Puppy Love

Among the many things in the world I am grateful for, dogs are at the top of the list. There are many ways to describe the relationship between humans and their dogs, "man's best friend" being among the most used. For me, I describe my dog and our relationship in another way: world's greatest angel. I have had my dog Sophie for almost fifteen years and every single year has been a gift. Sophie is probably the sweetest dog I will ever meet. Whenever anyone in my family is upset, she makes sure that she is there to take care of us. Those qualities paired with the fact that she has filled my life with love and joy since I was three, make her one of the most wonderful blessings I have been lucky to have in my life.

This past winter, we began to notice that Sophie had a growth in her mouth. Thinking that it was an abscess, my mom and dad took her to the vet to get checked out. They returned with news that I never would've expected. Sophie, the dog who was barely sick, had melanoma. She was given a few months to live. In the next week, she would undergo surgery to remove the tumor from her mouth, but soon, within two weeks, the tumor had returned. Now the timeline of a few months had been lessened to just a few weeks. To say the least, our family was a complete mess, but I had yet to cry. Its not that I wasn't sad because I was devastated. I instead looked at it with the view that if I only had a few weeks left with dog who had made my life so much better, I should try to make her last weeks some great ones;that these last weeks should be about taking care of her. This meant no crying or acting sad, because if I did this, she would just try to take care of me. On the inside, though, I was a complete wreck. Sophie was my childhood dog and I had expected her to be there for my high school graduation and my 18th birthday, both a few months down the road, as she had been there for my older sisters'.

Weeks passed, then months, graduation and my birthday came and went, and Sophie was still here. In fact, her tumor had disappeared and she was acting like a puppy again. Last weekend, we had another scare with her, but she came back, fighting as hard as ever, and has returned to good health. She has surprised us and the veterinarians a like. Every day I get with her, I am reminded how truly blest I am to have her in my life. But I know that someday, those day will run out and when the time comes that Sophie does go, and I am faced with having to live in world without her, I will be a wreck. What will get me through is
remembering all of things she gave me in her time and that her impact on my life will be everlasting.

Dogs are amazing creatures with amazing souls. They always take care of us and bring us comfort and joy. In the scheme of things, we have them for such a short amount of time, and yet, they can leave an impact much larger than other people that touch our lives. I would like to end with a quote by John Grogan who, I believe, gives the greatest description of a dog and all that they give us:

A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see.

Sophie