Sophie

Well back to my dog. I miss her. What happened? Well as Sophie became older she became more neurotic. She was afraid of storms. Or she was afraid of the sounds caused by thunder. She would absolutely freak out. It got worse each year. She would pant uncontrollably and she would paw at me. I tried everything I could to calm her down. I would pet her, I would hug her. I went to the vet and got tranquilizers for her. They kind of helped but not a lot. Eventually she would try and escape from the house whenever there was a storm. If I left a window open she busted out the screen. Or if I left a window unlocked, she would nose it open and try to get out. She jumped several (and I mean several!) times out of my bedroom which is on the second floor. She chewed all of the woodwork around our windows. Then she would get picked up by strangers or the pound. I got several calls while I was at work to come and get my dog. She was picked up several times by the pound. I swear that dog had nine lives. Finally this past September, when I was 9 months pregnant with child #3, she got picked up by the pound again. This time I decided I couldn't handle this dog anymore. I called the pound and asked about putting her down. They said why put her down, they could find a home for her. I said okay and went in to sign the papers. Sophie did find a home because I got a call from the microchip company asking about tranferring ownership.

But I still feel bad about it. She was a very good friend and companion. My time out west was greatly enhanced by her presence. I hope that she understands. If I weren't having a baby at that time, maybe I could've worked with her more or tried different things to deal with her anxiety about storms. But I didn't and I miss her.