STERLING

“He’s gotten too old to hunt anymore”, his owner said as he was dropped off at the shelter without even a backward glance. Thrown away like garbage.

He couldn’t even walk in because the pads of his feet were so severely burned from, what we think, was an extremely hot pickup bed.

His spirit broken, bones aching and feet that were causing so much pain, he was put on death row in the gassing shelter.

A small rescue came across him as they were arranging transport for a younger pointer and saw a spark in this sad, broken dog’s face as he was being taken to be destroyed. He was going to get a second chance at life!

The rescue group took him in and had him flown to his foster home in Louisiana.  He was then fully vetted and his feet attended to and, of course, he was heartworm positive.

Sterling was now getting regular meals, and a safe dry place to sleep and kindness that he never knew existed. Sterling just didn’t comprehend this new lifestyle.

All he would do, when let out, was to do what hunting dogs do, hunt and kennel, no interaction with people. He didn’t know what a kind hand was.

He would even gather the fruit from nearby trees and hide his treasure in his bedding.  We can only assume that he did this to ensure that he wouldn’t starve anymore.

Then suddenly, we remember this well, he stopped and came over to be petted and loved on.

His journey to love and happiness began that day.

 

UPDATE  8/1/2017

Hi Pam,

I wanted to let you know that I had to put Sterling down in March after a long battle with cancer. In November, he developed swelling and redness on his abdomen. The vet determined it was a stage 3 mast cell tumor. After consulting with an oncologist and doing more testing, the vet and I decided it was best to not treat with chemotherapy due to his age. He did very well until March, when he very abruptly took a dramatic turn for the worse. I left for work one morning and he was fine, but by the time I came home it was clear he was in massive amounts of pain. The next morning he could barely get up, and the life looked like it had left his eyes. I had him put down that afternoon.

Sterling was the sweetest dog I ever could have imagined. He got me through some of the hardest times of my life, and I am so blessed that I could have him be a part of my life for the few years I had him. I’m tearing up as I’m writing this, but he had such a huge impact on me and my whole family. Even my grandmother cried when I told her that he was put down.

I wanted to thank you for letting me give him a home, and share a few of my favorite pictures of him:

You said when I adopted Sterling that I would fall in love with the GSP breed, and you were absolutely right. I’m not ready to replace my sweet boy yet, but I can’t imagine having anything other than a GSP. He was my very best friend and companion, and when the time is right I want to rescue another sweet pup in need of a home.

Thank you for everything.