Savvy is out of the only litter Fly had.  His sire is the wonderful Sketch.

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Savvy is the second pup I kept from the Sketch x Fly litter.  He was supposed to be my new agility and obedience dog.  I didn’t plan on keeping two puppies, but this little guy wormed his way in early.  He was the first one out of the whelping box before his eyes were even open.  I woke up one morning to find him snuggled up on my pillow.  He is the rascal of the bunch, thus the “pirate” name. Aside from Savvy truly being a scalawag, he is marked with “The Black Spot” on his collar. After seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest I knew that he had to be named after Captain Jack.

 

He had an extremely outgoing temperament and never met a person he didn’t like.  Working with him was a dream, he was as smart as his mother and as eager to learn.  I honestly think he was the epitome of what I wanted from this litter.  He had Fly’s desire for learning and personality, with Sketch’s love of people and outgoing attitude.  He was the most toy driven and mischievous of the litter and I had extremely high hopes for his performance career.

 

In his first show weekend Savvy earned his first Rally Novice leg with a score of 89!  Just shy of 11 months old Savvy finished his Rally novice title in his second weekend of trialing!  Savvy loved showing off in the ring, but unfortunately his performance career was cut short when an error in my judgement caused an outburst in the ring.  He'd been going through reactivity issues during adolescence and I went against my gut and pushed him harder than I should have.  He was startled by a dog outside the ring and even though nothing happened beyond him running to the gate and barking, it was enough to spook me off of competing with him.

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In October 2014 Savvy developed a testicular torsion and was neutered.  I question why I kept him in tact for so long, but truthfully I always wanted to collect him because I knew some day the right bitch would come along.  After I lost Fly I took Savvy on a week long vacation road trip.  We went to Sleepy Hollow, NY, the Jordan Creek Nature Reserve, Hershey, PA, and Niagara Falls.  He was an amazing travel companion and was so happy to be doing things with me.  We then traveled to North Carolina to try our hand in the ring again and he did amazing.  The most special moment though was in June 2017 when at the age of 11 he stepped out of retirement and into the UKC Rally ring with me.  Valor decided to come into heat the week before the trial so they let me swap dogs for the entry.  Outdoor show.  Crazy stimuli.  100 degree heat (and he had a coat with a mind of its own).  And he worked so beautifully for me.  He earned scores in the 90's for all 3 runs, and finished his title with a 98 and 2nd place!

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If Fly was my heart it's undeniable that Savvy was my soul.  We were made for each other.  He was my rock.  After I lost Fly I started doing ultrasounds every 6 months with him as a precaution.  When we lost Oliver in November 2017 I did a full workup on Savvy that came back clear.  I decided at that point to move to ultrasounds every 4 months.  He was due for another one in March, but on February 27th he woke me in the middle of the night acting anxious.  I missed the signs shaking my gut off and convincing myself he probably had an upset stomach.  At 6:00 he trotted into his crate without issue.  I went to work.  He collapsed at 7:20 when my Mom arrived to let him out.  Ultrasound showed a ruptured splenic tumor that had not been there in November.  He went peacefully in my lap and took an enormous part of me with him.  I have suffered a lot of losses in my life but none have come close to him.  He was my everything.  He lived for me and in turn I lived for him.