Sebby - Our Secondhand Lion. (1995-2008)

Almost one year ago in late March I volunteered to foster a homeless Old English Sheepdog named 'Sybil'. She turned out to be S u r p r i s e ! 11 1/2 years old. She was a VERY sweet dog who seemed shy but happy. She sort of stole my heart. Then she stole the rest of me and I flunked 'Foster 101' completely. Since 'Sybil' reminded us of that psychotic woman in the movie I decided to call her 'Sebby'. It was close to Sibyl but gave her a different name and she seemed to like it.

We spent a LOT of time together. We had lots of time to go for walks in my neighborhood as well as in the park, I tried to teach her to run next to me on my bike (which turned out to be a miserable failure). Sebby didn't really do too well on the bike or even just walking. She tended to want to go off and 'smell the smells'. This isn't good when one is traveling at a relatively high rate of speed on a bike in direction A, and your dog decides that a smell has been detected in direction B. Direction B being perpendicular to direction A. This causes people (and the origin) to travel in a line on direction C. That direction being mostly toward the ground. It was fun but it wasn't pretty.

Sebby didn't like anyone to be close to her when she ate her food. This was a source of concern for Jen as Sebby would hunker down and bare her teeth in a fashion similar to the Alien in the Sigourney Weaver movies. She even did it to me. Then after no dinner for a couple of nights it seemed to abate somewhat... She still would give me growlies and bare her teeth sometimes but I could tell her heart wasn't in it. And it seemed she was almost embarrassed after a growly dinner as she'd run outside as soon as possible. She had some other quirks too. One of her least favorite things was grooming. She was not a fan of getting brushed. She liked the attention but I'm sure she wished that there could be some other mechanism to accomplish it which didn't involve having her hair pulled. She would growl too. She'd just walk up, look you in the eye and growl (while wiggling her nub). I think most of the growling was an attempt to communicate that she wanted to be let outside or if she wanted attention or maybe it was because she lacked opposable thumbs. The world may never know.

When she felt like she had done something bad, she'd hide. Literally. It was hilarious the first time she had an accident in the house (that sentence is not exactly something that you'd necessarily think to see, eh?) because she ran over and 'hid' under a chair. Every night she would get two bones. She LOVED her bones! She would get one then I'd give one to Chloe and then I'd make a production out of 'hiding' a bone for Zoe. As soon as Zoe found her bone I'd go and get into bed and on the way would slip Sebs her last bone. Then she would settle down with her head under the bed and enjoy her last bone in peace. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I would wake and look over and she would sleep with her head on my jeans or shirt or whatever I had lying there.

Sebby loved life. In the short time we spent together she made a huge difference in everyone's life. She was just ecstatic to be alive and her enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone she met. When we went to Myrtle Beach this last summer she was so excited (it was a car ride after all) that she stood in the backseat the entire time and wiggled her nub. In fact she removed all the fur from wiggling it against the back seat! But she was so so happy to be included. Her first experience with an elevator happened in Myrtle Beach, she seemed amazed about getting in the car and getting out on another floor with a whole new set of smells. She'd circle me in the elevator during the entire ride and then RUN out as soon as it stopped.

Secondhand Lions is a film that basically revolves around the theme of discards given new life. Sebby was a discard of sorts and she proved her worth again and again just by loving life so much. It just wasn't possible for one to NOT love her.

I keep thinking of things that I want to say and it just doesn't seem to come out right. Jen fell asleep holding her collar the other night. It wasn't fastened and when I took it from her all I could think about was that it should be fastened. So I closed it. And for some reason it made me feel better. I think closing the collar, and thereby creating a circle, made me feel better. The circle means many things but it is also the symbol of boundary and enclosure, of completion, and returning cycles. I think Sebby's collar (her circle) pledged her fidelity in more ways than just physical restraint. It was also a pledge of our fidelity to her. Sebby is gone. But her spirit remains with us.

Stew 'Magoo' Robinson