Sarge Stories - Day 5

    Today’s post is all about Sarge on adventures. We only had six weeks fostering Sarge and just two and a half of those were pre pandemic changes. But we feel really lucky we were able to get him out on the town and see him work his magic.

    ​When we picked up Sarge for fostering he had just arrived via transport in Washington. We were so lucky because just up the road there was a local pet store with a self wash station - they donated baths for fosters that just arrived. That was amazing news, Sarge was insanely cute but a little stinky. Fosters can arrive from transport in lots of different conditions, so having access to a self service dog wash right out the gate was awesome.
    When we walked into the store, we were greeted by super friendly staff and Sarge was so sweet. He wasn’t a huge fan of spraying water part of the bath process. But we had to keep in mind he just finished a huge journey from Texas to Washington and had two strangers trying to wash him. So we did a quick wash, gave him lots of treats, and hit the road. 

Video we sent to family of Sarge after he got his quick bath.

    We were pretty hungry so we stopped by a drive-through Panera on the way home. Again, he was a freakin rock star. Super friendly and not concerned at all about the drive-through experience. Plus he had done awesome on the drive home so far and mostly laid down in the back seat.

Being a champ during the drive through

    When we arrived home we did a pack walk with our two dog, Gus and Sophie. Then had some backyard time to get to know Sarge more. He was just so warm and sweet right out the gate. I was so impressed with him. I was really excited he was our foster dog. I shared his adorableness on All Dog Kind's Instagram Stories. 

    A few days later - after seeing him do amazing on pack walks and see him be not only non-reactive but very friendly with every person and dog he saw - we took him on some errands. Starting with a Home Depot run. He waited in line with Justin and I for a bit as Justin made a return. Then Sarge and I did some browsing in the garden section. He hesitated with somethings - like automatic doors - but with gentle encouragement and a steady stream of training treats he took it all in stride. Even let multiple people say hello, give him pets, and tell him how handsome he was.

    After Home Depot, we headed north to Swansons. Honestly one of my favorite places in Seattle. Sarge did incredible. He said hello to another dog, met more people, and flirted his tail off with some employees at the check out line to get a treat. Like this kid was for sure using his skills again as a stray dog to charm the heck out of everyone - including me. 

    This is one of my favorite photos of Sarge because it reminds me of that Swasons adventure. He was still learning to sit and wait for a treat. You can just see the excitement on his little face as he stares down the treat I’m holding above my phone. And his teefers. Oh god his little smile, showing his perfect little teefers. So good. SO good.

    The next weekend I was vending at Fremont Sunday Market. Man I miss doing that so much. I miss getting to chat with y’all and meet your dogs. Catch up with other vendors. But that day, Justin came with Sarge about half way through the market to say hello. Sarge was a rockstar in the big crowd. He flirted with more people and picked up some treats for himself, Gus, and Sophie at The Seattle Barkery. Plus he looked pretty handsome in his bandana. 

    It is not too often that I get to have one of our pups stop by when I’m vending, so I couldn’t resist snapping a quick photo of Sarge in front of the cart.

   Alexandra’s Macarons was two booths down I was glancing over more and more as the market day came to a close. I was dreaming about which flavors I would bring home. Then I noticed that an artist, right next to the delicious macarons, was doing on-the-spot drawings. I immediately wanted one of Sarge. Sarge and Justin had already left since they popped by for lunch. So I asked Anthony if he could do one using a photo, and he gracefully obliged.

   The outcome of this portrait was just perfection. Justin and I love it so much we are going to try and collect one of every foster dog that comes into our life. Maybe make a little gallery wall of all our fosters. It is just the perfect size and it was a really lovely reminder of a special day with Sarge. So grateful I got to meet Anthony that day. 

    Even though a pandemic prevented us from going on any further adventures around town - we still enjoyed many more walks with Sarge. And we treasure the memories of the adventures around town we did get. 
    We haven’t really been able to do that with just two dogs at home. Back when we had three dogs, we’d leave Jack and Gus at home and take Sophie out on little dates. Since Gus is reactive he doesn’t enjoy these types of adventures so it was a wonderful way to have some quality time with Sophie. With Jack gone, Gus doesn’t do well being left alone. We leave a little camera on to check in when we leave the house. If we try and take Sophie for quality time, Gus just cries the entire time. So we are too big of softies to be able to stand it. Being able to leave Sophie and Gus together while taking Sarge out was such a joy. And to see Sarge shine in all his charming glory and flirt with everyone was really refreshing for Justin and I. 
    It feels good to be documenting these memories of Sarge. It also makes me look forward to future memories with future fosters. In fact, we got news that our next foster should be arriving next week from Texas. I’m getting so pumped to meet her and share that journey with y'all.

Stay tuned for the last two days of Sarge Stories! I’m excited to share more about fostering him and his adoption as we get ready for our third foster to arrive.

<3
​L