Twenty One in Dog Years

Happy 3rd birthday to Sophie, our family pet.

Before you begin to think that we're some kind of weird, over-the-top dog people, we're not. The only reason we remember her birthday is because she was born on the same day as one of Brook's neices. We probably won't have a doggy themed birthday party for her tonight (although we might now that I think of how fun it might be). We don't call ourselves Mom and Dad as in, "Sophie, come to Mommy." And we don't schedule playdates for her with other neighborhood dogs. But she is part of the family and we enjoy having her around. We joke that she isn't much to look at but that she's got a sweet spirit and good personality. And she does! She's the perfect family dog.

I debated whether to even mention Sophie in a post, but as I pondered about it, I realized that pets are part of our lives also and share a spot in our family. I have many fond memories of Dot, my family dog as I was growing up. She was around for my entire childhood practically and when she passed away it was a sad day for everyone. Likewise, my children will have many memories of Izzy and Sophie.

Sophie is our second family dog. Our first family pet was actually Izzy Belle, another shih-tzu that we got when we still lived in Pleasant View. Caitlyn had begged and begged for a dog for months and months. Brook finally gave in and brought home the cutest little puppy. She was white and grey, tiny and cute, and very feminine. It was fun to put bows in her hair and dress her in sweaters in the winter. I know-weird dog person alert, but we've learned!

She was just over a year old and we had been living in Colorado for about 4 months. One night my family from Utah was visiting and one of Izzy's legs began jerking uncontrollably. Obviously something was wrong because it didn't stop. She was panicked and I was even more so. Zach told us about a friend's mother in our neighborhood who was a vet. We called her up and she was so gracious and invited us to her house immediately to look at her. Upon examining her she sent us to an all-night clinic in town to be evaluated. Long story short - the next couple days were spent with different vets and tests before we had to have her put to sleep. It appears that she had distemper, even though we had done everything right in her vaccinations and health care.
Our friend Debbie offered to come to our home and put her to sleep for us and it was such a gift. We were able to bring her home from the clinic and have a few final hours with her before we had to say goodbye. We went out on the lawn and just played with her, took pictures, and enjoyed our time with her before Debbie came. It was a miserably sad day for us, but it was a life lesson for our kids which wouldn't have been learned had we never had her.

I can see us always having a dog of some kind although I don't know that Brook will agree with me on this.