Sophie "the dog" Youngling

Sophie, is our 4 year old Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

She is Tucker's little lady.

Let me introduce you.

She and I have a special relationship. Our family had the great privilege of living with a Pembroke Corgi named Scuppers for 14.5 years. When Scuppers had to be put down, it was one of those days, that you don't even know how you live through. But for me, getting another dog wasn't a question, except a question of when. For me, I needed to bring another dog into our lives as soon as possible. The emptiness in my heart was so vast, it hurt. How can emptiness hurt... well losing someone you love leaves such loneliness, it is agonizing.

Glenn, however, felt this differently. To him bringing a dog to our home so soon would cheapen the significance of Scuppers passing. He couldn't bear that idea. We compromised and decided 6 months was long enough to wait. And so... I found Tucker. There were two corgis that were available in Pine Grove and one of the two (not Tucker) too a special preference to me. Tucker was sweet, but distracted when we met. Glenn however saw the picture of both dogs and without hesitation, he said, "THAT ONE!" We called him BIG boy until we found a name, because he was the biggest in the litter. We waited until he was old enough to be picked up and we went to get him. He fit that empty place in Glenn's heart like he had been custom moulded.

Since both of us worked A LOT, we tried to take Tucker with us and somewhere along the way realized, this was not a sustainable solution to keeping him company. He needed a friend. And so , back on the Internet I went, looking at different dogs. I looked at rescue Corgis but everyone was already taken by the time I found them and then... I saw Sophie.

She was a little pup, with a half black and half white face. It was if there was a electric charge that shot out of the screen and shocked me with the need to have this dog. I wrote the breeder (who was in Montana) and told her I was smitten. I also told her I would never ship a dog via air to California. I felt it to be too traumatizing. She let me know she was going to a dog show in Pascoe Washington and asked if I could come out there. Do you know where that is? That is on the Eastern side of Washington near Walla Walla. I decided, since I have family in Seattle, I could fly to Seattle, rent a car, drive to Pascoe and drive home to California. That is exactly what I did.

When I arrived at the fairground where the show was being held, I went to the trailer of the Shadowwalk Kennels. There was a pen set up outside and in there, were about 6 playful pups. They were rolly polly and full of energy and in the middle of this passel of pups was little tiny Sophie. She was half the size of her siblings, just as energetic and perhaps even more compelling. I picked her up and felt, she knew me as well as I knew her. We were meant to be together.

On the way home I bounded with this small puppy. She was very independent and not at all frightened by anything. I had bought her a little snugly toy thinking it would substitute for another pup. By the time we reached California the toy was shredded.

When Tucker and Sophie first met, he didn't have a clue what she was. He was happy to met her, but immediately it was evident, this wee little dog, was in totally and complete control. He was the stooge, she was the Queen. And so it has stayed to this day.

But today when I sat in the Vet's office and Tucker was taken into the other room to have his cast changed, we had Sophie with us to wait. It wasn't until then I realized just how much she NEEDS Tucker. She was so distressed that she not only whined, she wailed and paced and cried. I tried to take a video, but it doesn't really capture the pain of it all. The are literally inseparable.

We become so attached to the people and pets we love that sometimes to be without them is inconceivable. We are not consolable. We cannot function. we pace, and cry and don't know what to do. We want them to come back into the room and fill our empty hearts. Some people hide themselves away and stop our lives completely.

For some lives go on, and some times are filled with other things, but there will always be a spot that is missing, reserved for that treasured being, an ache that becomes dull but is always there.

Its incumbent upon us to keep those we love well and with us for as long as possible. As a parent or a pet owner, you care for their health, feed and keep them warm and safe. As people that are loved, it is important to do everything we can, for ourselves, to be around for as long as we can....

I have a question for you... When was your last physical? If your are a woman, when was your last mammogram. Have you done a self Breast exam ?

If I had not done this I would be dead today.

Your life is about more than just you. It is also about those people who love you. Take care of yourself like you would take care of them. You owe it to them to do all you can. they owe it to you to do the same. Here's to long lives and years of love and puppy kisses.

BTW - If you want to go to WINE WARS and you haven't RSVPed it is really really important to do so now. Our numbers are getting close to capacity and soon I will have to turn people away! Isn't that fantastic?! Think of all we will be able to do in the fight against Breast Cancer, just by going out to have a GREAT time!