Sweet, Sweet Sophie

Back in April, I feel in love with the sweetest, fluffiest, friendliest little girl. At the time her name was Princess & she was an 8 weeks old Shih Tzu puppy.

After lots and lots of thought, and many "talks" with the kids about all sharing the responsibility of a new puppy, the boys and I decided we HAD to have her.

So on Thursday April 19th, while the boys were at school, I went and picked her up and brought her home.

We spent the first few days deciding on a new name for her. Princess just didn't seem to fit. After many deliberations, we all settled on naming her Sophie.

Hayes called her "Princess Penny Sophie" for the first week or so.

It took us a few days to get her adjusted to our home. We bought many new things for her: A kennel, bed, toys and food.

The boys enjoyed playing with her and having her chase them around.

We all took turns holding her and walking her...it was fun!!

The boys really loved having a new puppy around.

Especially Parker who spent all of free his time when he was home from school helping me take care of her.

He helped take her out to go potty, feed her, play with her, etc.

She was a fun addition. However...I was a mess. As with every new baby or puppy, I was up with her multiple times a night. And during the day, I had to have my eyes on her at all times to make sure she didn't eat something she wasn't supposed to,

OR didn't go to the bathroom in our house.

After 3 weeks, I was exhausted. It had been 14 years since I'd had a puppy. And last time I had a puppy, I had NO kiddos to take care of AND no busy Hayes to try to keep up with. I was quickly realizing that I couldn't do it all. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be up multiple times a night with a new puppy and be a good mom to my boys during the day.

Plus, the the two little boys (Davis and Hayes) were afraid of her...because she'd bite their toes. And did I mention our other dog Buddy HATED her!! Sophie would try and try to play with Buddy and he'd avoid her as best he could. And if he couldn't avoid her, he'd growl and nip @ her.

 

So after even more deliberation, we all decided that maybe now wasn't the best time to try to train a puppy. I will say it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made.

We were all heart broken to get rid of her. But in the end knew it was the best choice for us as a family. I told the boys that we could eventually get another puppy with 2 conditions: After Buddy died & Hayes was in school.

So we listed her on Craigslist. We found a GREAT, LOVING family to adopt her. Funny thing is that the family who took her from us, we are friends with some of the same families...making it MUCH easier to let her go.

I won't lie...It was still hard and I was a MESS for a day or two but we still keep in touch with the family who bought her from us and she is doing really well. I do think about her often and miss her but I know she's with a family who is taking great care of her.