Sarah on her 10th birthday at the 1998 ABC National. 
She got a standing ovation as she left the Utility ring that day!

Sarah herself produced two litters for me.  The first one produced a single boy, my Woody, who was very dear to my heart.  Woody’s head was, in my opinion, absolutely perfect, and remains the standard upon which I compare my own dogs.  Sarah’s second litter produced 5 nice puppies who ended up going to pet homes.  While I had hoped to breed her again, I instead spayed her when Woody became ill, because I did not know at the time if his condition was inherited or not. While I know more about it now, I cannot regret the decision I made then.
I was very active in obedience at the time, and Sarah presented a unique and difficult challenge to me.  Her temperament was a dominant one, and we butted heads many times over the years.  When I was training her, I did not fully understand her uniqueness, so at times I did not choose the best training methods.  She learned to resent my commands, and delighted in finding ways to usurp my authority, in and out of the ring. While she was never mean or disobedient, she had a way of thumbing her nose at me at the most inappropriate times.  Her intellegence was so incredible, that she would not repeat the same mistake twice. Clinitians that claimed that there was no such thing as a “ring-wise” dog, would shake their heads in amazement at Sarah.  Time and again, she would perform all exercises almost to perfection, except one, which she would fail, usually with a twinkle in her eye or a grin on her face.  After 125 attempts in the Utility ring, Sarah actually qualified twice in a row for her first two legs!  She was 7 yrs old at the time and we all thought that maybe she was mellowing out enough to get down to business.  I should have known better……another 30 trials later, and Sarah still did not have that ellusive 3rd leg.  By then she was getting older, and jumping the 30 inches required at the time was causing problems.  More than once she’d qualified up to the last jump, only to hit it enough to knock the bar off.  I finally, regrettfully, retired her.

Competing in agility at 9 yrs of age.

The next year AKC had begun to offer agility trials, and since the jump heights were much lower, I decided to give it a try, as Sarah had been trained in agility years before.  At 9 yrs young, Sarah earned her Novice Agility title and Open Agility titles very quickly, with perfect scores and placements.  The day after she earned her last OA leg, I bumped her up to Excellent, hoping that she’d continued on.  Unfortunately, she had caught onto the game, and realized that I was actually telling her what to do (up till then, she thought she’d been the one in control), and her attitude had changed drastically.  She practically walked the course, making the jumps but not making the time.  There was no doubt in my mind, or the minds of my friends, that she knew exactly what she was doing.  I decided then and there that she’d done enough, so retired her once again.
Of course, the thought of her needing just ONE more Utility leg kept eating at me, and finally AKC lowered the jump height requirements, when Sarah was 10 yrs old.  I tried a few more times, but by then her teeth had begun to deteriorate, and carrying the metal articles caused her pain.  Bless her heart she did try, but I could see in her eyes that she was not happy about it, so I gave up and retired her for good.
In my heart she has earned that Utility degree, as I know she was perfectly capable of achieving it.  But I also must take responsibility for not training her according to her needs.  If I am ever blessed with a boxer having her temperament again, you can be sure I will do things differently.
Sarah was a wonderful house dog.  She was queen of the household, and had a way of asserting her position without having to get violent.  She would intervene when two other dogs started having a problem, and settle things quietly.  The couch was her favorite spot, unless she was guarding the food bins that is.
With people she was loving and generous.  And yet she had an inate ability to zero in on a suspicious person.  She would play with children with infinite patience, and yet she’d turn into a ferocious defender when one of her 'charges' was threatened.  She earned her Temperament Test title with high scores at 2 yrs of age. Her mothering insticts were amazing, and she once nurtured a kitten with gentleness.  On one occasion, a couple years after she was spayed, she produced milk after smelling newborn puppies on my hands!  She never ceased to amaze me.
Sarah lived life to the fullest, facing challenges with defiance.  Approaching her 13th birthday, she finally succumed to a brain tumor.  The day came when I knew she was no longer happy, and she had a far-away look in her eyes.  I took her to my vet for that final act of mercy, and yet, even to the end, she went on her terms, defiant and proud.  She is buried in a very special place, but lives on in my heart. How little did I know, the day I named her, that she’d truly be, “Something Special”.