Sophie in her youth
Stephanie LaFarge has the most difficult job and for some reason adopted the world’s most difficult dog.
A psychologist by training, Stephanie is the Director of Counseling / Pet Loss for the ASPCA in New York and she strongly believes that caring for our pets at the end of their lives is as crucial to our emotional well being as our pets’.
“Being responsible for a good quality end of life for our beloved pets is as much a responsibility as caring for them when they are young,” says Stephanie LaFarge.
Our pets will never live as long as we wish them to. This is a given. Our goal should be to live our lives with our pets as we would want to have them remembered, with no regrets.
This means not just caring for them but creating memories so when all you have are memories they are joyful and will last through your lifetime.
Learning the subtle signs of pain and suffering can actually bring solace to owners as they can better understand when it’s time to give the greatest gift they can to their pet: relief.
Stephanie has had a long career with the “A” and now spends her time partly at her family farm in Illinois and partly in New York coordinating Counseling Services.
She understands each phase of a pet’s life as well as the phases owners go through – from start to finish, from personal experience.
Stephanie now lives with Sophie, a ten year old dog rescued from a drainage ditch in the Bronx. At only three months old, Sophie was as close to a feral dog as possible, and defined as “unadoptable” because of her ferocious demeanor and rages and fear of people. Sophie even went on the Today Show as an example of what not to adopt.
Sophie lived at the “A” and was kept next to Stephanie’s office. Over time, Stephanie came to realize Sophie also possessed other traits, such as a fierce intelligence.
With enormous patience, slowly Sophie came to be the perfect dog for Stephanie. Stephanie spent several months sleeping at the “A” just to become familiar enough with Sophie to be able to pick her up and take her home.
For whatever reason Stephanie was drawn to Sophie and this dog became the challenge of a lifetime. One day the light bulb just went on in Sophie’s brain and she understood what it was to live with a human. She understood her role as a dog and allowed herself to be loved and cared for.
At a little over a year old, Sophie became a registered animal assisted therapy dog with Delta Society – this dog that was not so long ago deemed unadoptable.
One year later, Sophie won the ASPCA’s highest honor, the Trooper Award. .jpg)
And on September 11, 2001 she began a new phase of her therapy work as a Ground Zero dog for four months at the Family Center on the Pier in New York. This fearful, out of control dog was now providing comfort during one of our nation’s worst times.
Sophie today is still the perfect dog for Stephanie, even though she has lost both eyes to glaucoma. Stephanie adopted Houdini who now helps guide Sophie around. They are best buddies..jpg)
Sightless and slower she helps Stephanie every day realize their mission: to guide people through the most difficult aspect of pet ownership and to learn how to cope with the day we must say goodbye.
For more info:
Sue Grundfest is a licensed team Evaluator for Delta Society, the national animal assisted therapy program. If you would like to see if you and your pet are suitable for therapy work, please contact Sue at coco@cocothelovedog.com
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