My new dog, Sophie-Bea, is a southern girl. She doesn’t like to go out in any harsh Maine weather and her favorite stuffed toy is a possum. Once abandoned on the side of a highway near Hot Springs, Arkansas, this pointer-hot dog mix is no friend of busy traffic. So I take her on dirt camp roads, down to the lake; we explore wetland preserves in the area. But if she had her way, she’d be happy chasing trucks down Vista Road to the lake…

 Sophie-Bea has transformed into a great companion. In the first month (September), she changed…

1. From being afraid of traffic to chasing the dumptruck down the camp road on trash days
2. From sitting/staying on command to simply lying on her back and wiggling about, or charging off through the woods to do a loop around the house
3. From sleeping at the foot of my bed or her doggie bed–to maneuvering under the covers to the middle of my bed while I’m asleep
4. From peeing in the guest room to sneaking to the basement in the middle of the night to relieve herself despite a LOT of outdoor time together morning, day and night
5. From being good in the kitchen to counter-surfing – (steals sandwich tops, not the bottoms)
6. From not chewing my things to destroying sunglasses, shoes, sentimental things I’ve put up in high places out of doggie reach, or on the dining room table. She’s a climber!
 

Sophie-Bea - the flash is in her eyes (they're normally dark brown)

My new dog, Sophie-Bea, is the canine version of Elizabeth Taylor in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” (1958) with overly-made-up dark expressive eyes, a white slip of a figure, long nails and a dramatic disposition. She’s eager to please. She respects the male of the house, “Macho,” a 20 pound brick of a feline, who dismisses her attempts to show affection and broods over his glory days as an ex-alley tomcat. Sophie-Bea is part-pointer and part-dachshund, so she’s got the pretty face of a “hot dog dog” and the body of a bird-dog. She dances for attention, makes friends easily and likes to romp around in my woods. We’ve gone swimming a few times on hot September days and I knew as soon as she dove off the dock into the lake, it was a match made in heaven. She’s my first-ever dog. I’m in love!

in her hoodie