“Sophie, wake up” came a voice in the darkness. “Wake up, I said.”
The lights came on and Tom was standing at the entrance, holding the leash. “Sophie! What’s the matter with you? Bad girl!”
Sophie’s eyes darted around, but she had no clue why she was a bad girl. “You’re not supposed to pee on the floor. You know better.”
Glancing around, I caught the glint of light reflecting off the small pool of liquid across the room.
Tom grabbed Sophie by the collar and pulled us across the room. “Bad girl!” He repeated and then pressed Sophie’s face into the yellow liquid. “NO!”
Sophie was quivering with fear. I could smell the strong stench of urine now dripping from my nose and chin. I wanted to throw up, but Sophie was in control and she hadn’t even flinched at the idea being covered in pee.
Tom then walked us down the hall to the Dr. Howard’s office. Dr. Howard was sitting behind a large oak desk, writing notes in a journal of some sort. Tom explained the mishap in the room. Dr. Howard told Tom to go clean it up.
“Looks like you’re going to need some additional obedience training before we continue with your other lessons.” Dr. Howard told Sophie after Tom had left. He never got up from his desk.
“Sophie, Sit.” Dr. Howard commanded. Sophie crouched down.
“I said ‘Sit’” Dr. Howard repeated. Confused, Sophie only stared at him. I tried to tell her to put her butt on the floor, but I could never tell whether she could hear me or not.
Dr. Howard stood up with a yard stick in his hand. He walked calmly across the room and said, “Sophie, Stand.”
Sophie stood.
“When I tell you to sit, I want you to sit on the floor, like this.” He said, and then plopped down onto his butt. “Do you understand?”
Sophie stared blankly at him. Dr. Howard stood back up and said, “Sophie, sit.”
Sophie crouched down again.
“NO!” Dr. Howard shouted. “I said Sit.” This time, he used the yard stick, WHACK onto Sophie’s butt.
Sophie winced, but didn’t move.
Dr. Howard used his left hand and pressed down on Sophie’s shoulders, forcing her butt to the ground. “This is ‘Sit’” he instructed.
“Sophie, Stand.” He repeated.
Sophie stood.
“Sophie, Sit.” He said again.
Again, Sophie crouched down. She was shaking nervously. Sophie was certain that this was sit.
Whack – Whack.
“Sit, I said. Sit!” Dr. Howard repeated.
It took several more tries before Sophie finally got this command down. By that time, whenever she did it correctly, I felt the burning pain from all of the paddling we received. Tom had returned at some point, but Dr. Howard was working with Sophie, so he didn’t interject. Finally, Dr. Howard instructed Tom to take Sophie out for a walk and then feed her.
When we returned to Dr. Howard’s office, he handed Tom a piece of paper with a list of commands on it. “Sophie needs to learn obedience.” He said. “Use the shocker until she gets each of these correct.”
“Yes, Doctor.” Tom said. He then led us away to another room. This looked like it was set up for some sort of physical therapy. There was a low padded table in one area, a rubber mat in another area and a couple of large exercise balls in the corner.
“Sophie, Stay.” Tom said and then he unfastened the collar from my neck. He walked across the room, dropping the collar with the leash still attached onto the low padded table. Tom then returned with a different collar. This was a bit thicker and had a large black rectangle attached.
“Sophie, sit.” Tom said.
Sophie sat.
“Sophie, lay down.” He said.
She didn’t know this command. Tom demonstrated lying down, and then got up and repeated the command. Again, Sophie stared at him blankly.
I suddenly noticed Tom holding a small black remote control. He pressed the button and…. Pain. It was excruciating, starting at my jaw and penetrating all the way to my knees. Sophie tried to scream, but no sound came out while the shocker was active. As fast as it had started, it stopped. “Sophie, lie down.” Tom repeated.
Tears began streaming down Sophie’s cheeks. She didn’t know what he wanted her to do. I heard Tom sigh before the pain started again. This continued for the rest of the day. After a while, I discovered that I could shut it all out. I really didn’t want to leave Sophie to endure this alone, but I couldn’t stand the pain over and over again.
I sort of pushed Sophie out of my mind, but with her in control, it was more like I pushed myself out of her mind. I was still observing the situation, but from a distance. Sophie was a very slow learner. Mostly this was because they were teaching her to do things differently than Tabitha and Heidi had taught her. So she needed to unlearn the old commands before complying with the new ones.
The next several weeks were a bit of a blur, as Sophie spent so many days learning commands, and being disciplined when she failed. They were training her harshly, I kept myself out of Sophie’s head for days at a time. It got to the point that I was beginning to have a hard time bringing myself back to where I could even feel anything she was experiencing.
I think, had it lasted any longer, I would have chosen to stay disconnected and it would have just been Sophie for the rest of my life. But eventually, Dr. Crowe came and picked us up. It wasn’t until I heard her voice that I had the will to force myself back into Sophie’s head and reconnect with reality.
Tom was still holding Sophie’s leash. Dr. Crowe was standing in front of me and Sophie was crouched down, so Dr. Crowe could stroke he head as she spoke with Dr. Howard.
“I’m sorry, Sheila. I couldn’t do more with her. She is quite obedient now, but I could not get her trained to behave like a girl.” Dr. Howard said.
“Well, I appreciate you for trying.” Dr. Crowe told him. “I do hope it wasn’t too much bother for you.”
“Trouble? Oh no. I have never seen anyone with such a committed fursona, as young Sophie here.” Dr. Howard said.
“Fursona?” Dr. Crowe asked.
“It’s a new phenomenon that is plaguing some of our schools. Kids self-identify as a cat or some such. Originally they thought it an offshoot of the furry lifestyle, but there seems to be no direct connection.” Dr. Howard reasoned. “This is my first glimpse in real life at one of these patients. I took a lot of great notes.”
“Interesting. May I have a copy of your notes?” Dr. Crowe requested.
“Sure, I’ll send them over when I finish compiling them.” Dr. Howard agreed. “I wish I could have a few more weeks to observe Sophie.” Dr. Howard said.
“I know. School starts next week, and I need to get Sophie acclimated to my home again, plus there are a few logistics I need to work out if she is going to be release into the public.” Dr. Crowe said.
Tom then handed the leash to Dr. Crowe and after saying their goodbyes, we left the facility for the last time.