SOPHIE--A RESCUE MIRACLE!

    SOPHIE’s CHOICE was not to spend 6 yrs. as a breeder dog in Texas, I’m certain. With little knowledge of how she became anxious and scared of everything, we can probably guess. She was sent to a pound when her owner became sick we were told. She was there for weeks with swollen nipples from nursing puppies. How did she get from Texas to Minnesota in January? We lost Hannah, our beloved 11 yr. old white Schnauzer, unexpectedly before Christmas. Within the hour of her traumatic death, our daughter, who manages a Rochester Humane Society for dogs and cats, was called about a white female Schnauzer in Texas who needed to be rescued from certain euthanasia. KARMA?  I immediately  thought of the the movie, “A Dog’s Purpose?” 

    We have loved a parade of dogs, cats and horses over half a century and learned that a broken heart heals faster when one fur baby replaces another. The only puppy we raised was our first Schnauzer, a salt-pepper male who lived 16 years. All the others, along with 4 cats and some of our horses were amazing, loveable OLDER RESCUES who made us laugh...and cry when they passed over the rainbow bridge. All had unique personalities, some with a few challenges.

    SOPHIE, the sofa dog, is by far our most unique challenge. Thin and terrified, afraid of people, animals, loud noises, sudden moves, doors and storms, she didn’t know how to go up or down steps, sit, walk on a leash, bark, or even respond to her name. Afraid to even eat and drink, I had to hand feed her at first and carry her outside and upstairs to her doggie bed. After 100 days in our home, she has barked only twice. (I was afraid she was mute or deaf.) She can now do steps and walk outside, but runs -like she's being chased- only from her bed upstairs to the sofa downstairs where she stays ALL day, with trips outside only when we take her to do her duty or go for a walk. 

    She is beginning to respond to simple cues AND her name, which we changed to SOPHIE JO--the sofa dog-- since she never responded to the name she had. In January and in the throes of a record breaking MN winter, every little success was like one step forward, two steps back. It's almost even now. She loves being petted and massaged, is beginning to trust and doesn't tremble unless she hears thunder. When we leave the house, she runs up to her bed and doesn't come down to her sofa until we return. As I sit beside her on the sofa, writing my latest novel on my laptop, we have bonded. She loves me best. :)

    TEXAS PUTS DOWN  200 animals a day. In a graphic report, read through a veil of tears, 25,000 animals were euthanized in one year in San Antonio alone. They changed their policy of gassing the animals en mass, to a more humane euthanizing system when the caretakers became traumatized by the suffering animal's death cries. They do NOT have neutering policies in Texas, which may explain the animal surplus. Many other states also do not have Minnesota’s no-kill status for lost, homeless or unwanted dogs and cats. My daughter adopts shipments of dogs from places like Texas, finding over 1,000 pets a year the “forever home” they deserve after they are neutered and chipped, get up to date inoculations and even extra medical care when needed. One dog hit by a car was even adopted soon after a leg had to be amputated. Posting the animals on Rochester's Paws and Claws website,  pawsandclaws.org  and on FB has been so effective, many of the dogs are adopted within days.

   HEALING HEARTS of humans and pets are necessary miracles any time of year. Puppy Mills and Disreputable Breeders may lose some business if more people checked out the the vast supply of adorable rescues in Humane Societies in most cities. Rescues even range from mutt to pedigree (like Sophie)--all of them waiting for their “forever home.” A lot of movie dogs, like Benji, were rescues who were smart and easy to train. Sophie may be slower to learn but she has won the Fosdick hearts and our healing...and hers...is resurrecting new life and love this Easter. We count it a miracle as we imagine what a PTSS veteran she must be. Sophie has indeed found her forever home!       
                                                                                                                                                                 Cj Fosdick

                                                     

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