Sophies' Gift

It was a beautiful fall day when I met her, of course I had no intention of coming home with a dog. My purpose was clear, I was there with my husband to help organize a pet adoption day. Sophie was just one of the tough cases. It turned out she had been rejected by 4 homes. I didn’t ask what the issues were because as I said, I was not in the market for a dog. So the adoption day went off without a hitch, but I couldn’t get the little lost dog out of my head. My husband and I kept talking about her, we already had a dog and both of us worked full time and we had discussed the possibility of getting Matilda a playmate. Then one evening the phone rang, it was the lovely woman from the shelter, calling about business around the adoption day and I had to ask, was Sophie still there, yes she said, she would be perfect for you, she said. She went on to remark how Sophie really responded to us and how great it would be for our other dog to have a friend. She would be great in a multiple pet house, she was so sweet and housebroken and she suggested we think about taking her. So in a moment of weakness, I agreed to come out the following sat. and JUST talk about it! HA!

Another beautiful day, this time we really got to see her life, lots of crate time, not lots of home time, fostering was not that common back then and dogs waited and waited in the shelters. She seemed so eager to please, she fetched and rolled over and looked at me with those eyes! The shelter worker proclaimed a perfect match and my husband and I dove in! With our eyes tightly shut!

The first day at home took me completely by surprise. You see I was one of those very dangerous types who read EVERY dog training book there was. I was well schooled by Barbara Woodhouse and believed with all my heart that there were NO bad dogs. I read the wise words of the fine Monks of New Skete and seriously considered tethering my dog to a car and driving her around dirt roads at 5 mph. The list goes on, of course there is one thing those books can’t give you, the experience of an individual, wacky dog. So off we went to the shelter to bring Miss Sophie home, I fully expected Matilda my 14 month old Rottie mix to welcome this change with open arms, er I mean paws! After all what all a dog really wants is company, they love being with other dogs...right? Well, Matilda was not all all happy about this, in fact, she shunned me for 3 days. Now I don’t mean she avoided me, oh no, she went out of her way to walk past me, looking the other way. Ignoring me and otherwise letting me know that she was very unhappy about this. I was stunned, how could she be so ungrateful! That was simply the calm before the storm.

Sophie went on to live a long and happy life with us, after many many tears, sleepless nights and general mayhem, I will happily share those stories in later posts. For now, I feel that although she has passed and hopefully waits for me on the other side, Sophie is part of everything I do. You see, one could view this story as on of a human giving a home and a life to a difficult pet in need. But that would be wrong. Sophie gave me so much more than I gave her. She taught me things about dogs, about life that only she could. That is her gift, my path in life came out of my journey with her. I will miss you sweet Sophie and I will always be grateful for that sunny Saturday many years ago.