Sara and Eliana have been friends for 15 years and their special relationship could be described in at least a trilogy! We asked Eliana to summarize some of their best moments together, so here they are, random, but a testament to a full, long and happy life with a family whose unconditional love extends naturally, especially to a “badass grandma” like Sara.

THE LAST ONE LEFT FOR ADOPTION

Sara is a special dog who was born on 25 March 2003. She’s not a purebred dog - her face looks like a Pekingese and her body like a German Shorthaired Pointer, but in a smaller version, which makes her more special. Initially, I was going to adopt one of her baby brothers as my new dog, but because we delayed so many times, Sara was the only one left for adoption, so my dad took her.

She always bought me chocolate when he was coming back from work, so I was expecting my treat, but instead of that, out of his pocket he pulled out a tiny dog. I started to scream because I was so happy and excited at the same time.  After I calmed down, I went to watch cartoons and admire the adorable dog. My parents and I tried to find a suitable name for her and after a while my mom said that we should name her Sara, because the cartoons on TV were about a baby dinosaur named Sara and earlier we had noticed that they looked alike.

THE CUDDLER

She was so small that even when she started to grow her legs shook when she walked. In the middle of the night you would hear her fall out of bed because she wanted to sleep with my dad. As she was so tiny she couldn’t jump, so chose to let herself fall and then go to my father and start to cry so that he would pick her up and put her in his bed.

THE CHEWER

One day my mom’s friend came over and we didn’t let Sara into the kitchen. My mom’s friend talked about her new sandals and how much she loved them and when she was about to leave, we saw that Sara had chewed her sandals. In the end, it was a funny incident, but I guess it wasn’t that funny for my mom’s friend.

THE STRONG HEADED

When Sara became an adult, we started to see her real personality. She was so intuitively intelligent. She understood everything we asked her to do. I used to travel a lot with my family and Sara was always with us. Whenever she saw animals in the field for example, she would instantly start to bark at them. She only stopped when she felt like it, not when we asked her to. Dogs are supposed to be trained and to listen to their owner, but it was never true in Sara’s case. She always had and still has a strong personality - you can’t make her do anything if she doesn’t want to. We didn’t fully train her, we let her be free and happy, because after all, she is not a toy. That’s what makes her so special. She is the cutest and most intelligent dog I know.

THE BITER

We tell people that she is not a sweet, dumb dog and you shouldn’t mess with her for fun, but one person didn’t listen. He said that she is small, cute and innocent. We were waiting at the stop sign to cross the street, when he started to push an umbrella towards Sara.   Even though she warned him by growling, he did not stop nagging her, so Sara bit his umbrella and broke it. This happened a long time ago, but whenever we see him, he always talks about that story and says that we have a crazy dog.

THE BIG HEARTED

One time, because she cannot stand cats, she caught her tooth in the fence trying to catch a cat.  Despite her real hatred of cats, this didn’t count when a lost baby cat was alone in the rain in our front yard. We were scared that she would do something bad to her, but instead Sara protected her from the rain. Sara took the small cat under her and stood like that until the rain stopped.

THE JOKER

My parents live in the countryside near a forest where we would always go with Sara. One time, two big German Shepherds started to run after Sara, trying to bite her. I thought I would lose her and I started panicking, but apparently, I had no reason to be worried. Sara was having fun. She was much faster and she stopped when she saw that she was far ahead of them. She sat and wagged her tail until they were almost near her and then started to run again. I couldn’t believe it - it was so funny to watch. The dogs eventually got tired and stopped running after Sara. I was very proud of her.

THE HUNTER

One of her favorite activities in the countryside was to catch rats and bring them to the front of the house to show off. She also caught snakes. Once, when she was trying to kill one, by mistake, the snake landed on my father! She did a lot of crazy things and was such a free and happy dog. We had other dogs, but she was always the favorite and the special one.

THE BEGGER

The thing that characterizes Sara is that she can eat anytime. If you’re eating something she will stare into your eyes with the cutest puppy face ever and she will jump on you and push you with her paws until you give her food.

When I grew up I had to go to school away from home so I couldn’t bring Sara with me. Those years were hard.   I didn’t even miss my parents as much as I missed my dog, but I made time to see her often and the countryside was where she could have a happy life.

THE GRANDMA

Now she is almost 15 years old and with the old age comes sickness. She suffers from heart failure. It was a rough period when she was very sick and we thought that she was going to die, but Sara was always a fighter.   But now, even if she gets better, she still has to take medication for the rest of her life. She is not allowed to run, jump, stay in the cold or get excited. It is hard to watch her just sleeping almost all the time, when I know how alive and active she used to be.

Even though she is old and sometimes when I call her grandma she answers, Sara still has that badass personality. Almost all the dogs in the park are in love with her, but she is not interested and ignores them. If they are bothering her or not respecting her space, she starts growling.

THE BEST FRIEND

She is so funny, that every morning she sits next to her food bowl and looks at me waiting to acknowledge her and give her food. Ever since she was little we have played hide and seek and I hide under the blankets or in the house and she starts looking for me. We also play other games; one involves her trying to catch me. I start to run towards her and stop and if I move she will start running after me and bite me.

When the winter is over, she will be able to go out like a normal dog again and enjoy the rest of her life. She has adapted very well to the city where she lives with me during the cold seasons, but in summer we go home to the countryside where she can do whatever she wants.

Sara is the best dog I ever had and she has had such a wonderful life.  She has been my best friend ever since I was little and it makes me very happy to have her in my life.

Author: Elina, Sara’s owner