This is very rare.
Sophie Rose never poses for a picture. I guess that she felt like it. Or, maybe she knew that I hadn’t made a picture for the day.
Anyway.
This is the all seeing dog. The dog who finds pictures and waits while I make it. Sometimes, she looks up at me as if to ask are you done,
She’s an old lady dog. She’s twelve years old. She’s a rescue dog. She came to us when she was eight. She was scared and confused because her person passed at 85 years old. Her care givers didn’t much like Sophie. She was well underweight and she had a gastrointestinal infection. We brought her to our vet. He fixed her up. I fed her the same food that the other dogs eat, She gained weight. She came to like the other dogs. She came to trust us,
Now I belong to her.
Lately, she’s been sick. She had a gum infection that worked its way into her jaw. Four teeth later and an aggressive course of antibiotics and she’s fine. She’s back to her old self, aggravating the other dogs and shepherding me and everybody else.
She also has a bladder stone, which has finally broken up. We are hopeful that more antibiotics will break the rest up. Otherwise, she could require surgery. We’ll know in a few weeks. I’m not inclined to put her through it. She shows no symptoms. She’s happy. She acts younger than her age. She has no symptoms.
What would you do?
The Picture
It’s a portrait. A lucky portrait because she normally doesn’t allow it. I didn’t do any post production except to correct the warm light of the room that we were in. Sophie did the rest.
Stay safe. Stay mighty. Protect our teachers. Enjoy every sandwich.
STORYTELLER 
Great shot and a great story Ray. I smiled when I read that you adopted her and …Now you belong to her…
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Thank you. We have six dogs. Four cockers — all female. And, two medium poodles — both male. Not planned, just worked out that way. Five of them are rescue dogs. All of them are sweet and get along well. And, yes. We are soft touches. What’s one more is a phrase around here. All of them picked their favorite people.
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How very interesting! You must have a compassionate soul!
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Thank you. It gets worse. After the Chinese dog food scare about a decade ago, we started making our own food. Ground turkey, rice and four veggies. We cook enough food for each dog for ten days. That’s 3lbs of turkey per dog. They love it. Do you have any idea how intimidating it is to have 12 eyes looking at you at dinnertime?
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Oh, my … there is not turning back after that… That is a a lot of work. Good luck!
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No, there isn’t. Thank you.
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Sophie Rose is a sweet dog and you are very fortunate to belong to her! 😉
Her portrait is gorgeous!
As for the surgery, I’d also think about putting her through surgery. You just have to be very observant for any changes. Aren’t there any kinds of food to help break the rest up?
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Thank you for both. She is a sweetheart. She is happy and acts much younger than her age so I asked her vet what would happen if we didn’t do surgery. Maybe nothing, or she would have trouble urinating. There are a kind of kibble that he sold me. After eating our home cooked food of ground turkey, rice and four veggies, she had no interest in it. On the first night she pushed the kibble to the edges of her bowl. On the second night she threw it on the floor. She rejected all of it on the third and fourth night.The other dogs smelled the kibble and looked at me as if to say “are you nuts?”
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I know the kibble! I wonder why they can’t make them taste better! What about special herbs? I just read this… https://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/11014185-bladder-and-kidney-stones-and-urine-crystals-in-dogs-natural-approach …although there are many herbs that could help.
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I better read that because that’s exactly what stones are. Thank you so much. It’s not just bad tasting Kibbles. Sophie is a very picky eater. In many ways that’s good because she doesn’t eat the garbage people dump in the street.
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She’s also a wise pup! 😉
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Beautiful doggie and a hard decision. I know when it was the beast, it wasn’t an easy decision and her age played a factor. Sophie Rose is about that same age now. I don’t know that I could put her through it, if it was me. I say keep an eye on her and watch for any changes that may indicate distress and worsening and then go from there. You’ll know the right thing when it is the right time to decide. When I had to make the decision about the beast, she was trying to tell me she was tired. If the dog that sees everything isn’t in distress, keep on with the meds and things to keep her as comfortable as possible (I also realize that you are probably already over that).
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Thanks Ray for sharing. We have our second rescue dog in Daisy, a mix of terrior and ? Daisy recently had to have two broken teeth extracted but came through it well. As I previously told you our insurance didn’t cover dental, much to our surprise and disappointment.
That is a lovely portrait of your all seeing pet.
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Thank you. She is one of six of allow us to live with them. Five are rescues. Insurance didn’t cover this work either.
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Thank you for all of that. I pretty much agree with you. I asked what would happen if she seemed fine and we didn’t do surgery. He said, she would let me know because she would have trouble urinating. She’s fine. After her mouth work she started playing like a young dog. She’s ha[[ey and seems to feel good. She’s getting an x-ray in three weeks. We’ll see then.
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🙂🙃🐶lucky dog to have you Ray ☺️💫
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That’s backwards. I’m the lucky one
🙂
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It’s a circle of love 💞
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I think that says it.
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I have experienced a similar situation with my three legged rescue cat, after having had three teeth pulled she recovered finally, yet her prior issues seem to kind of to return, but I decided not have her pocked and examined again soon, I just let her be , rather than being tortured again. I agree with your decision, although it’s not an easy one. Enjoy the time with your great dog now.
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If Sophie has a problem than I’ll move towards surgery. We’ll see what happens after an xray in three weeks. If she’s feeling good, there will be no surgery no matter what we see in the xray.
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Ah, finally a glimpse of the all-seeing dog. She is a beauty. I am so glad she is with you and vice versa.
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Thank you so much. She needs to be groomed, which I put off while she was sick.
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Eu amo cockers. Atualmente tenho 2: Summer (female) e Kaká (male). Eles têm 10 anos e são irmãos. Nasceram em uma ninhada de 6 filhotes. São filhos da Belinha (já falecida) e que foi adotada por nossa família e do Flockinho. O Flockinho foi um presente de amigos para minha filha, Ingrid. Ele tinha 2 meses quando veio para nós. Eles são uns amores e muito companheiros. Não imagino minha vida sem meus bebês de 4 patas
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Thank you. Oddly, even thought I don’t read Portugese I understood most of what you wrote. Take good care of them. 🙂
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What a beautiful girl. Thank you for sharing her with us!
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Thank you. She uses that against me.
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❤️
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I don’t know what I’d do…although I guess I do know…I would do what felt right when the time came. It’s so hard to navigate these ethical and emotional challenges. All I would say is that you’ll know what’s right, when it’s right, and she trusts you to know and do what’s right. A bunch of simple words I strung together here just to say, trust your gut.
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It’s those eyes, wonderful photo Ray, she is gorgeous. Yes, my dogs own me as well. I make chicken and vegetables for them also. I have a 14 year old little rescue dog. She had a tooth problem and we gave her medicine that cleared it up. But the vet said at her age it was not a good idea to try and take the tooth out. To keep an eye on it. The infection is gone and she is playing and eating just fine right now. Lots of love and chicken and she is happy. 🙂
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We give our 12 year old a product called Smart Bones. She loves the peanut butter flavored treats. They clean her teeth. Our vet says her teeth are great and no cleaning is required for the past 3 or more years.
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Thank you. Oh, don’t I wish. Sophie is a rescue dog. I have no idea how she was raised, but she doesn’t eat treats. Her vet even gave me this can of dog food. He described it as being crack for dogs. No interest.
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