Today we bid farewell to our sweet sweet Sophie.Back in July, Rob and I traveled to Atlanta to watch his beloved Red Sox play the Braves. It was a scorcher-- almost 100 degrees and no shade at the 2pm game. After the game, as we were driving home on Interstate 20 we passed a dog wandering along the side of the road. This little girl was hot, hungry and miserable. We stopped and picked her up, put her in the back of the car and took her home.
Let me stop and say that Rob and I are both animal lovers-- I think we get it from our parents. My dad has never met a dog he didn't love and Rob's mom used to feed every cat she saw. It's in our blood. After driving up to NC to watch the World Series two years ago, we stopped and picked up a dog on the side of the road and, luckily, got him to a shelter. We have a system now: We pull over, run away from the highway to get the dog away from the road, then Rob takes off his belt and we use it as a leash. Works like a charm.
So, we got pretty attached to her fairly quickly. We couldn't just call her "Dog" so we started calling her Sophie. It just fit. We had every intention of either trying to find her family (dead end-- she wasn't microchipped) or giving her to a new family, we just weren't in any rush. We got her groomed, put her on flea meds and she became part of the family. She was smart-- she knew how to sit and shake and she was already housetrained. She was a great cuddler.
But, as time went by, we started feeling like our house was a little too small for the two of us, the three dogs, and (hopefully) a baby. We knew we had to find another home for her.
We put her up on Petfinder.org some time ago and went on with our lives. Then, a few days ago we got a phone call from the shelter, saying that someone from MS was interested in her and that they wanted to come to town today to see her. At first, I was thrilled that we had found a potential new owner for her. Then I started feeling sad that she might be leaving us.
This morning, I got up and drove her to the shelter. I talked to her the whole way there, trying to explain to her what was happening, as if she would understand. Rob even stopped by after his breakfast meeting for a final goodbye. I feel so guilty when I think about how confused she'll be that we've taken care of her for all of these months, then dropped her off with strangers and never came back.
I know it's for the best-- she's going to have kids to play with and a big yard to run around in, but as our family shrinks from five to four, I'll miss a little of the chaos. Tonight, the house will seem a little too quiet.
Let me stop and say that Rob and I are both animal lovers-- I think we get it from our parents. My dad has never met a dog he didn't love and Rob's mom used to feed every cat she saw. It's in our blood. After driving up to NC to watch the World Series two years ago, we stopped and picked up a dog on the side of the road and, luckily, got him to a shelter. We have a system now: We pull over, run away from the highway to get the dog away from the road, then Rob takes off his belt and we use it as a leash. Works like a charm.
So, we got pretty attached to her fairly quickly. We couldn't just call her "Dog" so we started calling her Sophie. It just fit. We had every intention of either trying to find her family (dead end-- she wasn't microchipped) or giving her to a new family, we just weren't in any rush. We got her groomed, put her on flea meds and she became part of the family. She was smart-- she knew how to sit and shake and she was already housetrained. She was a great cuddler.
But, as time went by, we started feeling like our house was a little too small for the two of us, the three dogs, and (hopefully) a baby. We knew we had to find another home for her.
We put her up on Petfinder.org some time ago and went on with our lives. Then, a few days ago we got a phone call from the shelter, saying that someone from MS was interested in her and that they wanted to come to town today to see her. At first, I was thrilled that we had found a potential new owner for her. Then I started feeling sad that she might be leaving us.
This morning, I got up and drove her to the shelter. I talked to her the whole way there, trying to explain to her what was happening, as if she would understand. Rob even stopped by after his breakfast meeting for a final goodbye. I feel so guilty when I think about how confused she'll be that we've taken care of her for all of these months, then dropped her off with strangers and never came back.
I know it's for the best-- she's going to have kids to play with and a big yard to run around in, but as our family shrinks from five to four, I'll miss a little of the chaos. Tonight, the house will seem a little too quiet.
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