Sofa So Good

Sarah Nell past away a few years ago. I have yet to find that "shade tree" perfect spot to lay her to final rest. Many years ago, another avid German Shorthaired Pointer owner gave me a tractor trailer hood ornament of a GSP on point which rests on top of the box. She sits next to my other recent loss of Pride, my rip-wrap English Pointer. Pride's final destination belongs with her mother back in Florida. A garden was built in Susie Q's honor (Pride's mother). There's a beautiful bird bath there to constantly attract the many song birds and hopefully a quail or two so that even in her passing she can continue to point the birds in spirit.

In speaking with many psychologists who specialize in the loss of pets, holding on to your best friend's mementos serve as a great reminder of the special times and connections we had with our beloved pets. However, without that final step of putting your past friends remains in the ground, the last step of grieving will not be complete. The completion of grieving also serves best if we change out the toys and any thing else that we view with a large connection between our former best friend and the object.

This is especially true if we own multiple pets or bring in a new dog into our lives after the passing of our last one. The connection with the new family member will suffer as a result, including our ability to train our new pet and build the bond and trust that training requires. Our new family member can't speak to say, "Hey! I'm your new best bud! Lets play! I'm sure you miss him/her, but we're going to have good times too!!!" Or at least so I thought.

Sarah Nell was a loony at times. She learned how to play with the other pack members a little less than gracefully. She would spin in circles backwards and jump up onto our leather sofa. She would bark and play bow at the excitement taking place in the play rough housing going on. In one instance, she left me a hole in our leather sofa going right into the foam core underneath. I'm guessing she bit down, a single canine tooth hole, in frustration over her wanting to rough house too.

All of the money on a leather set only to have it destroyed by our dog. I laughed and rubbed my finger over the hole many times trying to figure out what was going through her mind. The hole and the sofa outlived Sarah Nell. When company came over, we put a slip cover over the sofa so that our guests wouldn't see the pencil sized hole. I thought it was hilarious that we tried to cover up for a dog!

In this recent past year, I adopted a big Black Lab/Great Dane mix by the name of Patch. Patch Farnsworth to be exact. I never thought a dog would prove to me that a dog wanted me to move on from my former best friend's memory, directly or indirectly. All I can say is that Patch loves foam. Within a couple of months of rescuing him, he discovered the small pencil sized canine tooth hole going through the leather sofa seat. It was underneath a leather slip cover mind you. What was a small pencil hole turned into a softball sized hole with stuffing removed. It couldn't happen again right? I let the picture speak for itself:


Please note: completely eaten cushion, slip cover nicely pulled off onto the floor, and the foam once neatly packed inside said cushion now all over the floor! The cushion that Sarah Nell had so nicely left me something to remember her by now laid strewn over the floor of our house, and the remainder firmly sitting like a brick inside of Patch's stomach.

In a way, it was sad. The good times that Sarah had on that sofa, including her primary sleeping place at night, were gone. Instead of being upset, I was completely in a state of laughter. The sofa was replaced and so too were the memories of the great times Sarah Nell and I had spent rough housing together with the other pack members. While the memories of my best friend were not gone, I awakened to the supplanted new ones still in the process. Life moves on. We must not forget. However, we cannot overlook what is right in front of us. My reply to Patch, "Hey! You're right. We will have good times together!"

Enjoy the Adventure!