meet sophia!
Sophia is a sweet, spirited and playful young dog who endured a long-road to be with us here today. Sophia was originally found as a puppy with her littermates near Fairfield California last January. The puppies were brought to a local shelter, and adopted out to individual families at 2-3 months of age.
Unfortunately, Sophia was returned over summer at the age of 9 months, due to no fault of her own as her family’s circumstances had simply changed.
Back at the shelter, Sophia began to experience what is called “kennel stress”; used to being in a home environment, the noise and isolation inside her kennel for 23.5-24 hours a day was taking it’s toil on her emotionally. Sophia still caught our eye with her playful nature, and smarts.
We were happy to learn that she was adopted after a month, but sadly the second adoption didn’t last very long. One afternoon during a shelter visit, we saw Sophia in a small kennel — her head ducked down and laying between her paws, curled in a ball. “Is that Sophia?” we asked the staff. It looked nothing like the fun, bouncy puppy we knew from weeks prior. “Yes,” the staff said. “She was just returned today.”
We tried to engage with Sophia but she didn’t recognize us and acted severely depressed. While we would have loved to have taken her out of the cage at that exact moment and brought her home with us, we always need a foster volunteer in place for each and every animal before we pull them out of the shelter. And we had NO fosters! We vowed to tell Sophia’s story and start looking for a foster or adopter for her as quickly as possible.
Later that night we posted Sophia’s video online and over the next few weeks it got a million views and thousands of comments… yet, no one offered to actually help by fostering or adopting. Weeks and weeks we networked her, each day hoping the next day would be the day. Finally, our prayers were answered when a past HFP adopter out of San Francisco stepped forward!
Now, Sophia is decompressing in a foster home in SF, but her journey to forever is just beginning. She deserves the stability of a committed adopter for the rest of her life through all of life’s ups and downs.
Sophia will be a great companion for the right home. Here is more info on Sophia and what we have learned about her during her time in foster care:
Loves to go “bye bye” and will jump right into the car; wonderful passenger and we can see her being a fantastic adventure buddy for future road trips, hikes, camping, etc
Likes other dogs; Sophia participated in playgroups at the shelter; she has a puppy-like playstyle and loves to “herd” and chase her dog friends. She may be a little rough/ rambunctious in her play style for all dogs so we would definitely recommend a dog- to - dog meeting with current resident pets. Doggy play dates with dog friends would be a great activity for Sophia but she is not a dog park candidate. She has been around senior dogs who needed space, and she has taken cues from them as well. Her intros can be a bit rushed and excitable, but she is working on her neutrality on walks. She would do fine as a solo pet in the home as well.
We know in Sophia’s first home she was raised with a child and a cat, but have not seen her personally around cats.
Sophia has a great base of basics and is ready to impress you with sit, shake, and eager to learn more! She is SUPER smart and has amazing potential for someone who would like to do agility training.
Sophia’s favorite play time activity is the “flirt pole” which makes exercising her even in a smaller space doable
Sleeps through the night
Housetrained on a schedule
Sophia does alert bark at noises but is already learning how to “check in” with her person when the noises occur
Sophia can be rough and mouthy meeting new people and is actively working with a trainer to learn how to greet people in a more appropriate manner
The ideal home for Sophia will be ready for all things young dog; active adopters that can provide her with daily play/physical activity and mental stimulation would be best. Homes familiar with herding tendencies, and comfortable with strong/rambunctious dogs a must.
Sophia has broken skin on a person’s hand while jumping up. As such we would recommend a home adults only. A flexible work schedule, quiet neighborhood with a backyard would be amazing, but not all are required. Sophia may do well in a home with other pets, but we would advise animals meeting first and adopters to have plans for slow and proper integration into the home.
$250 adoption donation includes spayed, rabies, dhpp, bordatella, flea tick treated, fecal tested/dewormed, and microchipped