About Sage |
- Status: Adopted!
- Species: Dog
- Rescue ID: 2019-079
- Color: black and tan
- Ear Type: Erect
- Tail Type: Long
- Current Size: 60 Pounds
- Potential Size: 65 Pounds
- Current Age: 7 Years 10 Months (best estimate)
|
- Housetrained: Yes
- Obedience Training Needed: Has Basic Training
- Exercise Needs: Moderate
- Shedding Amount: Moderate
- Owner Experience Needed: Breed
- Reaction to New People: Friendly
|
SAGE ~3-4 years old. Good with Kids and dogs. Not good with cats.
GSRA adopts to residents of VA, NC, and SC only
Who’s the prettiest little sheppie in GSRA? Sage is, that’s who! Or at least, her foster mom thinks so. :-) Sage has been with us for a few months but we’ve been keeping her under wraps while we worked on a difficult medical condition. She’s not quite ready for adoption yet but is much improved, so we think it’s time to pull back the curtain and let everyone meet this spunky little beauty.
Sage is about 3 years old, good with medium and large dogs, possibly OK with small dogs, although I haven’t had a chance to test this, loves to ride in the car, crates beautifully, and has recently proved herself trustworthy loose in the house when home alone. She does need a bit of time to get to know a new dog, but once the newness wears off she’s happy with the companionship and LOVES to play—there’s nothing like a good game of chase or a wrestling match in Sage’s world! And although she’s a petite 62-lbs, she’s got enough spunk to hold her own with a much larger dog. She has a high prey drive though, so cats are a definite no-go for her, and I’d be careful with small dogs.
With people, Sage has pretty much never met a stranger and will go down for a tummy rub at the drop of a hat. Although in recent months she hasn’t gotten out to meet a lot of new people, she’s ALWAYS happy when she does. She also seems to be fine with children, although again, we haven’t been able to completely test this.
So given how perfect Sage is, I’m sure you’re wondering what her medical issue is. Well, she has an autoimmune condition known as perianal fistulas. The closest parallel to this in human disease is probably Crohn’s disease. Basically, it’s a genetic condition that causes her immune system to go into overdrive and attack the tissue in her anal region (yes, her butt), causing deep, painful lesions. It’s something that can be managed, and a times gotten into remission, but it can’t be cured. What does management look like? At the moment it means she takes 1 pill a day to suppress her over-active immune system, needs some ointment smeared on her butt once a day (yes, one wears a glove for this!), needs a fiber supplement with every meal, and eats a special food. We hope that she’ll soon be to the point where the pill can be reduced to every-other-day and eventually discontinued, but the other things should probably be considered maintenance items.
Intentionally adopting a dog with a medical condition is not for everyone, and no one would fault you for crossing Sage off your list based on this and moving on to other dogs. But if you’re intrigued by her personality and not put off by the prospect of what would be involved in manage the condition, we’d love to have you meet her. She’s one of those truly magical dogs that I think will quickly worm her way into your heart, as she has mine.
Please note: Sage (fka Bella) is being treated for painful perianal fistulas and will not be placed in a home until medically cleared. Potentially adopters must be willing to wait.
