The Amazing Flying Sofi
After posting some pictures of Sofi, I was asked how she is doing after about 6 months of living with us. Her homecoming was a surprise for us, and we are very happy to tell you that she has integrated to our family greately. Being a neglected OES, she nipped, jumped and barked when she greeted you, was totally desobidient and was not house trained. All these problems caused her to be left outside and without love, and the owner tought she was useless. The first weeks all she did was spend time curled in a corner without getting up, but gradually she got more confident and started to roam around the house. She didn't even know how to eat from a bowl because it seemed that all her previous owner did was throw the food at her, so we had to teach her that the bowl was for eating and that she did not have to gobble everything at one time. House training was easy, we only had a couple of accidents and she got the idea pretty fast. We had to teach her to play with toys because she had never seen one in her life... Poor thing. She saw the balls and felt like she had to do something, but didn't know what to do, so we had to encourage her to chase the balls and then to bring it back. Another thing we noticed was that she was very afraid of coming inside the house and always ducked when passing trough the door, so we guessed that she was not allowed to come into the house and she got hit every time she did, so we had to buld some confidence on that side too. Sofi (Now Sofa... Go figure, the kids started to call her like that and we liked it) turned out to be very smart. She learned to sit in about 2 hours and was really funny to watch her try to stay still, she looked like a very inexpert skater trying to keep balance  Teaching her to be still was a greater challenge, she kept on getting all exited and could not stay still, her face was fixed on the treat but each of her legs was trying to go on a different direction, but finally she made it and now she can sit still for a couple of seconds... For her, a real improvement.
She decided that one couch was confy enough for her and she made it her longing place after she got more confident, now she lives on the couch an likes to sit there to watch the kids play in the park trough the window. A suprise came later, when my wife was cooking some burgers for dinner. She got the patties bag out of the fridge and she pounded it on the floor to loose a couple for cooking. Sofi was next to her and shen she saw my wife lift her arm to pound the bag on the floor, she started to shake and curled into a ball, waiting to be hit... Poor Sofa, we apologized to her and taught her that we were not going to abuse her liker her former owner. After a few days of therapy, she understood that she was safe and now she pounces on things you drop or pound on the floor. Days passed and she was more and more confident. Now she does not like to be taken outside and learned to play dead so you cannot taker her out when we leave for work... It's the funniest things, she flops on her belly and hides her face beind a cushion. "If I can't see you, you cannot see me" kinda thing... If that does not work, she becomes a dead weight that needs to be dragged all the way to the patio door, really funny. That was the first trick she learned to do on command and now it amuses visitors with that. When she was taken out for a walk, she pulled and ran like crazy, did not obey commands at all... A real savage! We also worked with her because she had the tendency to chase the running kids and bump into them, and since we did not want an accident we taught her to behave a little more. Now, she knows more tricks, she can sit, stay still (For a few seconds), comes when called, learned to topple the trash can, and to dig on the yard. No longer has accidents in the house and knows to leave shoes alone, knows her toys and does not chase kids if you call her... We're still working on the pulling but it's much better now. Last week she learned to give paw!!!!! And it's her greatest achievement so far. She loves to lick all the people she loves (Which is everyone within reach) and has turned into a very confident dog. Her adoption lead to a home where she can reach her full potential and where she is loved. We know she still has a long way to become the perfect dog, but we love her like she is anyway, with her licking, furry tender soul. We love to see how when we open the front door so they can run in the park, the first thing she does is run a few yards, then returns to lick you and then go back to running again. She's the first one to greet us in the morning and when we come back from work and we lover her for that, because it shows that we taught her that she can trust and love people. We're very happy to see Sofa transform from a crazy dog that her owner tought was a useless pup into a grown inside OES that knows tricks to amuse visitors and knows how to behave (Well... sort of, hahaha), and we hope that her story can convince anybody with doubts about adoption that with a little patience and love, the craziest dog can be the perfect one. |
|
|
| Saulmr,
Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful update on Sofa. You and your familys love of her has allowed her to bloom into the wonderful dog she is today. She will continue to bloom and grow with your family. You have been blessed by her, but she has been blessed with all of you. Big hugs all around! |
| What a lovely story. We give a little bit of love and get so much in return from our rescue kids: you have a happy confident well-loved dog that grew into her name -- the Sofa dog with her own Sofa from which she can rule her world. |
| What a great story! I am so happy for you and Sofa! LOL She sounds wonderful! There is nothing better then rescuing...i have decided that our next dog will be a rescue. Too many of them out there to go and get a puppy again. I am constantly on perfinder and my husband is so mad at me because i keep asking him to look at pictures of dogs i want. I know we can't afford one now, and with MOpsey being only 5 months she needs more time to be the "only child", but i can't help but look. Keep checking to see if any of them were adopted... Congratulations on your addition and keep us updated! |
| im so so glad that sofi found you guys, she definitely deserves a loving family! she sounds like such a character, i love the playing dead part-it reminds me of walter when he knows its time to get a bath.
shes obviously very smart and very sweet and im just so glad that she found a family to let her be those things!! keep us updated on her antics and improvements! |
hahaha Marley! My wife is just the same, always looking at the pictures for pups to be adopted, and she can almost convince me to get another one... But sanity kicks in. I'm already busy keeping an eye on two sheepies... And I want babies too!  |
| What a happy ending. I commend you and your family for having the patience and love in your hearts to take on a huge task as this. Sofa,is a happy sheepie now and can fulfill her purpose in life.I hope you guys have many years together.I wonder if the playing dead is just a sheepie trait? Keep the updates coming! |
| I don't know which side of the border Sofa was whelped as I've gotten a fair number of OES from El Paso/Anthony/Las Cruces area. All have been abused to some degree, though Sofa sounds like one of the worst. Bless you for taking her in and working through her various issues. Yes, she will continue to develop into a wonderful dog, but even in her old age she will remember her abuse and react in strange ways. Continue with the love, it heals so much. |
| Sofa was picked up on the Mexican side of the border as the person who owned Sofa and Frida was to be our neighbor... Poor thing, she was all mated and scared when she came to live with us. Frida is doing great too with my siter in law, she has a huge backyard to play, two kids that live to hug her and bows on her ears when se's taken to the vet.
Sheepieboss, do you live near the el paso area? I'm in contact with a person in Mexico that works rescuing dogs all over the country and had a couple of OES that were looking for a home. So far, I haven't been able to accomodate them, but if someone on the US is willing to adopt them, border crossing is no problem if they have their shots in order and we can help by picking them at the airport and then shipping them to the US. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|