My boy and his dog

For most of her doggy days, Sassy the Labrador/chow mix was a land locked canine. She came into my son's life in north St. Louis County, where she was part of a menagerie of three dogs, one adult cat, two kittens, and two ferrets. We won't count water bugs in the basement of this house. There was also a wife, with two children, so the house was pretty full, and this poor dog was most likely in competition for space, food, and probably air.

After fourteen months of a marriage nobody thought would last, except for the groom of course, she packed up her kids, and one dog, and moved in with husband number four. J.B. was left holding the bag, and it was full of kittens. There was also a bag full of ferrets. He found somebody who wanted the ferrets - so that bag was never dropped off a bridge. He took the kittens back to the adoption agency where they had come from, nominally to play with the daughter's adult cat. That "left behind" cat also found a new home. My son found a home for his American Eskimo dog, knowing he couldn't keep the house on one income, and rentals never allow more than one dog.

Sassy, the landlocked Labrador, would move with her master from St. Louis to Indianapolis, where she would live with his grandmother and hide up in his room during the day. He ultimately moved in with his step-cousin, and Sassy got a doggie friend named Arnie to spend her day alongside - plus a fenced yard in which to frolic. But it wasn't until the cousin was facing marriage that J.B. knew this housing arrangement couldn't last. So, he packed up the Jeep and moved again - this time to Florida. He'll soon be in an apartment of his own, living perhaps ten miles from our place, and ten miles (if that) from his new restaurant. But before he moved, he had use of our island condo, with the Sarasota Bay just 50 yards away.

Sassy the Labrador discovered her "inner Lab" and she loves to run on the tidal flat behind the condos and chase the seabirds. Labrador retrievers love water - and the world loves a lover. Sassy is no longer sharing space with a menagerie, she's got the world as her oyster, and she likes Florida as much as her master and his parents.