Happy Tail: Sugar!

Sugar has beautiful brown eyes and neat little patches around her eyes.   She came from Tennessee and we adopted her through TAGS.  How do we express the joy and love our Sugar has brought into our life?  I don’t know if we can but let me tell you whoever named her Sugar knew what they were doing because she is sweet, gentle and a true sweetheart.

On my way to my new home and not sure what I think yet!

Chris and I knew we wanted to add a dog to our family as we are both big pet lovers. A friend of ours recommended looking at adopting through TAGS and we really liked the thought of giving a pet a home through adoption.   Kathy and the team are all so supportive and passionate and we knew we had found the right organization to help us on our journey.   We first met Sugar in June after we had applied for her through the interview process.  It was love at first sight for us but unfortunately she was given to another family at that time.  Although we were devastated we knew to trust in the expertise and decision making of Kathy and the team at TAGS.  But…to our great surprise Sugar came back and was still in need of her forever home.  It was not a difficult decision to say we still wanted her as we continued to talk about her after she was homed elsewhere and how much we regretted that we didn’t get her.

What was Sugar like when you first got her?

Sugars has such an easy going friendly nature that at first she seemed to just fit right in with no challenges.  We noticed though that she seemed a little anxious about her surroundings as she was constantly on alert and barking at any movement or sound, and I think the fur she was shedding could have made a giant area rug LOL.   She definitely only did what she wanted, when she wanted and even had a number of accidents around the house.   She went a little “spazzy” (sorry not sure how else to effectively explain this behaviour on the leash) when she saw other dogs on walks and didn’t seem to ever want to “play” with us.  Chris and I thought…oh man, did we make the right decision?  And then in that same moment she looked up at us with her big brown eyes and we realized that she just needed someone to show her love and commitment and that we were stable.  We reminded ourselves that all good things take hard work, passion and the ability to deal with the tough parts along the way. Everything else just seemed to fade away at that point and we just pulled up our bootstraps and got to work on building a relationship with Sugar.  We would work with whatever challenges we faced regardless of how long it took or even if there were some things that might always be a “challenge”…she was part of our family now!  We were in with both feet and completely smitten with our Booger.

When did she open up to you?

I must again say thank you to such an amazing team as the training classes included in her adoption definitely helped us build a bond.  Nothing brings on the love from your pet faster than non-stop treat rewards LOL.  But honestly, as she learned, we learned and along the way she started to build trust with us.  It was so rewarding for all of us when we started to see the progress she was making.   As her training progressed, so did her comfort level and her attachment to us.  Learning how to read your pet’s body language, how to approach a training challenge in a constructive and positive manner…all of this is what helped us through the hurdles along the way.  As we progressed through the summer Sugar met new friends, both kids and dogs, we walked, we played and all of a sudden we realized she was starting to really show her personality.

This diva needs a real bed!

She is a bit bossy…but don’t tell anyone this…I kind of like that about her. When she decides it’s time to get up in the morning, she gives you a nudge on the nose with her paw and and if you are not careful you end up with a big wet doggy kiss.  She is genuinely sweet as pie and everyone who meets her seems to fall in love with her.  She is by our side always and loves nothing more than a little play time…especially if Chris is up for a little chasing and ball catching in the backyard.  She can be a bit silly and apparently loses all ability to think straight at the site of food LOL.

• She loves to tell anything that moves who’s boss…even the noisy thunder. There is no duck and cover for this girl…she stands there and barks at the sky…it really is quite funny to see.
• She saw a rabbit once in our backyard and since then every time we say it is time to go outside she stands at the backdoor like a rocket ready to launch…by the time she reaches the end of the deck she is mock 10 and airborne.
• When she is sitting around just hanging out we often catch her with her tongue just slightly sticking out of her mouth…looks really silly but you can’t help but laugh.
• She would rather rip a fuzzy toy or tennis ball apart than play with it.
• I have taken to calling her Booger (sugar booger) and funnily enough she seems to love the name.
• I have never seen a dog (or anyone) more motivated by food than Sugar…if it’s not nailed down she will eat it and she is lightning fast at sneaking things if they are in reach or you look away with it in your hand.  She manages to look quite sheepish and innocent at the same time afterward.

You have slept long enough, now give me some food!

Love and how lucky we are to have her in our family.  Thank you to all at TAGS for your hard work, dedication, patience, compassion and understanding.