The Austin parents who adopted Sandy made a promise to their kids that they would get a dog this year. But then they moved to a new home, and school was about to start. Come August, they hadn't even begun to search for a dog. But oh, how quickly things would change after they attended a musical at the Zilker Hillside Theater.
Austin residents Mark and Annisa (last name withheld) saw their family grow recently. There's Hooper, Milam, Cyrus and now, Sandy. What's the big deal?
Sandy is the two-year old Irish Wolfhound mix who stole scenes and hearts during the production of "Annie." Each night, audience members were told they could adopt her at the end of the production. Annisa and Mark took their kids to see the musical on August 1.
"We had no plans of adopting this dog from the play, until we went there and they made the announcement," said Markt.
"Mark and I were kind of looking over their heads on the blanket, like we couldn't believe that she was still homeless," said Annisa.
They went home, went online and filled out the paperwork, spurred on by what they saw on stage.
"For a dog that had been a rescue dog, to be able to pull off that show every night, with people, interruptions and distractions, we knew she had to be good with kids," said Annisa.
After the production concluded August 14, Annisa got a call, setting up a play date for Sandy at their home. Five-year old Milam had some questions about her spots.
"When she was on stage I couldn't see her spots. So when she came here and I saw her spots, I thought she was a different dog," he said.
But it was Sandy, spots and all. Hooper couldn't believe it when sandy actually came to live with them for good two weeks ago.
"Sandy is a very fun and happy dog. She's never very sad," said the seven-year old.
"She is just the sweetest dog," said Annisa. "I am a dog person. I love dogs and that is just something you cannot ... you can fix a lot of little behavior things, but their nature, you can't fix that. You can't train them to ... you know, she is just a super dog."
The executive producer of the Zilker Hillside Theater, Melinda Parr, says everyone with the production is thrilled that Sandy is in a good home. Parr says ZTP will continue to take advantage of its captive audience by shining the spotlight on rescue and other organizations in need.
