[link|http://picasaweb.google.com/IWeTheyAnotherScott/TheNewestMemberOfOurFamily|PicasaWeb].

She was found as a stray in West Virginia. We adopted her from a local shelter on Thursday - she'd been there about a week.

She's about 42 pounds and they listed her as being 13 months old. She's very skinny and has pretty big feet, so it's hard to believe that she's not going to grow some more. She's obviously a mutt; we think she's mostly Golden Retriever/German Shepherd. The shelter thought she was a Rough Collie/Golden Retriever mix. Her fur is much more GSD-like than collie or GR-like - it's pretty coarse.

She was already spayed when she arrived at the shelter, so she was most likely someone's pet. She knows how to sit, shake, and lie down if you have a treat handy, but doesn't usually do it unless she thinks you have a treat. She also loves to play fetch and will usually bring the toy back. Unfortunately, she usually won't come when she's called - but she's getting better at that. She isn't much at good at heeling, either, and has been dragging us down the sidewalk on her walks. :-/ But we're already working on training her, and she was better this morning.

She's very easily distracted by other dogs or animals and she's a hunter! We saw a fox (I don't know whether it was red or gray - the front half was red, but the back half was mostly a silvery-gray) when we went for our walk this morning, and she wanted very much to go investigate. She'll rear-up on her hind legs to get a better view. (About 10 minutes later the fox came running toward us with a squirrel in its mouth, being chased by a couple of crows.) She likes to chase squirrels and birds, too. Perhaps she was on her own long enough that she had to hunt to eat...

She's very affectionate and is amazingly springy. She easily leaped over our sofa when we were at work on Friday, and we've seen her leap on top of an outside table with no effort at all. She can also dart out an open door instantly if we're not careful. We'll have to keep a close eye on her until she's a little older. She seems to have the aptitude and skills to be a good frisbee dog.

She was called "Lexi" in the shelter, but seemed to have no association with it. We're calling her "Sophie" and see seems to already be responding to it.

I gave her a bath last night. She was Ok for the first few minutes, then began shivering uncontrollably from fear, so I wasn't able to wash her very thoroughly. I'm sure she'll get better at that too.

The only problem we've had so far is that she wants to get up every morning at 5:00 to go pee, but I'm sure she'll get more accommodated to our schedule very soon.

We're going to visit the vet in a few minutes. She's had most of her shots already, but we need to get the flea drugs, heartworm pills, etc., etc.

Cheers,
Scott.

I think her muzzle is very much like a GSD/GR mix, not shorter and squat like a Rottweiler. Her chest is very narrow too. But when her ears are flopped forward, there is a stronger resemblance. Most of the time here ears are out and moving around.

A friend had a Rottweiler named "Chewie". He was a big dog, but very friendly. He did jump on people when he first met them, and 120# of dog approaching you in a trot for the first time is certainly disconcerting! So I know where you're coming from.

I dunno. She's certainly an interesting mix! We're going to keep her on a short leash and make sure she's well trained, whatever she is. :-)

She did very well at the vet today. Even getting her temperature checked and a couple of shots didn't faze her good disposition.

Cheers,
Scott.

I've taken about a dozen shots so far, but she usually moves before the shutter clicks. I think she doesn't like the autofocus light, or the noises, or something. :-/

She can look so playful, and so serious, and so curious in the span of just a few minutes. I'll try to add some more photos to the page occasionally.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Scott.

[link|http://picasaweb.google.com/IWeTheyAnotherScott|Picasa Web].

The latest ones were taken this morning. A couple of Mocking birds live nearby and hassle her in the mornings... :-)

My wife, J, had to run an errand and was a little late, so Sophie and I drove without her to Sophie's 4th obedience training class early this afternoon. She was more distracted than usual during the class, so I should have paid more attention during the drive back...

She rides in the back of my wagon and I have ahold of her leash and keep an eye on her while the windows are mostly down (they won't go all the way down in the back doors). Sophie has stood up on the door sills a few times, but we've always tried to catch her early and yell "Off!" and pull her down to let her know that's not allowed.

I think this is the first time I've driven with her without J being in the car too. J followed me home in her car after the class.

Well, on the way home I turned a corner after a light and she was up on the sill again and didn't respond when I yelled "Off!" and pulled her down, and before I knew it... She jumped out. It happened so fast. There was a thump against the car, and then a yelp and I stopped as quick as I could. I jumped out and she was standing up, spinning around on her hind legs, howling pitifully. She calmed down and nothing seemed to be obviously broken and she wasn't bleeding terribly, so we carefully picked her up and put her in the wagon and drove to the local animal hospital.

Sophie was obviously uncomfortable and in pain, but she was walking around even though I was trying to get her to lie still.

The triage found a deep abrasion (down to a tendon) on her left front leg, and her left lip was skinned a bit, but that was the only thing they found while we were there. The estimate for her surgery and so forth was about $1500.


She just had surgery and the vet just called and said some of her [link|http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=392&topcategory=|flexor tendons] were damaged, so she'll be "a little lame" until that heals up. We can pick her up at 8:00 tonight.

She'll be on pain killers and antibiotics for a couple of weeks, have a bandaged leg and an [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_collar|Elizabethan Collar] and somehow we'll have to keep her from walking and bouncing around on it until it heals up. She's normally gets at least 1.5 hours of walks and play in the yard every day, and she bounces like Tigger when she's hunting, so it's going to be a challenge. We'll probably have to keep her in her crate most of the time. :-(

The bandage has to be fairly tight to encourage healing of the tendons, but if it's too tight her foot will swell up. So that may be a trial and error process...

Of course, it could have been much worse (the traffic was heavy at the time), but I'm kicking myself because it happened at all. A week or two ago she has squeezed out a tiny opening at the door when someone was leaving and ran down the street, so she can get out through tiny openings when she's determined, but this was entirely preventable.

She's a tough little girl, but she shouldn't have to go through things like this. :-(

I'll try to update the Picasa page with progress pictures when I get a chance.

Cheers,
Scott.