Entered: 12/02/2008
Status: adopted
Age: 5
Color: Liver/White
Weight:
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Goochland, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, good in all areas
Temperament: Good with people as young as 13, good with other dogs, good with cats, beginning an inexpensive daily medication to assist with anxiety
Original: Sophie and her housemate Zoey were relinquished to MAESSR because of their owner’s serious health issues and difficult economic situation.
Sophie is a very sweet, timid girl who loves being with her people. When meeting new individuals, she is scared and needs to be approached slowly. It’s best if they just ignore her until she walks up to them. Then, they can gently pet her. Sophie is uncomfortable around children so a home without kids would suit her best.
When her foster parents leave for work, Sophie stands by the door and cries and sometimes barks. She does not act out by destroying anything, though. Housetrained, she and resident dog have free reign of the house during the day when their family is at work. Sophie had a few accidents when she first arrived in foster care but has been fine since then. Signaling her needs clearly, she stands by the door when she needs to go out. Her previous owners said Sophie was crate trained, but her behavior is good so there is no need for that currently. Sophie quietly sleeps through the night in her dog bed next to her foster parent’s bed.
Although Sophie gets up on furniture, a simple correction makes her get down. In the kitchen she does attempt to counter-surf and get into the trash, but again she stops when corrected. Sophie knows the commands sit, stay, no, and off, but sometimes these have to be repeated until she listens! She does pull when walking on a leash, so her foster parents use a harness for her which has worked well. When walked in her harness, she is fine and will walk next to her foster mom or dad; however, she cannot be trusted off-leash because she will run. Riding in the car is NOT one of Sophie’s favorite activities. She gets very nervous and is best crated when riding in the car.
This Pennsylvania Miss gets along well with the resident Springer and with the resident, adult cat. Her previous owners mentioned that she will pester kittens so a forever home without kittens would be ideal. Sophie is not really playful with her canine foster brother, but she will go up to him and give him nose kisses. Sophie also thinks he makes a wonderful pillow and likes to recline on him! When she is done resting on her dog pillow, Sophie likes to select a toy that squeaks!
Sophie is a gentle soul, so she is easy to love. She’s best suited for a quiet home where family members will take the time to reassure her continually, so she can get over some of her nervousness and learn to trust people even more. This Velcro Springer is waiting to follow you wherever you go.
Update 01/15/09: Sophie moved from her original MAESSR home to a more experienced foster family so they could evaluate her anxiety levels. After getting acquainted, her new foster mom felt that Sophie needed some help for her anxiety, so a daily medication has been started. The price for this is about $12 for a three-month supply. Sophie has been on it for about two weeks and the benefit is beginning to show. There has been a steady lessening of anxiety in Sophie. It takes about six weeks for the drug to be entirely effective, so the expectation is that her anxiousness will continue to decrease. It is unknown whether she will need to be on this medication for the rest of her life, but her foster mom recommends that Sophie continue it for at least six months, so she has ample time to complete all of the adjustments of moving to a new home.
Sophie is a dream of a girl. She is smart and fun and just loves to be with her people. She does well with other dogs and cats. She is scared of younger children, so she will not be placed with children under 13. If you want a sweetheart of a girl, Sophie is the one for you.