Sophie has been with us for about a week. She has settled in and is showing us more of her personality every day.

She loves to play with one of our resident dogs, and they are wearing each other out. She is vocal when she plays and she plays hard.

Sophie had an initial vet visit and was found to have no known health concerns. She is up to date on shots. She was a little nervous on our first visit, so we made a second visit to get her heartworm test done.

Sophie is very interested in and curious about the world around her. When we go on our daily walks, she does a lot of smelling and a bit of weaving and pulling. So, we are working on this and I'm sure she will get better over time. I may try a Gentle Leader. Right now, we are using a harness.

She does have a pretty strong prey drive. She pulls and sometimes jumps up on her hind legs when she sees squirrels and bunnies. After the first mile of our walks, she does settle down and pull less.

Sophie loves chewing on antlers and generally knows what items in our house are toys and what aren't. She likes to fetch balls, and we are still working on dropping the ball after she retrieves it, but this is a nice way to wear her out.

She does pick up socks, but we mostly get them and put them up and away, so no sock-chewing has happened yet. She is definitely still a puppy, though. We do crate her when we are away, but most days one of us is home and she spends the day at our feet, under our desks.  

Sophie does like to counter-surf a bit and we are working on "off" when she does that.

Sophie is very treat-motivated and will benefit from obedience training. She will learn quickly because she is treat-motivated and she seems really smart. When she gets bored, she picks up a toy or a ball and entertains herself. She knows "sit" and a few other commands and she really wants to please us.

She really likes to play tug-of-war with us.

Sophie has had no accidents so far, but we haven't really figured out her signal for going out yet. She goes out with the other dogs and seems happy to just be on their schedule.

What we think Sophie would like best in her forever home:

1. Sophie would love to have another playful dog around to play with, but we think a very active, attentive family would be great, too. She does need exercise and likes to get tired out.
2. A fenced yard would be great for playing and running around in. Our yard is small, but she can still play fetch and likes that. However, a fenced yard is not necessary as long as her family is committed to regular exercise. She is still young and has a lot of energy. She doesn't have great recall yet and she has a prey drive, so she does need to be leashed if she is not in a fenced yard.   
3. Sophie is crate trained, but she loves being at your feet. So, a family with someone who is home a bit would be great.
4. Sophie may not look like a typical Golden, but her DNA test shows she is part Golden Retriever and she has a Golden Retriever's personality once she feels comfortable with you. She is timid when she first meets new people, but she loves everyone she has met and warms up to people pretty quickly. She loves to be near us and would be a lap dog if she were only a bit smaller!  

I have not seen Sophie around young children. I think she would be fine with kids over 6 or 8, and any child-dog interactions must have adult supervision at all times. In her prior home, she was reportedly fine with an 8-year-old grandchild. She is a typical puppy with a lot of energy and she can be a bit mouthy.

Sophie is anxiously awaiting the perfect forever home and family.