Saaaaage! Our sweetest little Sage.
This week while we’ve been in the Philippines, every once in a while I’ll think about home and remember: oh yeah, WE HAVE A DOG. And her name is Sage. And she is just unreal. Just so unreal.
At least 50x a day I look at her and just dwell on the fact that we literally won the dog rescue lottery when we added her dog highness to our family. She’s the most gentle, affectionate dog – or maybe just living creature in general – that I’ve ever known or experienced or interacted with, ever. Although now that I mention that, I’m having flashbacks of her with her hair standing up on her back, growling at strangers who come up to the front door and soft-biting at their ankles in a moment of weakness, so there’s that one little thing. Just… we’re working on it, okay?
I’m not exaggerating when I say that not a day goes by that Bjork and I don’t say something embarrassingly ridiculous about how perfect of a dog she is for us. You never thought you’d be friends with THOSE people, right?
You’re in luck. We are happy to fill that Dog-Obsessed Friend Quota for you.
If I were to describe how Sage has been in February, I’d tell you that she has been channeling the dog meets kitten meets fawn meets constant snuggler and devoted napper vibes.
There have been some February ups:
- a new toy that keeps her awake and active for at least 30 minutes at a time – THIS IS A BIG DEAL
- huge progress on operation: train Sage to fetch – I think there were like three times in a row that she actually got the ball and returned it to me because #dogwhisperer
- so so so so so many cozy wintertime snuggles, you wouldn’t even believe it
- weekly studio visits, since the studio is DOG FRIENDLY! I would be lying if I said that this was not the final building detail that pushed us into signing the lease
- pink bandana diva status achieved
There have also been some February downs:
- her back leg has been acting up – she’s limping, and she’s struggling to jump up on furniture (uhh, who says that? like, we WANT her to jump on furniture? see above comment about Dog-Obsessed Friend Quota).
- she had an X-ray to investigate the leg issues, but the results are still a bit unclear and we’re going to keep looking into it once we get back home. it’s likely that she has hip dysplasia and we are kinda sad about this.
In general, with the ups and downs and average days in between, Sage is loving life and we are loving life with Sage.
Also: I’m having a moment right now where I think about how weird it is that I am writing this post about my dog’s life. And I’m okay with it. And I’m excited that some of you dog people might weirdly and wonderfully be okay with it, too.
I love you guys so much for loving Sage. We are a dog-loving, food-loving internet tribe of greatness!
Alright. I’m pretty excited to get home to this girl in a few days, but till then, here are a few snaps I dug up from my camera archives of Sage in February!
Three things:
- If you have helpful things to say about hip dysplasia or training dogs to fetch and/or generally be interested in running games outside, I need you to start talking. Sage needs you to start talking.
- We ARE still in the Philippines, and I am sad to report that we’re mourning the loss of a very important member of our little tech family this week: Bjork’s computer. It was stolen from a restaurant here in Cebu on Saturday. There were lots of tears in my heart while, as usual, Bjork stayed cool and calm and balanced. What is that kind of life like, I wonder? Some of us shall never know such things. Anyways, in addition to losing all the video footage we had done for the orphanage over the last seven days (ouch ouch ouch ouch OUCHHHH), we are now half as efficient as we were when we arrived as we only have one computer to work from. I’m not sure what our last few days will look like here (well, yes I do – they will look like a MAD DASH to make up for seven days of video work), so if you don’t hear from us for a few days, know that we’re slowly but surely making our way back home and we’ll be up and running ASAP with a Philippines update and BIG THING post that I’m half terrified and half beyond excited to share.
- To stay up to date with the rest of our trip, peep Snapchat (pinchofyum) and join our Facebook VIP group!
Sage Friends, you’re the best. You knew that, though, right? Happy Monday!
MORE SAGE PICTURES AND POSTS:
Sage In October
Sage In August
Sage In May
Sage is a cutie pie!! 🙂
Sage is so cute! Thanks for sharing. Off topic, what color of paint is on your walls? I love it.
I think I have Sage’s soul twin at home. Sadie is a rescue who has fit so perfectly into our family and life we cannot get over it! For the hip, you might check with your vet about an Rx food with glucosamine in it… it worked wonders with our last shepherd. It made a big difference and gave him extra years of less painful mobility. Good luck!
Sage is beautiful. I love how you include her so much in your blog, even though it’s about food and not dogs. Yeah, I’m dog-obsessed too. I understand. I’m sorry to hear she is having trouble with her leg though 🙁 I know it’s a long shot, but I just wanted to share the information in the event it might help some dog out there… leg/hip problems like that can also be the result of some kinds of tick disease. Now where you live, you might not even have ticks. But here where I live now and have helped rescue quite a few dogs, we have the little buggers. And from experience I have learned this fact. Tick disease can be cured, there are over 20 types, and there are only a few they can test for to confirm what kind a dog has. But there are other ways to figure out a dog may have tick disease. One do I rescued and re-homed to a wonderful family had a tick disease, and you never would have guessed. She was very healthy and full of energy. But she had that leg problem from it. She has a wonderful vet who helped her get rid of the tick disease and it’s not a problem anymore. My dog also had tick disease, even though she has had so very few ticks latch onto her here… it only takes one with a tick disease. Her symptoms, a little lack of appetite, and little low energy. Mostly it was intuition and knowing her so well, and the fact that I had just found out about my rescue-foster dogs bout with tick disease that made me bring her to the vet for a check-up. Sure enough, she had extremely low platelet count due to tick disease. Now you may not even have ticks where you live and Sage may be lucky enough to have never been bitten by one. But that thing about the leg issue and the vets not being certain, well I just thought I’d share my experience. Just in case. I hope beautiful Sage feels better soon.
Hi! Okay, three things:
1) I would HIGHLY recommend talking to your vet about this medication: https://www.1800petmeds.com/Metacam-prod10588.html. It’s an anti-inflammatory medication that I’ve used with my dog before. She had a partial ACL tear, and was not putting any weight at all on one of her back legs. (She’s also a rescue pitbull mix and pits are very prone to ACL injuries.) I gave her Metacam for several weeks and it healed her right up. It’s amazing!
2) Have you tried asking guests coming into your house to give Sage a treat when they walk in? I’m sure you’ve done lots of research about this, and it’s super common for little rescue babies to get nervous in their house when strangers come in, but using positive reinforcement for those types of things can be really helpful.
3) I’ve been dying to ask for weeks – where is your couch from?! I love it 🙂
What a great post! Sage is SO cute. I would snuggle her all day too!
I’m totally obsessed with my dog too. He’s a basset hound – almost a year old – and randomly started limping a couple weeks ago. We took him to the vet and they did a full exam but couldn’t find anything. He doesn’t seem to be in pain – just kind of stiff and limps a bit. We’re going to wait a couple weeks and take him back to the vet for a follow up, but all the comments on this post were very helpful & reassuring. You’ve got a good group of readers! Thanks for the great food & cute dog posts!
As a fellow dog-crazy human I just love hearing about your Sage – she has the sweetest and kindest face. I have a 12 y old rescue that has trouble getting up on furniture the days (I obviously in your camp of I WANT him on the couch, bed, etc) We give him an over-the-counter joint supplement called Dasaquin ever morning and I’ve just started him on non-steroid pain/joint medicine called Previcox.- both seem to help so far! Also – keep up the amazing recipe work – so many of yours are now a part of my regular rotation! Sending love to Sage and her family. Xx
We adopted a beagle who, they think, had been hit by a car. She developed hip dysplasia and arthritis as she got to be a senior dog. We go to a vet that offers water therapy, laser joint therapy, and more recently added acupuncture. These are all helpful. We had to say good-bye to her last June. She was 16 or 17 years old. She was a sweet and gentle girl.
Good luck with sweet Sage.
Thanks for sharing Sage with us! She fits your family well!
This may sound silly, but I am a huge fan of Sage! She is honestly one of the sweetest and hands down gorgeous dogs that I’ve seen — I absolutely love these updates + pictures of her.
Awwww!! Seriously, how sweet is she! That little face is just the most lovable thing ever. Besides my little pup’s, of course 🙂
My Maltese baby, Maci, was born with a rather severe form of dysplasia. She doesn’t care and even though the vet says they could do surgery, we aren’t in favor of that. She’s nine and since her favorite place is on our lap doesn’t seem to mind. She’ll probably get arthritis in it but doesn’t that just make her a little more like us?
Sage is fantastic! Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful photos. We love our two rescue dogs, and I loved reading this post. Feel free to share more Sage adventures.
I love that you devoted a whole entire post to your dog! I am crazy about mine, too. Thanks for mixing it up and the beautiful photos!
I had a dog with severe hip dysplasia in both hips. At first he could barely walk. My vet had me take him swimming and on walks up and down steep hills. It helped him build up muscles that compensated for the dysplasia. He did have arthritis in his later years, but enjoyed many years active and pain-free.
Advice re: Sage-y’s furniture issues – if you can, pile up Amazon, shoe, cereal, etc. boxes you have laying around next to the couch/bed/etc. like stairs where you want her to hang out and hopefully she will learn to climb up and down them soon. I’m sure it will help if she’s not jumping down. Hopefully you’ll be able to get actual stairs (or Bjork could build some!) eventually. Then she’ll have more time to play fetch! No advice there, as my dog came home from his doggy resort knowing how to fetch. Either the staff or the other doggies there taught him how!
Ahhh… I’m usually a lurker so this is weird leaving a comment. One of our dogs was diagnosed with arthritis and then hip dysplasia over the course of the last four years (she’s six this September). I never give my dogs meds or supplements, even over the counter, without consulting with their vets, but I agree with previous comments on Glucosamine Chondroitin. At this point, she’s on all these: Glucosamine Chondroitin and Rimadyl in the morning, Glucosamine MSM in the evenings, Fish Oil pills 2x a day. If you really suspect it’s hip dysplasia, the fetch training may be problematic. I’ve had to leave her in the house while I play fetch with the other dogs because she runs so hard or they end up crashing into each other. It usually ends with her limping for the rest of the day. Our vet offers laser therapy and an underwater treadmill as part of their physical therapy program. She started last night (hated the treadmill), but we did see improvement this morning already. And when she has her hip surgery next month, I’m really, really hoping we can remove all medications and supplements until she’s a little older and needs it. If you decide to start treating with medication, just be aware of potential side effects. We have her blood levels tested regularly to ensure the meds aren’t affecting her kidney functioning, among other things.
Oh, yesyesyes! I love the Sagey posts!! She is so a-dorable and sweet and it just makes me want to cuddle her and pet her beautiful self! I wouldn’t mind more of anything Sage. Oh I am SO sorry about the computer and all the lost work!! I can only imagine what losing that much would mean and how hard that would be. I wish I could give you guys a big hug and then be there to help you do as much as you could to make up. #wishfulfantasythinking
Hahah ohhhh my goodness I absolutely love the overload of dog photos. Such a gorgeous little girl!
So sorry to hear about your laptop getting stolen – there is nothing more frustrating than that. Hopefully you can continue to get awesome footage going for the rest of the time there 🙂
Im not sure if my Hip advise would be any good as Im in the UK and not sure if there is different options with you, but first and foremost don’t panic. Even if you get the define diagnosis it will be totally okay. They good thing is, if the xrays are not obvious it probably means it is fairly mild, our labs was very obvious and very severe. She had a surgary called TPO on one hip which is usually performed on puppies but the other one wasn’t an option so it will be a full hip replacement in the next few months. She is on pain meds and can still walk and jump and play, and hopefully after the op she will be back to ‘normal’. A friend of mine has a GSD post op and she is wonderful and can run as fast as any other dog. They can tire a little quicker and will probably develop arthritis when they are older but for the most part they will be totally normal loving dogs. Joint suppliments can be amazing for dogs with hip Dysplasia. For some they do not work but others thrive on them (we use seraquin but again this might be a UK only brand). Not all dogs require surgery and some do really well with hydrotherapy and acupuncture and some pain meds and I so hope that is the case with this little one as being honest the surgery is horrible. Its very intensive and the drugs can make them very spacey and its really really tough to watch. But slowly (after about 2ish weeks) they become more and more themselves and the hardest part is keeping them on bed rest which is challenging but a relief to see them back to their normal selves again but it is so worth it in the end to see them happy and pain free. And remember she will love you no matter what – I truly believe dogs have as much of a will to live as any human and can understand to some degree what is happening. Thank you so much for these lovely posts, it makes me feel normal for gushing so much over my dog haha!
Sage, you’re a star! That face is so kissable.
OMG, Adorables!!!! I can see that I just may have to do some dognapping this week.
His eyes!! So much depth!
wow she is so adorable! hope she gets better! i miss my family dog every single day. i think i prefer dogs to people 😉
Your pictures are so beautiful! What camera/lense do you use! I would love to learn to take better pictures. Sage is adorable BTW!!!