Sophie

MdeLi Haziran 24, 2022

On Friday while we were on holiday in Guernsey we had the saddest of phone calls. Our beloved Sophie had died. She had got up as usual, bright and early and dashed out of the door, but then as Mum was cleaning out the hen houses she noticed a space over the fence where usually a grinning dog would be sat watching the proceedings with interest. She went back to the house to look.

Sophie had stayed on the patio, simply laid herself down and had taken her last breaths in the fresh air of the sunny morning. The other dogs were sat with her, Rosy seeming to sadly understand that her big sister was no longer there, but for Suky licking away at her 'mummy's' face to try to wake her there was no understanding.

The farm was a quieter place when we arrived home yesterday, no big dog to greet us, just two little slightly lost souls vying for our attention.

Lovely Hubby buried his beloved girl yesterday in a spot overlooking her chickens, a spot where she spent so many of her happy hours. The picture shows her in her number one spot, she lies safely now in her number two spot. nearer to the shed where LH spends so much of his time.

He knew and loved her from being a tiny wee thing bought from a farm in Scotland for his stepdaughter. I knew and loved her for the last eight years, and it was decided that she would live with us full time once we started this new life in the country, what better life for a country dog than back where she belonged.

Enjoying walks with Rosy round and about our last farm...

..and loving it when we were usually joined by Archie the cat.

She loved her life, she snatched every minute of fun and pleasure she could from it, she was good at that .... and the best bit she shared it with us. If she found something good to watch or do she came to let us know, she enticed us in with her doggy grin and made Lovely Hubby stop and look at the things she did.

She was a constant companion here on the farm, the 'big dog' that little puppies could cuddle into, the loud threatening warning bark that alerted us to folk calling by, that turned into a welcoming grin for them when she realised they meant us no harm, the large warm presence that reassured either of us when the other was away, the grin that lit up our day.

The dog that lit up our lives.