A Sage update

So how is Sage doing, you ask? Or, more important, how are we doing since Sage moved in with us?

We've had Sage now for 3 1/2 months. We adopted her through New England Lab Rescue on the last Saturday of July. She was almost seven months old when she became ours; she'll be one year old on January 6.

Of course we went through a honeymoon period of, oh, a few days. Sage had us hoodwinked. I even remember telling Ken I sure wish we'd adopted her when she was only seven weeks old, because she was such a good puppy and I felt bad that we'd missed out on her early weeks and months of life.

Then Sage began feeling comfortable in her new home with her new parents. Comfortable, indeed.

So comfortable, in fact, that here she is sitting in the wing-backed chair, which I specifically told her was off-limits.

Pretty though, isn't she?

She's a very loving dog, and she's certainly attached to us. If Ken leaves the house without her, she fusses; if I leave the house without her, she fusses.

I designated the far end of the sofa to be her end; the near end of the sofa was to be mine. I put a cushion in the middle of the sofa as a "line of demarcation."

Like that would impress her, right?! When she wants to get onto the sofa, she wedges herself in between the cushion and me. The far end of the sofa remains vacant.

By October we decided obedience training could not be avoided: too much jumping up, too much counter-surfing.

We've now completed four of the six Saturdays of training, and we're seeing improvement. If you want to know the truth, the improvement is more a matter of our being consistent with our expectations than it is with Sage knowing what not to do.

Sage and I take a long walk each morning, theoretically to wear some of the hyperactivity out of her.

Usually it doesn't work, but I enjoy our walks together, and I think Sage does, too.

Sage absolutely adores our wood stove. That's where she is right now, in fact, instead of here in my study with me.

See Pink Piggy under the stove? Pink Piggy has now gone to Stuffed Dog Toy Heaven. So have many other stuffed toys. It's all about removing the squeaker then dismantling the rest of the animal seam by seam. Sage is an expert at eviscerating and de-limbing.

My nephew Kevin visited us with his family recently, and Sage, as  you can see, was in her glory all evening.



But the stuffed animals beside her here? All deceased.

Sage enjoys watching me work in the kitchen. She's usually in the way, but I just step over her rather than call attention to her blocking my path.

I took this photo of Sage a couple of days ago. She was lounging on our bed, watching me clean the bathroom. I loved the contrast of her sleek, pure black coat and her green ball. She set up the shot herself; all I did was grab my iPad.

She's a beauty, all right. She's gradually getting us trained.