Sage found her home through a series of volunteer visits. Liz Tran met her at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, grew attached over more than one visit, and adopted her after weighing whether she could meet Sage’s needs after knee surgery. Sage now lives with Liz in Houston, Texas. Best Friends Animal Society published the story on April 10, 2026, and the details below come from that account.
How Sage and Liz met
Sage arrived at the Sanctuary from a shelter. Liz was visiting to volunteer when she first saw her, and she arrived early for her first shift and found Sage among her toys. Sage was known around the Sanctuary for her toys and for her exuberant tail wags.
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Liz describes the tail as going “thwap, thwap, thwap” when Sage saw people she liked. She says she felt honored when she realized she was one of those people. “I knew I loved her the first time I met her,” Liz recalls.
Knee surgery and the adoption decision
The adoption was not automatic. Sage needed knee surgery to relieve pain and stabilize her joint, and the publisher reports that the procedure and recovery were successful. The story does not name the diagnosis, the procedure, the treating clinician, the treatment dates, or the cost, so none of those details should be inferred from it.
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Liz’s main question was practical. She wanted to know whether she could support Sage’s needs, including lifting her into a Jeep that sits high off the ground. She took time with that question during her second Sanctuary visit. “I would come in early to see her and stay late to say goodbye,” she says. “That’s when I knew I couldn’t go home without her.”
Readers facing a similar decision should treat Sage’s story as one adopter’s account, not as guidance on post-operative care. Questions about a dog’s recovery, mobility or lifting needs belong with the dog’s veterinarian and the shelter or rescue that placed the animal.
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Sage’s routine: Sanctuary versus Houston
The story’s most useful detail is the contrast between the two routines. At the Sanctuary, Sage set her own pace. The table below summarizes the routine as Liz describes it.
| Part of the day | At Best Friends Sanctuary (as described) | In Houston (as described) |
|---|---|---|
| Walks | Sage signaled readiness for a walk by howling to ask for “walk-30” | Walks continue, with the outdoor smells now a main attraction |
| Toys | Sage chose a toy and was known for her plush toy collection | She still picks a “toy of the moment” when Liz starts putting on her shoes, then often drops it once the smells outside take over |
| Rest | She sometimes lay down in the sun partway through a walk | She naps in the sun and settles into sunny grass after patrolling the yard |
| Evenings | Not described in the story | She curls up with Liz in the evenings |
Liz’s own words capture the Houston version of this routine. “Every morning when I start putting on my shoes, she picks her ‘toy of the moment’ and prances around the living room with it while she waits.” Once outside, she says, “She immediately drops it because there are just too many things to smell.” The yard also has a job: Sage patrols for squirrels.
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Why Liz was ready for a dog again
Liz had spent two years without a dog after losing her previous dogs, and she says life felt quieter during that time. The story presents her decision as a turn back toward routine. “With Sage, I want to get up early,” she says. She describes wanting to see Sage enjoy simple things while giving her stability. Sage now shares Liz’s mornings and evenings in Houston.
What the story does and does not establish
- Established by the publisher: the meeting at the Sanctuary, the knee surgery and its successful recovery as reported, Liz’s lifting concern, and the current routine in Houston.
- Not established: any medical diagnosis, surgical technique, clinician, costs, or long-term prognosis for Sage’s knee.
- Not included: any shelter, adoption, or no-kill statistic. The story contains no named figure that can be attributed to it.
- Personal, not general: the quotations are Liz’s recollections about one dog and one household.
Best Friends’ framing: the goal of no-kill
The story closes with Best Friends’ goal of supporting shelters across the United States in reaching no-kill, and with a call for community participation. In the article, the organization defines no-kill as “saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets.” That definition is Best Friends’ own framing and is presented here as the organization’s position.
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Sage’s adoption shows one outcome of that work: a dog who arrived at the Sanctuary needing surgery is now part of a household in Houston, with a volunteer who had already come to know her well.
Source: Best Friends Animal Society, “Adoption update: The tail wag that wiggled one dog home,” published April 10, 2026.
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