SANDY & ME

You may be familiar with the book, Marley & Me about a lovable yet out-of-control lab and the family that adopted him. Their story spanned years. My story takes place in two weeks because frankly, it's all I can take.


Meet Sandy, a lovable yet completely out-of-control lab mutt. Our family is fostering her through the Cleveland Animal Protective League where we are weekly volunteers. Sandy has mange (skin disease) and is staying with us temporarily until she heals. Our daughter, like most kids, was convinced she wanted a dog. This experience has taught her that what she really wanted was a trained dog, and preferably one that does need to go out at 6:00 a.m.

Sandy has an affinity for chasing birds, frogs, rabbits, deer, dogs, people and cars. She chewed through her harness, urinated on my carpet, put a 6-inch tear in the kitchen linoleum and taught us a lot about dealing with difficult behaviors.

Just like a lot of difficult people, Sandy appeared well-behaved at first. Then slowly, her true personality appeared. She bit me several times. I'm sure she'd justify it as "just playing" but the scars and bruises on my forearms tell a different story. (If she was a difficult person, she might accuse me of being too sensitive.)

Sandy on a rabbit hunt

For all her challenging qualities, Sandy has a lot of redeeming ones too. Besides being cute, she made my daughter realize she didn't want to be a dog owner after all. And, after walking Sandy three times a day, I'm sporting some pretty impressive biceps!

My daughter learning the realities of owning a dog!