Adding to the Family!

We have been searching for another dog to add to our family for some time now. We tried to adopt a dog last January that did not work out. He was not happy here and consequently made the rest of us very miserable. We took him back to his owner after a week.

We talked about doing a puppy. We talked about just waiting. We looked for awhile and then stopped for awhile. I decided to go back on Craigslist and look... and had found several dogs that we liked. A few ads actually belonged to scammers wanting to take our money. That being said... I came across an ad for a Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd... a 5 year old female that is a housedog. We sent an email off and waited.

They responded the next day and arranged to bring her to meet us. She ended up staying and we are on day 3 of getting adjusted. She's a BIG dog... very tall and long, with a very large head. She's extremely intelligent... and is very protective already. She's attached to me all day until John gets home and then she ignores me in favor of the Big Dog. She is quite a picky eater and it's going to take time to get her tummy adjusted as she has a sensitive stomach.

Her coat is short but she does shed. Thank God that we just purchased a new Dyson animal quick vac! I think we will be getting a new Dyson animal vac soon to keep up with the fur. Punky is taking a rather wide berth for now... but does spend most of her day being attached to my right side. Having 2 dogs in the house again is very different... and Sophie-dog is keeping me very busy as I work on helping her learn the noises of the house and noises of wind and pine cones hitting the roof and snow plows and car doors. It will take some time for her to learn to take cues on what to be alarmed at. She does have pretty good house manners and some training. We are already working on improving her training skills.

We went to Petsmart and purchased her a new dog bed... but she's so long, it doesn't fit her. She did not enjoy going to Petsmart and had to go back out to the truck. She's not really been socialized all that much... so my plan to have a "therapy dog" will likely have to wait. It will depend on if I can get her trained to not be so timid and scared of new environments. So... with out further ado, meet our Sophie!

These photos were taken at her previous home... She was being fostered as her owner had a stroke and they were afraid Sophie would knock her over trying to be affectionate. It's my observation that Sophie is able to gage how to best interact... she is very gentle with me on the stairs and does not pull me when on lead. I can't wait for the weather to clear enough to be able to take her outside and work with her.

Thanks for reading... have a blessed day!
~Suzanne