Sophie has been adopted!
Sophie is sponsored by her foster mom in memory of her recently passed Shepherd, Laddie, who was given a second chance by Save Me Dog Rescue.
Meet Sophie!
Sophie has been in her foster home for nearly a month now and in that time she has shown herself to be a loving dog, very affectionate towards people and kind in nature.
Sophie arrived into rescue not having a full comprehension of doggy etiquette and has been working alongside her foster parent to learn the ropes and what is expected of a family pet. With Sophie being very people oriented and food motivated, her training has come a long way in the last month however, she still has a ways to go. Sophie understands basic commands such as sit, recall, retrieval, the command to lay down on her bed or go into her crate (all of which we work on a daily basis). Sophie does have a couple of bad habits that she is currently working on such as jumping up, learning how to stay and counter surfing. Sophie is house trained and will let her foster mom know she needs to go out by sitting at the side door. Rarely has she had accidents in the house though that can be expected with a new foster.
Sophie enjoys long walks, the longer the better, several times a day. She enjoys being outdoors, sniffy the pee-mail left behind by other family pets. Sophie does well when being walked on a harness. She respects the length of the leash, doesn’t take her handler for a ride and is in training to learn how to heal, when to stop and wait and how to respect the noisy cars moving around her. Sophie has a slight fear of large motorized vehicles such as snow plows and garbage trucks and often looks to her handler for cues. If he handler stays confident and calm, Sophie often follows suit.
Sophie will show signs of separation anxiety when her people leave the house. While her foster parent is away, Sophie is safely tuck into her crate. She will protest at first but eventually settles down.
Sophie is a happy and healthy girl. Her first visit to the vet was when she arrived in rescue and the vet team was delighted with her personality. It was determined that Sophie does not have any health issues. She is a strong and healthy pup with a healthy appetite.
Sophie’s breed mix is a shepherd cross with lab and once you get to know her you can see both sides of the breeds. Sophie has a goofy, puppy personality much like a lab and she stays very close to her people. She is very smart, able to be trained with consistency, loyal, agile and confident in familiar surroundings.
Sophie is groomed by her foster parent. She does not have a thick, double coat however she does shed a fair amount. Sophie does not mind being handled, she is able to be picked up, brushed, have her face and eyes cleaned. She also enjoys baths as long as cookies are involved. At this time, Sophie does not care to have her paws touched and this is something her foster parent is working on.
Sophie is a dog that guards her resources. She currently takes her food and water in her crate, away from the resident dog for safety reasons. Over the last couple of weeks her foster mom has learned how much Sophie loves toys. Sophie is a tough chewer and needs something heavy duty to withstand her playfulness. When Sophie is playing with her toys she often does not like to give them up until she is quite ready for you to join in the fun. Sophie is learning to be handled while she is playing with her toys. She lets out a playful growl, showing no real aggression. Sophie has learned the art of fetch and can play for hours. Once she learned retrieval means more fun she was all in. Because Sophie guards her resources (toys and treats) it is unsure of how well she would react with other dogs playing with her things.
Sophie hasn’t shown aggression toward other dogs and often becomes excited when she sees another pup playing while she is on a walk. She currently lives in a home that has smaller dog who she sometimes tries to play with but her size and power is overwhelming and considered as pushing. For this reason it is best that she not be in a home with smaller animals, cats included.
Sophie appears to like kids. She becomes very interested in the chatter coming from nearby school yards. Sophie’s behaviour can be a bit a pushy at times. She often becomes overly excited and jumps up on her humans. She doesn’t quite understand her size and power and she has the tendency to be oral when she is feeling playful. For these reasons, her foster parent feels Sophie should not be adopted into a household with kinds younger than 12. It is recommended that the kids in the home be dog savvy and respectful of Sophie and her belongings until Sophie becomes comfortable in sharing.
Sophie will need a handler who is confident, steady, consistent and has a helpful knowledge of how to go about training her. She is a wonderful dog with great potential and will surely make a family very happy.
Sophie was lovingly fostered by Jennifer G.
