Journal #8 Sophie

 Just sharing another of my 10 minute journal entries from English Composition:

Sitting here this morning I am thinking about Sophie. Sophie is my 16-year-old miniature dachshund. My son brought her home from the neighbors when he was 12 years old. He begged me to let him have her. At the time we had a dog and at least 1 cat. His argument was that the dog liked his sister best and the cat was mine. He needed a pet of his own.  She was cute, only a few months old and her coat was the shiniest black. He said they had been calling her “Poopy” but he wanted to call her Sophie. I gave in and let him have the dog. Now he is gone and she is mine. I should have known there was a reason for her original name – she has lived up to being “poopy.” I love her, but she has never become the perfect lap dog.

Sophie is now what I would call matte black and has a lot of white hair on the top of her head. She’s had most of her teeth pulled and has fatty tumors on her belly. The vet says her heart and lungs are still strong. One thing this dog has is a good heart. She is loyal and sweet, to the people she knows. She doesn’t like strangers unless they sit down immediately and let her smell them and lick their faces. Once that is out of the way she will stop barking, but as soon as they stand up again she forgets who they are and starts barking again.

I try to get her out for walks a few times a week. It is getting harder for her to navigate the speed bumps, as her tiny little legs are not as strong as they once were. She often has to be carried down the stairs, but that might just be laziness.

One of Sophie’s really bad habits is sneaking in to eat the cat food. I once heard that a dachshund would eat itself to death if you let it, and I think that might be true. She never seems to have her fill of food. We did block off the area where the cat has his food so now she stands there looking at the door, as if it will magically move to allow her in. She is a funny girl. She also licks the carpet. I am not sure why she licks the carpet, but I read online that it could be due to some deficiency. She had her teeth cleaned again and was treated for an infection, which I thought might cure the carpet licking, but it didn’t. When we got new carpet I thought she might stop, but she didn’t. It isn’t a terrible habit but it is a little weird.

Sophie is getting old and I am afraid for the day I will have to say goodbye. Losing pets is the worst part about having them. I know it is the part that keeps some people from ever getting them in the first place. I love my pets so much, but my heart is strong enough to endure the loss if I know I have given them my best.