Sophie Dog

Yesterday our house became very quiet, too quiet I say, as we had to say goodbye to our sweet Sophie. It was a very sad day and we will miss her and all her snortiness dearly.

Bryan and I got her together in college our junior year, so she was only 9 1/2 years old. It feels like just yesterday that we were watching her and all her sisters and brothers roll around their front yard all roly poly, pell mell, tumble bumble, just like the Poky Little Puppy and his siblings. Sophie however was the most feisty of the bunch and by far the cutest and prettiest marked. I instantly fell in love with her and knew there was no way I was leaving there without her despite the "pick of the litter" fee that I would have to pay.

Sophie quickly became the mascot of Avenue A, the street Bryan and I lived on in college, making her way, or nibbling her way (quite the puppy biter) into every one's hearts.

She gave us such company in our early married years spending every evening snuggled with us on the couch. Sophie loved when I was home for the summers in between school years and helped to fill our much too big house for us then. She never left my side during my bed rest with Jackson, and though we assumed she would be great with our kids, we never would have imagined how absolutely amazing she would be.

There was no adjustment period for her when Jackson became a part of our family. Sophie naturally began to receive a lot less attention but never once acted out and yet continued to surprise us with her gentleness and overall protectiveness of Jackson. It was almost weird how she would, no matter where the blanket was, maneuver around Jackson's things so as not to disturb it in the slightest. His toys, though they looked and sounded quite like dog's toys never even got the once over. She is of the jumpy nature, becoming very excited when new people including children would enter our home, but again never once jumped up on Jackson or Colin. She withstood every wrestley hug from Jackson, endured his never ending chase game, braced herself constantly for his happy greetings upon arriving back at home telling her that she is the best dog ever and that he missed her so much. I think she was quite fond of the break from our busy boy, but Jackson never caught air of the lack of her affection.

It was while I was pregnant with Colin that we found out she had Cushing's disease. Sophie had been having frequent accidents, was constantly begging for more water, and began suffering from a sway back and distended belly. We managed the symptoms of this disease with medication and she was looking and feeling so much better. We felt comfortable leaving her with my parents while we were in Colorado on a family vacation, but unbeknownst to us by the looks of an xray yesterday a large, possibly tumorous, mass which may or may not be related to the Cushing's, grew large enough to obstruct her airway so tremendously that she began turning blue to the lack of oxygen she was able to breathe in. My parents who were still watching her at the time rushed her to their vet where she receive basically asthmatic breathing treatments only to find out that it was helping momentarily but would not in the long run.

I decided to head that way yesterday to see how she was doing and I'm so glad I did because though I sensed it, I had not fully realized that it would be the last time I would hold her. Upon arrival I knew instantly hearing the heart wrenching sounds coming from her gasping breath that I needed to ease her of her pain. I'm so glad that the decision was so clear, because I could not have made it otherwise. I decided to stay with her, holding her sweet face, and talking to her as she left us. The look on her face as the pain left her body was pure peace. As her head rested in my hand with the weight of a puppy at rest I realized that I had given her such a gift. That her life ended in such a peaceful, comforting way.

My dad was with me when Sophie passed and my mom at home with the boys. We decided to tell Jackson together, Bryan and I, last night about what had happened. I hated that Jackson had to learn so young about the finality and sadness of death. He knew Sophie was sick so we started with that and then told him because she was so sick that her body stopped working. That she could not breathe anymore and died. He reassured us when we told him that she was in heaven with Jesus. To be honest, I'm not sure where animals go when they die, but we told him we hope and think she is there too. And though he has looked up to the sky and shouted many times today "We want our Sophie back!" and that "Sophie can't be happy without us", he is handling it as well as possible.

Our house feels, even with the noise of two young boys, very quiet and empty as we long for our sweet dog whose snorts and toots filled up every bit that our boys didn't. We will miss you Sophie Dog! Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our family!