I brought Sargent home when he was 12 weeks old. I fell in
love with he and his brothers and sisters, mother and father
as soon as I laid eyes on them. Sarge was very mischievious.
He got into so many things when he came to live with me. He
tore apart futons, bit into slats on my French Doors, and the
list goes on. But I will tell you, that dog was my heart and soul no matter what he did. I'll never forget my dad telling me he wasn't a very smart dog. I laughed and said - "oh no, he just chooses NOT to do what you want him to do. He's very smart". If he could "escape" out the front door, we would take whole steaks, yup, that's right, to try to get him to come back in. He wanted nothing to do with that. I had to get in my car, open up the back door while I slowly drove down the street yelling out the window, "Sarge, you want to go for a ride." He'd jump in, and of course, even though he had been bad, I had to take him for a ride. Oh it was very comical when he would think my king size bed was his, jump on and spread out leaving me a couple of inches on the edge. Then he'd decide, it was too hot for him and jump down. But he always layed on the floor right beside me. Sarge was my protector. He was with me through some pretty tough times. I knew I was safe when he was near me. And when I was scared, all I had to do was put my arms around him, and push my nose into his fur, and inhale. That gave me comfort. He protected me from anyone. When he sensesd something, he'd stand right in between me and whomever. Sarge made 2 moves with us, from New York to North Carolina where he went to the ocean for the first time, and loved it when his "daddy" would go surf fishing and would catch something. He also went on vacation to Duck, NC with us and got to go on the beach and watch the pelicans and sea gulls flying by. He also liked to think he was the captain of our boat when he was on it. He'd jump with his two front paws on the dashboard and look out over the front of the boat. We then moved to FL. He enjoyed seeing all the little "creepy crawlies" along the side walks when we went for walks. Even when he started to age, people would always come up to us and say what a beautiful dog he is. I agree. I knew when time was getting closer for Sarge, and I didn't know how to make that very difficult decision. So I had a conversation with him one night (anyone who is a dog owner knows we have conversations with our furry children constantly), and I asked him to some how some way give me a sign on when to let go. He did, not long after that. I dug my nose into his fur right up until the very end. I will never ever forget my Sargent. He was the most wonderful gift God ever gave to me for 13 beautiful years. I still cry when I see pictures of him, and think about him.