Meet Sage, our newest service dog!

The newest four-legged Calais family member is Sage, a German Shorthaired Pointer who loves his Calais family! Sage celebrated his 6^th birthday last week with the Calais School students and staff. This was his FIRST birthday with his forever family and we think it’s safe to say he had a blast. As with all our dogs, he was spoiled rotten with presents and love!

Sage joined The Calais School after Ms. Butler adopted him. She was looking for a dog who could be trained to come into school as a substitute for Cali and to be a buddy for her at home! This week marks Sage’s one-year anniversary of finding his forever family. Upon adoption, Sage went through the Merlin’s KIDS™ temperament test to see if he would make an appropriate candidate for a service dog. He passed, and immediately started working with Ms. Butler on his training. After nine months of intensive training, he was ready to come to Calais familiarize himself with the building and to meet the rest of his “family” – his kids!

Our students and staff welcomed him with open arms. He has very welcoming presence himself, so it wasn’t hard to warm up to him! Ms. Butler shared,

Sage is outgoing, intuitive, loving, and he definitely has a goofy side. He seems to have a knack for cheering people up and finding that person in the room who needs it the most. He’s a very special dog. I am thrilled with the students’ reaction to having him come on board. It’s amazing to see how quickly he has connected with our community.

He is the perfect fit to our family. He brings out the best in Cali and they are the perfect balance to each other. They are both extremely intelligent but very different. They each have their strengths that they bring to school and home life. Every day when we get home, they have the most joyful reunion and can’t wait to go outside to play with each other. Sage has been the most wonderful addition to our family, and has become Cali’s best friend. It’s hard to imagine what life was like before he was with us.

When Sage works at Calais, Cali gets some well-deserved time off. Cali has been enjoying her days off and she and Sage have developed quite the routine. Ms. Butler brings Sage to school 2 days a week and both he and Cali know when it’s their day to work! On Sage’s days, he follows Ms. Butler all around the house during her morning routine and waits eagerly by the door for her as she gathers her bags to go out to the car. Cali happily lays on the couch and waits to go on a morning walk with her dad, then enjoys her rest and relaxation time! Having these days off has given Cali a little boost of energy on the days she comes in now.

Both Sage and Cleo are rescues and are happy to finally have families of their own–including all of their Calais kids!

Working with rescue dogs shows our students that in a supportive environment–with people who care about them and when given a chance to believe in themselves–these dogs can do anything… much like our students!

It has also been a great learning opportunity for our students to see our dogs get a second chance to succeed. Both Sage and Cleo Beagle are rescues. They spent time in shelters and could very easily have been forgotten about… or worse. Our students get to see firsthand what a rescue dog can become when they are given a chance to succeed. The love they give is immeasurable. There is no doubt that they love their jobs and their kids. The feeling is definitely mutual!

Sage was rescued through the German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue of New Jersey. German Shorthaired Pointers are typically a very active, high-energy hunting breed that is ideal for a very active family. Many of them who come into rescue are from people who could not meet their exercise and training requirements. These dogs need a job to do. If they do not have one, they will look for one themselves. Coming to work at the school has been a very fun experience for Sage, and gives him a wonderful purpose and a job to do! We are all so proud of him. He’s quite proud of himself as well!