Best Self Magazine

Saving Sadie: Loving A Dog With Special Needs…and Paying It Forward

Saving Sadie: Loving A Dog With Special Needs… and Paying It Forward by Joel Derse. Photograph of Sadie and Joal at sunset
Joal Derse and Sadie

A beautiful story of how lives have been changed by the loving rescue of a badly injured, but emotionally resilient dog named Sadie

My job as a Transitional Organization Specialist has taught me more about acceptance of people than I could ever imagined.  Little did I know that it would also teach me about acceptance of dogs with special needs.

The day started out as any other day, or so I thought. This was the day that I was taking blankets from many of my clients to the dog shelter. Why I chose this day, I will never know. But this is the day that would change my life forever.

A Heart Opens

As I arrived at the shelter, I was asked to take a stash of blankets to the back building on the property. When I was walking out, a black and tan dog that was sitting with a volunteer caught my eye, so I asked the volunteer about the dog’s story. I don’t know why

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