Sophie

Our search for a Wheaten sister and playmate for our 14-month-old Airedale terrier, Lancelot, finally came to an end on July 12, when Sophie (the princess formerly known as Lofi) came into our lives. Because we are volunteers in the WURL, Gwen called us to take care of the surrender of a 5 1/2-year-old girl from Rhode Island whose family was moving to Chile in one week and could not take her with them. After talking to her owner, I arranged to meet Sophie at my mother’s house in Freehold, NJ (a stopping point for several previous WURL’s), in three days.

When she arrived, she was a bit overweight, and her hair was very long, disguising her rose ears and too-long tail. My mom later said that she didn’t think she was even a wheaten. Her papers showed that she came from a so-called Massachusetts “breeder”, spelled b-r-o-k-e-r, who had acquired her from a notorious Nebraska puppy mill.

Following an initial one hour crying/howling session after her former owner left her, she decided that I was okay after all. Two days later, she came home to Delaware to meet her brother and dad, who both loved her immediately.

Although we were told that she didn’t like to ride in the car, Sophie is now a veteran traveler and loves to go wherever we go. She irritates her brother by taking up too much of the backseat, but she’s perfectly content when he finally moves her over. The only commands she knew when we got her were sit and down. But she learns fast and “usually” wants to please us, and now she can beg, say please, dance, bow, crawl, turn around, give kisses and shake hands–of course–she’s a Wheaten!

In her former life, she didn’t like toys, but she now has her favorites: latex squeaky toys and balls of any type. She thinks she’s supposed to rip stuffed toys apart–what a terrier!

Her favorite outside activities are chasing butterflies, which she has as yet failed to catch, thank goodness, taking walks, and running after and from Lancelot.

We love her a lot and are thankful she’s part of our family. Once again, Gwen, thank you for a perfect match!

Donna, Michael, and Lancelot Laubscher