Sandi

Written on February 13, 2009 – 3:42 am | by maxine |

Hi! My name is Sandi. Although my people were told something totally different when they first found me, I am a Border Collie and Golden Retriever cross. One day Bob (that’s my human daddy), and Andrea (my loving and attentive companion) were out shopping for groceries on a blistering hot summer day in 2002. Two little girls were sitting on the sidewalk of the local grocery store with several of us puppies in a little box. It was so hot I thought we were all going to die. Andrea went into the store and a few minutes later, realized that Bob (her father) had not followed her. He was out looking at me!! To make a long story short, they went home to talk Maxine (Bob’s wife) into letting me “follow” them home. The little girls were so desperate to find homes for all the puppies that they even lowered the price from $25. Bob and Andrea took me to a vet for a quickie checkup and he said I would be a little dog – maybe about 25 pounds full grown, and that I was most likely from a puppy-mill. Being the smallest pup in the litter, and considering they only wanted a small dog, Bob and Andrea rescued me and took me home. Maxine promptly bathed me in a little old roasting pan. It wasn’t long before they realized that with proper nutrition, supplements and loving care, I was getting to be much bigger than 25 pounds! In fact, now I am a sturdy 55 pounds and honestly can’t remember ever being small enough to fit in a roasting pan!

When I first came “home” a small dog named Joyful and an old yellow cat named Marmelade lived there and we all became family. Sadly, in time, Joyful died at the age of 12 from cancer, and old Marmelade died from a stroke at the ripe old age of 17 .  I was unconsolable and mourned so badly for about four months that my family decided they had better get me another dog to care for before I died of a broken heart! After all, Border Collies are meant to ‘herd” and I had no one to herd any more. So they got Coby, who, by the way, even looks like a wollie little sheep! Eventually my herd grew to include not one, but six cats!

Now I really have my work cut out for me.  Not only do I have to keep Coby and six cats in line, I do my best to make sure my people are where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be! Keeping six cats in line is bad enough, but my biggest challenge is Maxine as she is a nighthawk and regularly stays up all hours so I can’t get to bed at a civilized hour. So, I do my best to herd her out of the office and into bed. She gets frustrated by being herded by a dog but someone’s gotta do it and it might as well be me.

I have long, luxurious, golden and tan coloured hair with white highlights. Once Maxine measured some of my hair and it was over 9″ long on my legs! They use a blue coloured FURminator on me for grooming and it really does work. The small blue-handled FURminator is just the right size to groom all parts of me. It even works very well on the little cats who are part of my feline herd. I know there are larger sizes, but for us, the blue-handled FURminator works best.

I have a problem with my hips not wanting too work well, which the vet says probably stems from my humble beginnings in a puppy mill. My people give me “Holistic Blend – Health Products for Pets Glucosamine HCL Complex Liquid formula.” I also get the Holistic Blend – Vitamin and Mineral Supplement. It is nice to know that there are companies out there who care enough about us canines and felines to make wholesome and healthy supplements without chemicals, additivies and junk in them! My people have also provided me with a fantastic sleeping surface – a rebounder! Some day I’ll tell you all about it. But, for now, I really have to get going and get Maxine herded off to bed!