A Season For Every Activity: A Post About Sofie

We added Sofie to our family of two in the summer of 2009. Sofie was my birthday present from Ben. He knew I always wanted a dog after I passed my CPA exam. So, even though Ben never really wanted a "girly, small dog," he let me chose whatever breed of dog I wanted. Well, after years of research, my mind was set on a little white dog also known as a Bichon Frise. According to the information on DogBreederInfo.com, Bichons are fluffy, little white dogs that love human company. They have independent spirits, are intelligent, affectionate, bold and livey. They are charming, gentle dogs and are not yappers. Well, that pretty much describes my Sofie. She is very much a lap dog and loves to be around people. She only barks if people are here or if she thinks I'm scared or spooked. I'm happy to report that she has Ben wrapped around her little paws. Actually, even though Sofie is technically "my" dog, she absolutely positively loves Ben to death. It's actually really cute. If I tell her to "Go find Ben. Go get him!" She runs off and finds him.

It hasn't been all peaches and cream with Sofie, though. I think it took a good year for her to be potty trained (and some days she still has her moments). She also has an obsession with socks and running with them behind the couch so we play that "cat and mouse" game of trying to get them back from her. She is also obsessed with squirrels and rabbits. Ben is pretty proud of the fact that she points at squirrels and rabbits. She's even "treed" a few squirrels. Ben said he could make her his hunting dog. He even think she could be the next police drug dog. Her nose is very good as she is a super curious dog, and she always finds things to investigate.

Sofie and I completed an eight week obedience class last Spring. Although we were not the star students of the class, we did graduate and Sofie now knows several verbal and hand commands from the class. Sofie can sit, lay down, stay, and touch (Touch is where I put my hand out flat in between my knees and hips and Sofie jumps up to touch the bottom of my hand). Ben is currently teaching her a new trick and she is quickly picking up on it. She is pretty independent, though, so it'll need some more practice because it's pretty involved. Lately, Sofie has been in her independent mood when she goes potty or should I say lack there of. She will only go potty if she absolutely has to which makes me very annoyed. I was so concerned one day that I took her to the vet. We were informed that Sofie has a highly concentrated bladder and she can go days without having to potty! Of course that is not encouraged and we try as hard as we can to have her on a daily schedule, but it's frustrating when there are days when she won't go because we constantly fret the entire day that she'll just decide she has to go while we are gone and she's home alone in the house.

Since Sofie is my main companion while Ben works, I thought I should devote a post about her. So since I've written so much about her, I figured it'd be fun to have some pictures of the little lady. Hope you enjoy them! (even if she's an ornery little dog!)