Happy Birthday, Sofie!

Sofie turns 6 years old on Friday. We got our dog, Sofie, from Lollipop Farm in Rochester, NY. Lollipop Farm is well known in Western New York as a great place for adopting animals. My wife and I had been informally talking about getting a dog, and then one day, my wife said, "Let's go to Lollipop Farm and get a dog." They were having a "special" where you could adopt a dog for $50, which included spaying/neutering, some start up supplies, and a free checkup at a participating vet. We didn't get there until midafternoon and the selection of dogs were a little "picked over". This dog was too big. This dog has dominence issues with children. And then we saw Sofie.

Sofie wasn't Sofie then. She was Lucy. We felt it was an omen to get Sofie because Lucy was the name of my wife's dog when she was growing up. Sofie was a little scruffy looking and was kind of timid. They bring you to a separate playroom to take the dog for a test spin. Sofie warmed up to us and would let us pet here and she started wagging her tail. We decided to get Sofie and started filling out the paperwork. I came back to the playroom to pick Sofie up and take her home when we noticed some people peaking through the door. It was a family of 3 (mother and two elementary age kids) who said, "There she is." But we had already filled out the paperwork so Sofie was already ours.

Sofie was really nervous heading out to the car. I think she was scared from all the commotion in the lobby as it was quite busy there with lots of people and animals. So I picked her up and carried her into the car. She "hugged" me as I carried her into the car. My wife rode in the back seat with Sofie while we drived to the pet store to pick up some supplies. We discussed what we should call Sofie. Sofie was a name we were considering if we had a girl (as we were trying to get pregnant at the time). We both liked the name, so Sofie it was.

We got home and brought Sofie inside. She was still pretty nervous and promptly peed on the kitchen floor. Sofie didn't bark or even make much of a noise the first three days we had her. We were thinking, "Great! A dog that doesn't bark!" But Sofie settled in and soon found her voice.

It's been a great 5 years with Sofie. And I hope to share many more years with my canine companion.