It is very sad what happened, Hamlin lost a friend and that hurts a lot.
Absolutely not bagging on him for what happened to Sadie, I've made a lot of mistakes with dogs over the years, had a dog that got run over by a truck and lived, was my fault, nursing him back to health was a rough time.
It can never hurt to learn from mistakes or to learn how to be the best owner you can be.
Dogs can take care of themselves in the natural world...but they live in the world that we built, so they can run into lots of trouble, like getting run over by a truck doing something as simple as crossing the street. Dogs have great instincts for lots of things but many get killed every day by making bad choices in the environment that we have them living in.
Every dog rescue organization and shelter, and dog behaviorist/trainer agrees that dogs need to be protected and directed, that does not mean taking away all their freedom. Spending time training your dog is fun for your dog and is quality time with your friend. Most folks are not willing to find out how or to put the work in. Well trained dogs can be kept safer following direction.
Dogs domesticated themselves about 30,000 years ago.
Their partnership with humans was based on our desire for help with hunting and herding, having an early alarm system against intruders, and for their warmth and companionship.
In return, dogs get companionship, protection and shelter, and a reliable food supplier/source.
As part of our pack, they deserve all the benefits that we offered as part of the deal.

Next to my wife and kids, my dogs are my best buds. They're family. Sorry you lost one of yours. She's there for you in spirit just like she'd be in life. It just that some time has moved on, and she's harder to see now.

I'll only respond one more time...

If I've done anything wrong, it's only to say things at the wrong time. I know it's not fun to hear when you are grieving. I do feel like my dogs are a part of my family as I have no kids. I also know the pain of loosing a dog. Mine was 4 years ago and it still makes me sad.

Although if you take no blame for what happened and you choose not to learn from your mistakes I can only call it ignorant. If you do not agree with me I can do nothing to change your mind. Excuse me if I don't have the tact that oldnbroken has.

Thanks JS. Appreciated.

Beautful dogs, Oldnbroken..

David

Only Loki is my permanent dog. He is a good boy and I love him.
He was a stray (abandoned I'm sure) who ended up at the shelter, about a year old then.
The rest are dogs I have rescued, trained and found homes for, I love them all too.
I take dogs who are in bad situations and need to be saved, we make them healthy and happy.
Loki helps me with the new dogs, he tells them how to be, and they watch him and get it pretty quickly.
Loki is a Certified Therapy Dog. One of twelve dogs in the Pit Crew, we are an all Pit Bull Therapy Dog program. He helps kids with developmental problems, he visits a stroke victims support group, old folks homes who are in hospice care and some daycare centers for disadvantaged children.
The little yellow/tan Pittie in the last set of pics above who is leashed to Loki and chillin' in the woods is Chula, she came from a dog fighting ring bust in Cleveland. She was evidence in the court case along with 27 other Pitbulls.
She lived her two years of life in a basement chained to a barrel and being used to make puppies and her scars tell me she was bait for their other fighting dogs. After the court case was finished, Ohio law says she would have to be put down, because she is identified as a dangerous breed. Volunteer pilots flew her to Austin and we went and got her the next morning.
Chula is now a perfectly normal, well behaved, awesome little dog, she belongs to my daughter now and lives in a nice clean apartment. She loves all other dogs and all humans.
This breed of dog seems to be able to forgive anything and be loving and normal, they really are mentally resilient.
All the dogs in those pics have good homes now and they are all well behaved dogs.
Examples of what can be done to turn around a bad situation.
For those that tell me how dangerous Pitbulls are, these dogs are all proof of how wrong those misconceptions can be.
Below is Loki boy for XMas and then Loki teaching Billy how to chill.

Bad news...

my dog loves to follow me when I'm kitesurfing...she is only 1 year, but she had a very good breath :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iYZk3-dDSI&feature=youtu.be

@ Oldnbroken:
Wow, to say the least. You do well for your Karma...

No leash, no helmet. A thai soi dog defending his species rights...

Danger, I feel they do more for me than I do for them.
.
Alex,
Loki rarely needs to be on a leash, and when he does, it is just to make some people comfortable.
I appreciate your defending the rights of dogs to be free, and I appreciate that Thailand is an unusual place.
But millions of "free" dogs are starving and very sick living free all over the world.
Loki has a better life now than when he was twenty pounds underweight, and "free" running the streets with a respiratory infection, worms and a bullet in his back.
The last time I was in Puerto Rico, the street dog population was massive and to see them was heartbreaking.
So many diseased and dying dogs, picking through garbage cans to eat.

Here's my boy chasing me. He gets really jealous when I leave him behind
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