A Part Two to yesterday’s post and a little origin story of how Sawyer came to the Clark household…
We rescued Sawyer from a kennel. He was originally bred to be a show dog for an overseas owner in Japan. During Covid, when all the dog shows were cancelled, the owner called the kennel and decided he no longer wanted Sawyer. As he had no use for him. The kennel was also closing down and the kennel owner didn’t know what to do with this dog. After talking with the kennel owner and learning all this, my wife Amy and I drove down (a few hours away) the next day. We were prepared to take Sawyer on the spot and have him become part of our family. Our kids were beyond excited.
The kennel owner informed us that Sawyer was “afraid of males.” I thought he meant other male dogs, but when we got home, Sawyer immediately clung to Amy’s side. He was afraid of me and our boys. (Apparently the training for show dogs is very rough and not kind.)
I realized that unlike other prior dogs we had, where the kids could play with and the dogs would love on them and vice versa, Sawyer was different. Every time me or the boys went to pet him, Sawyer would flee towards Amy. I realized we had to switch our mindset. This would have to be total and unconditional love. It was our duty to just be kind and take care of Sawyer with no expectation of reciprocity.
This went on for years.
Eventually (after lots of love and walks and lots and lots of treats), Sawyer softened. He’d let us hug him and pet him (reluctantly I’m sure) and he learned to trust us. (He still of course was Amy’s numero uno and followed her around like a shadow.)
All this to say that Sawyer taught us true unconditional love. And that is a lesson we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Pets are remarkable, aren’t they? What a gift. What a blessing.
Thank you Sawyer. We love you and we miss you so much.
