Last Monday evening while the kids and I were eating dinner, I noticed something very strange.
Our Beagle, Sophie, who usually spends the entire dinner time stealing food right out of the kids’ hands, was no where to be seen.
This immediately sent alarm bells up in my head because Sophie never misses her chance for food.
Sophie’s Story
Eight years ago as a wedding present for my husband, I bought him a 6 week old Beagle, whom we named Sophie.
She was a crazy little dog that stole our hearts immediately with those big brown eyes and the softest ears you’ve ever touched.
This dog, like most Beagles, was completely food obsessed. Over the years she’s eaten so many things that should have killed her, it’s crazy (bags and bags of Halloween candy, wild animals, boxes of kid snacks, bubble gum).
She was crazy smart, fast and flexible. This dog could steal anything from any where despite her small stature. Our lives were a series of shut doors and piling things so high the kids couldn’t reach them just trying to keep this dog safe and out of our food.
A few summers ago she developed some lumps on one of her back legs and we discovered she had mast cell tumors. They were removed and nothing more grew.
This past May though she seemed to be in some serious discomfort. I took her to the vet and we discovered she had a herniated disk (probably from jumping off the kitchen table after “cleaning” it) and arthritis in her back legs. They also discovered her cancer had returned.
We nursed her through a month of confinement and surgeries and she seemed to be feeling better and better…even occasionally playing with the other dogs.
Last Monday
Last week we ran out of dog food. So I dropped the kids off at camp and then stopped to buy a large 30 lb bag (we have 3 dogs). I left the bag of food in the very back trunk area of my Honda Odyssey so that the dogs wouldn’t try to break into the garage to get into it.
I went back and picked up the kids that afternoon. We came home and they forgot to shut the garage door from the house and the car door.
After about 1.5 hours I happened to walk by and noticed. I went to the car and found the Miniature Schnauzer “cleaning” the car. I looked in the back seat to see if Sophie was in there too but neither heard nor saw her.
I closed the van door and the garage door and didn’t think anything else about it until 6pm when Sophie wasn’t trying to steal our dinner.
I immediately went to the car and opened the side door again. Nothing.
I went to the trunk and opened it and found the bag of dog food had been opened and Sophie was laying next to it. I touched her a few times and she didn’t move. I knew she was dead.
I kind of started to hyperventilate. It’s mid-August in central Texas and the garage is very hot.
I have no idea how Sophie managed to scale the very back seat and fall into the trunk area, but she did. I also don’t know why I didn’t hear her when I checked, but I had NO idea that she could have still been in the car.
The Kids
This was the dog that the boys would fight over who was going to take her with them when they moved out. She was just as bad as she was cute and we all still loved her.
Connor (7.5 yrs old) was devestated. He didn’t come out of his room for the rest of the night and barely ate for the next few days (and almost passed out at baseball practice because of it).
Evan (5.5 yrs old) refused to even acknowledge anything bad had happened at all…for days.
And Maddi (3.5 yrs old) immediately said, “So we only have two dogs now?” She continued to say this for about 24 hours…which seriously ticked off Connor and caused much drama. She also told me that her stuffed dogs were dead. UGH!
Be Careful
My point in sharing this tragic story with y’all is this….it’s hot and accidents can happen. Please just be careful with your animals and make sure that they have plenty of water and air and a cool place to lay. And maybe a few extra snuggles from me.
