Sophie brought so much love to her community. She was a local celebrity dog who did many fashion shows which were all done on a volunteer basis. LuAnn, Sophie’s Mom,  called me early this morning to let me know Sophie was put to sleep late Saturday afternoon from congestive heart failure. She was nine years old.

In her short time here on earth Sophie brought many smiles and much joy to so many.  She was also a therapy dog and visited Sharon S. Richardson Hospice twice a week for quite a few years. She had just retired from hospice work about a year ago and concentrated on her fashion shows which were always a huge hit.

As you can see by the photo above, Sophie also helped to raise money for a local cancer fund with a beautiful 2012 calendar of her in many of her stunning outfits, many of which were handmade by a friend of LuAnn’s.  She raised over $3,000 for the cancer fund.  The calendar will go on in memory of Sophie for 2013 and there will be local therapy dogs featured in the calendar next year. I’m honored and touched that Frankie will be one of the featured therapy dogs.

I recently wrote about the passing of Izzy, author Jon Katz’s dog who also did hospice therapy dog work. Jon’s book about their work together inspired me to start giving thought to doing hospice work also.  And it was LuAnn and Sophie who encouraged me to visit Sharon S. Richardson Hospice one day and visit with a woman whose husband had just passed away. Though I was initially nervous and scared to be around people who were dying, it was LuAnne and Sophie that guided me and Frankie on our first visit to hospice. It was a day I’ll never forget and it certainly was not our last– thanks to Sophie and LuAnn.

Dear little Sophie, so pretty always and oh so sweet, Frankie and I, as well as many others will miss you dearly. I can’t help but smile though, thinking of you doing fashion shows in heaven now. You’ll always be a star in our hearts.