Posts tagged "sadie"

Sadie, the four-year-old Scottish Terrier who won it all at the National Dog Show earlier today, says she's too famous to talk to us now. But her handler, Gabriel Rangel of Rialto, Calif., was willing to indulge a few of our post-show questions.

Are you the only handler Sadie's ever had?
I've been her handler for two-and-a-half years. I'm the only handler she's had since then. She earned her championship status through another handler before me.

Besides this win, what other career highlights have you two shared?
When we won Best Terrier [i.e. Best In Group] at the Westminster Dog Show. She performed beautifully there.

When you first started handling Sadie, did you have an instant connection with her?
No, we needed to work at it. Dogs need to trust you, and they need to know what you want from them. Now, after all this time, it's a perfect understanding. I know what she wants and how she wants to do it, and she knows the same about me. There's a great connection between us. She gives me a great show every time.

Lookin' good, Sadie!

Once perilously close to death, Sadie, the cocker spaniel puppy that Oprah adopted from PAWS Chicago, appears on the June cover of O, The Oprah Magazine, along with her media maven mommy and four adorable shelter pups (who have all found homes, too).

The photograph was taken in February when Oprah visited PAWS Chicago --- a no-kill animal shelter --- to pose for the cover of the magazine's June issue, which is dedicated to animals and the bond we all share with them (as is the May 15th episode of her show). "One thing I know for sure," says Oprah. "I can't begin to repay my own dogs for the flat-out joy they bring me." In addition to Sadie, the talk show icon has two Golden Retrievers, Luke and Layla, and once had two deeply-loved cocker spaniels, Sophie and Solomon, who both passed away in 2008, and a dog named Gracie who passed away in 2007.

During the photo shoot, several precious puppies wriggled around Oprah, but it was a female blond cocker spaniel (then named Amanda, and subsequently re-named Sadie) who captured Oprah's heart.

"The dog chose me," Oprah reveals on the March 6 episode of her talk show, in which she introduced her "new love" Sadie to the world. "There were like six or seven dogs and she was on my shoulder nuzzling," Oprah explains. Photographer Pamela Hanson captured the tender moment when Oprah first met Sadie.

For those watching the show that day, who could forget when Oprah suddenly introduced Sadie's three blond brothers --- Ivan, Webster and Gordie --- and announced to the squealing studio audience that the male pups still needed homes. Unable to resist her own words, the long-time dog lover decided to adopt Ivan.

Tragically, just days later, Ivan contracted the deadly parvovirus and died. "I'd been through parvo 13 years before, with my brown cocker, Solomon," recounts Oprah. "It nearly killed him. He stayed in the hospital for 20 days. He was over a year old when he got it. Ivan was only 11 weeks. His young immune system wasn't strong enough to overcome it. Four days after we took Ivan to the emergency clinic, he died."

Sadie was also infected with parvo and fell gravely ill. "The first four days, she got increasingly worse," Oprah remembers. "At one point I told her doctor, 'I'm prepared to let her go. She shouldn't have to fight this hard.'" But Sadie battled back to a full recovery, rediscovering her fondness for warmed up chicken. "That's because that's what her mommy was making [for her] before she left [for the hospital]," smiles Oprah.

Reminiscing about the day of the cover photo shoot, Oprah has a confession to make. "Out of all the pups in that picture, Sadie was the one I felt an instant connection with." Sounds like true love.

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Parvovirus, commonly known as parvo, is a deadly viral disease seen most often in dogs and puppies. It attacks the lining of the digestive system and prevents the animal from absorbing nutrients or liquids. Early symptoms include vomiting, high fever, and sever diarrhea. Parvo can be prevented with early vaccinations.

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