Sophie and Her Friend Gus Play!

I Win!

I believe that standing over someone means a win - right??!?

Chasing Balls

Who Doesn't Love a Back Rub?

Treat Time

The photograph is cute but the video is even better! Too cute Sophie tries really hard to get a treat.

More About Interactions

And more...

and even more...

Interactions

These are videos that illustrate some of the behaviors that the behaviorist is working on. It's also interesting to hear the trainer's discussion about her behavior and how he is correcting it.

Sophie and her Friend Nelson

Not sure Nelson loves to be nibbled on but he's such a great sport!

The Magic Ball

Just love the pic of her looking at the ball from a distance - too cute!

Sophie Masters the Door Trick!

Miss Smarty-Pants!

You can see that Sophie has learned that she only exits when she hears her name. The other dogs know the trick too so they don't exit - unless they hear their names!

Note to Blog Readers

You may notice in the video that Sophia is now being called Sophie - no worries, we're referring to the same dog! It's actually easier and shorter to say "Sophie" than "Sophia" (extra syllable!) so her name has been modified :-)

Yum - A Ball!

Can't imagine it tastes that great but one can't argue about personal preferences!

Sophia Discovers the Ball!

Update from the Behaviorist

The behaviorist reports that Sophia is doing well but hasn't worked through all of her reactivity issues yet. What does that mean? Well, she is very exuberant (!) and ill-mannered with other dogs. This manifests itself in really annoying behavior to other dogs - getting in their face, lunging, barking and nipping at them. It isn't what's defined as generalized dog aggression - in fact, the behaviorist says she isn't aggressive at all. She just doesn't know how to behave appropriately with other dogs and her behavior is off-putting to other dogs.

So, it is that behavior that the behaviorist continues to work on. Well, that, and general manners since our girl is a puppy and can be a bit on the pushy side! As you could see from one of the previous video clips, he is working on teaching her to wait at the door, be quiet when crated, and be respectful of her humans, among other things. Sophia is a smart girl and is catching on but let's face it, behavior modification is hard - that's why most of us fail to keep our new year's resolutions!

What's next for Sophia? Another month of work at the behaviorist's house. So begins our efforts to fundraise! Please help if you can!!

Meeting and Greeting...

The work with the trainer is already paying off! She is doing really well with the other dogs and is not showing signs of reactivity!

A Little Play...

Sticks are good!

Working hard!

Our girl is learning good manners - she is learning to wait to be told to go out the front door.

BIG News!

Training has begun! Sophia has moved in with our super-duper trainer who is teaching our girl her basic manners and is working on her "over-exuberance"!

Sophia Needs Boot Camp!

We have a great trainer on board to help us with Sophia's issues - we just need to come up with enough money to send her to him - and sooner rather than later!

Sophia is Returned

My, how she's grown! Sophia, grinning and happy and full of energy, comes back to us. We are committed to working on her reactivity and start putting a plan in place to help Sophia.

Sophia Is Adopted

Sophia goes to her new home and soon after her adoption starts to exhibit reactive behavior towards other dogs. She was great in foster care with other dogs but for some reason, as an only dog, things change for her. Her adopters decide to return her.

Sophia in Foster Care

Sophia loved being in foster care with several dogs and a number of cats. Her favorite thing was to play chase in the yard!

Sophia's story

Sophia and her brother Austin were dropped off at a rural high kill shelter in West Virginia when they were just 7 weeks old. At this shelter, 40% of puppies never make it out alive. There was something special about little Sophia and Austin and we knew that we had to give them a chance. Both Sophia and Austin came into foster care and we searched for good homes for these two cuties.