Sable came to us in 1992. Janet and I had been talking about getting a dog. I had always had a dog when I was growing up. Janet although an animal lover, had never had a dog. Her only experience with dogs was at her uncle's farm and so she decided she wanted a collie.  I thought a collie was bit too large so after a bit we compromised on a Sheltie as a good choice.  Not long after that decision we were coming home and on the radio was the local humane society pet of the week advertisement. Of all things of course it had to be a Sheltie.  We called the next day and found out that Sable had been at the humane society for nearly 6 months.  She had numerous ailments and had lost almost off of her undercoat.  She had become almost a fixture at the humane society and was the official meeter and greeter.  However it was now felt that she really needed a home. She loved company and being left alone for the weekends was just not good.    We went the following day to take a look and Sable adopted me on the spot.  As we sat down to wait for woman in charge of adoptions, Sable came straight over, put her head on my knee and didn't move until we took her out for walk.  I think everyone in the office, especially her, knew she was going to go home with us

Sable left us for a better place on Thursday, June 13, 2002 almost 10 years from the date when she first came to live with us

We don't know how old Sable was when she died but when we first took her to the Vet in 1992 he estimated she  was 8 years old. The humane society had estimated her at five but then again they thought she had been spayed and 3 months later she came into heat.  We got her spayed as soon as we could thereafter.  We also made the amazing discovery that she was allergic to wheat.  Once we discovered that all of her itching and hair loss problems miraculously disappeared.  She has always been as clearly shows in the picture above, the most loveable of dogs.  At somewhere between 16 and 18, she was pretty arthritic and did a great Tim Conway imitation when she walked but she still greeted us at the door with her tail in full wag and still loved to snuggle up and be petted.  On occasion she would still try to play with the two boys. It was really fun to watch because they were not their normal rough and tumble selves when they played  with her. They just seemed to know that she was pretty fragile.

When most of others ran away at the sight of a banjo, Sable was always the first to come in, lay down and pretend she enjoyed every thing I played. She would stay there faithfully until I finished practicing.  That willingness to stand by while others were doing their thing carried forth even with the other dogs. As Sassie and Borgy were learning agility, Sable was there as the cheerleader.

She traveled to all of our agility events. She would stay in the tent when we were watching but was always willing to take a walk off to visit some of the other tents if we happened to not be paying the appropriate attention. 

She was our first Sheltie and will always be that in our hearts. Her time with us was short but it had an amazing impact on our lives.  If you ever have a chance to take in an older dog, don't pass up that chance. While it is a great thing to do for the dog, I have to tell you that you and everyone around you will be the better for experience.