dog.
The chances of that happening in this case, were, we were assured virtually zero as the puppy had been found in the gutter on a lonely street, shivering and almost dead from hypothermia, by a passing dog warden who did in fact think it was a dead rabbit lying in the gutter as she drove along the street. Thankfully she pulled up to investigate and found the tiny puppy, barely alive and took her straight to the pound where she was gradually warmed up, examined by their vet, fed and watered and soon seemed none the worse for her ordeal. The warden estimated the pup as being no more than six weeks old and certainly too young to have left her mother. The staff at the pound explained they were feeding her on puppy milk bought from a local pet food specialist as she was too young to have been fully weaned on to solid food.
Confident that the puppy would soon be joining our family we drove home and spent the next few days preparing for our new arrival. We visited the pet store and bought her a nice soft, warm dog bed, with a lovely fleecy blanket to go in it to make sure she was warm in her bed. Dog toys came next, together with an adequate supply of puppy milk and a bowl for her food. It would be a while before she could go for walks in public, as she would have to have her inoculations beforehand, but we did invest in a collar and lead for her, ready for the first time she went out for a walk in the big, wide world. Having measured her neck at the pound we found she was far too small for even the smallest dog collar available, so we eventually purchased a small cat collar with a little bell attached. At least our new puppy wouldn’t get easily lost once she came home. The bell would make sure of that.
Perhaps the most important decision we made in the days leading up to her coming home for the first time was in deciding on her name. After numerous suggestions were put forth by my wife, me and the girls, we finally reached a decision and the next day I ordered a new shiny name tag for our puppy. Henceforth she was no longer ‘the puppy.’
Her name was Sasha!
Chapter 2
‘Baby Girl’
Finally, the waiting period was over and we motored across town to collect our new ‘baby girl’ from the dog pound. Full of excitement, we parked the car in their car park and walked into the office where we were met by smiles from the two girls on duty that day. One of them went to fetch Sasha as the other young lady filled out the remaining necessary paperwork and took my adoption fee and gave me the receipt which meant that Sasha was now legally ours.
Louise came back into the office with little Sasha in her arms and handed her to Juliet. Sasha’s tail just never stopped wagging, much as she’d behaved the first time we saw her. Little did we know that cold January day that Sasha’s wagging tail would prove to be her ‘trademark’ over the coming years and would even inspire an American friend of mine to create a webpage for her on Facebook, but more of that later.
For now, we were delighted to have our new puppy and Juliet sat in the car’s passenger seat, cuddling Sasha, wrapped in a fleecy blanket as I drove home.
If we’d harboured any fears or worries about how our other dogs might react when we arrived home with this new tiny interloper on their territory, they were dispelled within minutes of Sasha being introduced to them. We let her roam around in the garden and allowed the other dogs to come and see her a couple at a time. It was obvious she was a hit with the other members of our ‘pack’ as the only reaction we got from them was that they all seemed to want to play with her. That tail of hers wagged and wagged as she went from one dog to another, indulging in what we saw as ‘doggie introductions.’ She looked so small and frail next to our other dogs, but she held no fear of them and immediately made herself at home. We allowed them all to get to know each other before eventually allowing Sasha into the house for the first time.
The next hour or so was hilarious as she went everywhere, exploring her new home and surroundings. Like Goldilocks, she tottered around the kitchen, trying out each and every bed, sniffing at the two large water bowls we always keep filled for the dogs, and as we allowed her to progress from room to room her inquisitiveness saw her sticking her head into every nook and cranny, under chairs, tables, behind the TV, and taking great interest in every new sight, everything being new to her, the start of life’s great adventure for little Sasha. Already, it appeared as if our eldest Staffordshire Bull Terrier, (henceforth referred to in this book as ‘Staffies’), Sheba, was showing great interest in Sasha, following her around like a canine chaperone, and it has been no surprise over the years that the two of them have become firm and fast ‘best friends’. I’ll tell you more about the breed make-up of our pack a little later,
It wasn’t long before tiredness began to catch up with our baby girl, a term of endearment that has stayed with her to this day. If we’re talking to Sasha it is quite normal for us to refer to her as ‘Baby Girl’ and she responds to that name in the same way she does to her true name.
My wife picked her up and placed her gently in the cosy new bed we’d bought especially for her. As well as a nice fleecy padded cushion, the bed contained a couple of dog toys we’d bought in readiness for her arrival. Almost as if she knew it was hers, Sasha sniffed at the toys, then promptly ignored them and fell fast asleep. The other dogs must have sensed she was young and vulnerable because, until she woke naturally after sleeping for almost an hour, not one of them disturbed her. One or two walked up to her bed, sniffing at the tiny bundle lying there, her eyes tightly closed, but not one dog did anything that might have woken her. Even then on that first day, we should have realised there was something special about Sasha.
Feeding time soon came round as Sasha woke up and being so young, we knew she needed feeding little but often. Having purchased a supply of puppy milk from our pet store prior to her arrival we were ready and waiting to feed our hungry puppy. Sure enough, she lapped it up and was then ready for playtime, which involved me, my wife, Sasha and most of the other dogs. They all loved running around and playing with the new addition to the family, though a couple of them were a little suspicious of the fact that the new puppy gave off a ringing sound as she ran. The bell on the cat collar had much to answer for. Being so young, she quickly grew tired and much to our surprise, she went directly to her own bed, flopped onto her cushion and was asleep in seconds.
Later still, when it was time to feed the rest of our dogs, despite her tender age and the fact she wasn’t really ready for solid food, Sasha decided she wanted to know what the others had all got and so inquisitively ran up to where Sheba was eating and began sniffing at her bowl. Rather than snapping or growling at her as we might have expected, Sheba allowed the tiny pup to sniff at her food, and then tentatively, Sasha took a tiny mouthful and wow, she simply devoured it. From that day we made sure she received a small portion of ‘grown up’ dog food each day to supplement her puppy milk and so began the process of weaning her, right from day one.
As is normal with the arrival of any new dog in a household, the first day seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, bedtime had arrived. Being so small, we’d decided to have Sasha in our bedroom and so carried her bed up the stairs to our bedroom where we placed it beside the bed near to Juliet. At that time we had another dog, Dinky, who was relatively new and who also slept in our room. Before we knew it, Sasha had curled up with Dinky and the two little dogs were soon fast asleep. I fully expected to have to get up in the night to let Sasha out to do her business, or take a pee, but the puppy slept right through the night and held on until we rose in the morning and let her out in the garden. The other thing we found that first morning was that between them, Sasha and Dinky had somehow pulled the big blue blanket from Dinky’s bed out onto the floor where the pair of them had made a kind of ‘nest’ and were happily snoring together as we awoke.
The first day and night had come and gone and passed like a dream. Sasha had made a real impression on all of us, human and canine!
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