Over the years . . . .
We found Rowan on Petfinder. He was staying with a rescue organization, and visited the house for the first time on April 7, 2010. He died on January 21, 2019.
We found Sophie on Petfinder, and picked her up at a shelter in Fenton on Saturday, December 2, 2004. Apparently Sophie had been wandering the streets of Lansing with her sister, Samantha; they were rescued by a vet, who put them up for adoption after some sort of altercation. At home, Sophie took an immediate liking to the front sill, even though our Christmas tree was there. At first, she was terrified to be left home alone, and never liked any doors to be closed in the house. It was several days before she barked. She didn’t play (if you rolled a ball to her she would just look at it, then at you), and there was a certain regality to her that seemed to make most other dogs nervous. She had cancer surgery in the autumn of 2008 (the first thing she did when she got home was leap onto the sill), but the cancer spread, and she died on July 16, 2009.
Gilbert was named after Hurricane Gilbert because he was born around the time of the hurricane (September 12, 1988).