Monday, July 11, 2016

July 11, Sage

Today's dog is a beautiful black dog, with a shiny black coat, on a soft beige tile floor, that was such fun to paint! And Sage has an incredible story attached to his incredible face~
Oh and I've painted a couple other dogs for this family, who adopt them from a dog training company, and this is the greatest pose of Sage relaxing, with those elegant forelegs crossed~

Sage also comes from the company's explosive search canine unit.  When Sage arrived from England it was discovered that he has a defect in his larynx which makes him ineligible to be a working dog in the heat of Saudi Arabia.  He was supposed to be sent back to the trainer in England as these dogs are very expensive for the company to purchase.  However, because of the strict laws on importing dogs into Saudi Arabia, he had to wait for some time period, have a new round of shots and would ultimately have gone into quarantine on arrival back in England.  So the company's canine unit had pity on him and put him up for adoption.  As we had recently had to let Bennie (the white lab you painted a couple of years ago) be put down because of age and illness, we went to the top of the list and were able to adopt Sage.

He had never been in a home, seen himself in the mirror, or heard a dog bark on television.  He adapted beautifully and as he is already trained to most commands, his training was pretty easy - except for jumping up on the kitchen counter.  He was, after all, trained to sniff and search.  He is wonderful with our grandchildren (aged 1 and 4) who live next door and lets them do just about anything to him.  Our four year old can make him respond to commands as easily as any adult.


9x12 acrylic on wood, sold



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