Sandy

The day was warm and the dog was lost. She was darting in and out of traffic on a bridge in Brooklyn. It seemed she had been abandoned there and was frightened, confused and very hungry. Suzanne, who is the real hero of this story, stopped in the midst of all this and picked up the terrified dog. She took her home to her apartment in defiance of the rules and set on a course to find an owner. After a week of searching Suzanne realized that there was no one to claim the sweet Sammy, as she had been named. The local pound was a kill shelter and Suzanne refused to place her new friend in such a place. After many calls she was able to contact Gwen Arthur, the head of Wheatens in Need. Gwen got the wheels of rescue into motion immediately.

That day Gwen sent us an email asking us to contact Suzanne and save Sammy from certain death in the Brooklyn shelter. We spoke to Suzanne and arranged transport from Brooklyn to New Jersey. None of us had ever been to Brooklyn, but armed with maps and cell phones we made the trip and found Suzanne’s apartment with not much trouble. When we took Sammy’s leash from her hands we could see the sadness in her eyes. As Suzanne walked away, Sammy stared and stared after her begging with her own eyes not to be left in the hands of these strangers. Two hearts were broken that day.

We loaded our new foster into the car and took her home to safety. She was in poor health and in need of grooming. Her nails and coat had been neglected for so long that even the bath Suzanne had given her did only a little good. We drove her straight to the vet. We are thankful forever to the good Dr. Sarle who sacrificed a fair part of his weekend to care for our little waif. He cleaned her ears, cut her badly overgrown nails and gave her all the basic injections and medications to clear up her infected ears. She came home that day feeling a lot better and she and Zoe circled each other for awhile before deciding to coexist peacefully. That night we introduced her to her new bed inside a crate by our own bed. She was not too happy to be there but as time went on it became her favorite place to sleep. We decided to call her Sandy because it seemed to us to suit her and Sammy was a boy’s name.

Sunday dawned warm and sunny and Sandy got her very first serious bath from us. She was scrubbed and shampooed and seemed to enjoy the entire experience. That was good because there were many more baths to come. The next week we were back to see Dr. Sarle and get more shots and more medicines to clear up an itchy skin rash. We made an appointment to have Sandy spayed and her teeth cleaned.
After she had her final series of inoculations we took her to a professional groomer who gave her a true wheatie haircut. She was becoming more beautiful every day. With short nails she began to run and trot and get the exercise she needed. Sandy was learning to play with us and with Zoe and life was good. We fitted her with a Gentle Leader to teach her how to walk properly on a leash and not pull our arms out of the socket. It seemed she was never on a leash before and had no idea what to do except pull as hard as she could. She adjusted almost immediately to the Gentle Leader and became the darling of the neighborhood walking and greeting everyone with great friendliness and enthusiasm. Lots of People wanted to adopt her.

She is now home in Maryland with two People who love her very much. When we said goodbye the day she went home we were all crying but mostly tears of happiness that our sweet Sandy had finally found a permanent loving home. It was a great Christmas present for us all.

Finally we offer thanks and praise to Suzanne, who had the courage to pick up a strange dog in the midst of a dangerous situation and who protected Sandy from certain death. She also loved her enough to give her up and give her a chance at a life where she is loved and cared for permanently.

Thank you Suzanne!!!!