As an only dog, I was surprised when my owners brought home Sophie, a large rough coated collie. She seemed the perfect dog; gentle, loyal, sensitive, and obedient. As new siblings, we spent nine years together.
At the time of my story, Sophie had just turned age 7 and I was 15. We were both now senior dogs. Sophie was my “little” sister, perfectly behaved, and never got into trouble. I taught her the boundaries and rules of the house. But she was the favored child, the celebrity, the superstar therapy dog. As I was always with her, I can tell you what really happened when no one was around.
Although an ideal companion, Sophie did develop one bad habit as she got older. She loved cardboard and if she found any, SHE WOULD CHEW IT UP. Initially it was in very small pieces and, of course, I was the one who got blamed. However, her appetite for the forbidden treat grew and with me being only 5 pounds, my humans eventually knew that it could not possibly be me. It had to be 65-pound Sophie. For some time, however, she did not get caught.
She started small by eating tissue boxes.
She would remove the tissues, push them aside, and devour the box. One time, she took a box of antique bone china teacups and saucers, removed them all from the box along with the newspaper wrappings and ate the box! How she did not break any cups or saucers was beyond me! It was obvious that Sophie was the guilty party but, so far, no one could catch her in the act.
My day of vindication was finally about to come! One day, a Hewlett Packard printer toner box got left on the floor of my human’s office. Sophie ripped open the box, removed and set aside the toner, and ate the box. For the next three days, Sophie’s poop was multicolored blue; same as the box.
Finally, I was proven innocent! From that day forward and when our humans came home, if Sophie had done anything naughty, her ears would go back and her head would be bowed. Then she would go to her space in the laundry room all by herself as if to put herself in a time out, imposing her own sentence. When she was asked, “Are you going to be a good girl now?” she would prance out to the humans with her tail wagging in apology and all was forgiven.
Lizzy was a long haired Chihuahua that lived a rich 16 1/2 years after getting a second chance at age 9. Established in her honor, Lizzy’s Fund, a Naperville 501(c)(3) charity, provides financial medical assistance for senior dogs, aged 7 and older, in shelters and rescues. Learn more at www.lizzysfund.org.
