Sophie - Diary of a Southern Belle

Sophie is one of those Bouvs, given the freedom & opportunity, will take over -- the sofa, the pillow, the house. In short order -- in less than two weeks -- she has mastered the household schedule & is beginning to herd on a time table, i.e. it's time to eat dinner at the table, you've sat too long so it's time to leave the table, etc. All very charming until you start wondering who just rescued who.

This occurred to me today as she casually decided she was coming up on the sofa for a snooze even though there are various places for her to sack out. I made a quiet disapproving sound and shook my head "no". Shocked, Sophie turned her head to look behind her to see who I was talking to. Seeing no one, she approached the sofa once again. Same reaction. This time she looked hurt, bowed her head & slowly slunk off to her favorite rug. I think she will survive the trauma tonight.

Meantime we had fun today chasing squirrels, guarding against squirrels, sitting and waiting for some stupid squirrel to make a move, imagining squirrel stew. This is all fine & dandy except I'm also using this time to practice recall. She has been reacting appropriately but today she was pretty casual about the whole exercise which annoyed me. However, I couldn't say anything 'cause I let her get away with it, i.e. I had no absolute control over her.

Going forward, I must get through to her especially at moments when she is distracted just as a safety measure.

Watching her track quite naturally led to our playing a game of "where is your biscuit?". She is picking up on that faster than I anticipated but needs to learn more discipline in the search which I am confident she will.

Two days ago, Sophie -- unhappy with her temporary bedding in the cottage where I work -- approached a sleeping Stella who was luxuriating in her extra large Frongate pomegranate Sherpa bed. There was some room on the edge & Sophie, very gently, pawed at the open area to see if -- like me when she does that -- Stella would move over a little. No dice. Stella is NOT a trained human so Sophie sighed & walked over to mat on the other side of the room. She will be getting her own Frontgate extra large pomegranate Sherpa bed with monogrammed pillow soon but I haven't told her.

I can now confirm that I have, not one but TWO very active Bouvier dreamers. Between them, we hear snores, yips, growls, barks, sighs and witness all kinds of body movements.

And then there are the farts. Stella is not bad on that front but at least she warns us by emitting a sound but NOT Sophie. No. She falls into a blissful sleep & while dreaming about eating a squirrel or some other yummy morsel, an oder begins to float throughout the room. It's not the clearing-the-room kind but it's enough to make me and Carol suspicious of each other before realizing where it is actually coming from.

Sophie's eating, drinking and bathroom habits are all stellar. And she has her bone(s). After meals, Stella gets her beard cleaned and combed and so does Sophie who for the moment is sans beard but I want her used to the exercise when her beard grows in. Then they get their teeth brushed. And so it goes. Just another day in the Rifkinson household.

Take care y'all.