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Sase translated from French to English and means ‘sifted’. Cassandra and Tashi sifted through many web pages, shelters and rescue groups before they found me. They had brought a couple of dogs home before me, but they didn’t work out.
In French the word Chien means ‘dog’. Chienne means ‘bitch’; as in female dog. (the original definition of bitch is a female dog). Thus the literal translation of my name from French to English is “Sifted Bitch”. Most people think Cassandra is saying “Sassy”, but she is actually saying Sas&ecute; pronounced “Sa (short ‘a’ as in at) Say”. I am quite sassy, I can be bitchy when I want to be and I sift through almost everything. Ah, but that’s me.
Like all the dogs Cassandra has had over many decades I am a rescue dog. On Saturday, November 8, 2008 I was relinquished by my previous owners. They told the shelter they had a baby and I ignored it. Cassandra said “I think it’s better the dog ignored the baby than bite the baby”. I don’t do either. I like babies, kids, adults and just about everyone and everything; especially food. Cassandra says I’m quite the little beggar.
First Cassandra saw my picture on the internet site of Bonita Animal Shelter. She and Tashi came to meet me at the shelter on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Cassandra and Tashi liked me and I liked them. So she adopted me, but she couldn’t take me home until the following Monday, November 17th because first I had to be spayed.
Before they met me the ASPCA clerk at the front desk told her why I was relinquished, that I was 3 yrs old and my name was Beastie, but when she saw me she was stunned. I was so matted she could not tell if I even had a tail. It upset her that my previous owners “ignored me“. As it happened the groomer was at the shelter that day and the ASPCA officer told her I was going to be groomed. She was very happy for me and asked if she could come back the next day and Saturday; that way I would know them better when they picked me up at the Vet’s office the following Monday.
Tashi and Cassandra came to visit me on Friday. The shelter’s groomer had to shave me almost down to my skin because I was that matted. When she saw me groomed she told the ASPCA officer “this dog was a puppy mill mama. Look at how humped she is on her lower back”. She and the officer turned me on my back, which I have to say I love my tummy scratched, but they were checking my uterus. They said it was huge and my teats were also very large because of giving so many births. Yes, I was a puppy mill mama and started having puppies when I had my first season at 6 mths old and every 6 mths after that. Because I began being bred before I was full grown I am much smaller than most adult female Shih Tzu.
On Monday, 11/17, Cassandra and Tashi picked me up at the Vet’s office and took me to my new home with them. A couple of days later we went shopping for me. I have a pretty new collar and leash. And like Tashi I have 4 beds; 1 for the car, 1 for the office, 1 for the family room and one for the bedroom. Wow I’m spoiled and I like it. The only thing I don’t like is Cassandra won’t let me eat people food. She says “this isn’t good for you”, but I don’t care I want some. Though she does give Tashi and I very good food. She leaves the dry food out so we can eat if we get hungry during the day or night, but for breakfast and dinner she mixes some of the dry food with yummy food she prepares with chicken, turkey, tuna, or salmon; along with rice, pasta, oatmeal, barley or quinoa and veggies. I like that, but I really like the ‘cookies’ she makes for Tashi and I the best. Some are actual doggie cookies, some are meats she has partially dehydrated with a bit of garlic on them, some are pieces of dried fruit or veggies and they are all so good. When she says ‘cookie’ we know we are getting something really yummy….and that is my favorite time of the days.
About a week after I was living with Tashi and Cassandra she took me to both Tashi’s Vets. They told her I wasn’t 3 yrs old, but around 5 yrs old, which meant I had a lot more liters than Cassandra originally thought. Both doctors said they were amazed at how optimistic I was after so many years of being used for breeding. Oh, btw, Cassandra took me to her chiropractor twice a week for several months and the hump is no longer there. It is so much easier to walk, run and play.
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Tashi & I outside enjoying a warm afternoon on the patio |
Cassandra, Tashi, & I send you love.
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