Sophie 9 yrs - Surrey

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Sophie - terrier of some unnamed type, distinguished older stateswoman, something of a tyrant where her household slaves are concerned, opera singer, champion snorer and huge character!

That's our Sophie. Looking at her grizzled face, you'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. But show her a rabbit and she becomes a short-legged and somewhat tubby greyhound on a mission, so maybe no cats and small furries in her new home. Tea drinkers preferred, as Madam expects her daily cuppa. Possibly someone who doesn't want to drive for miles, as Sophie keeps-up a running commentary on your driving skills and has no off-switch.

But everyone adores this little girl. She's wise, she's loving, she has mad fits of playing occasionally ... there's just something about her. She seems to be fine with children, and would certainly teach older youngsters a lot about dogs. Sophie eats well - too well, given a chance - and will get tubby very quickly. She will also raid any other bowls in the vicinity, so this needs to be watched.

Her Ladyship is excellent on a lead, although she will let you know when she needs a rest ... plonks down and refuses to move until she gets her breath back! Sophie can be a bit grumpy with strange dogs, but has mixed with a variety of canine house mates while in foster and has not had a single issue with any of them. Slight (possibly selective) hearing loss means that her recall when off lead is a bit patchy, but she'll not go far from you unless she spots a rabbit, in which case you'd better be quick on your feet!

Oddly, for a dog that wants to eat chickens and rabbits, she's been fine with her fosterers guinea pig, but to be honest cats and rabbits are probably at risk.

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Sophie's lovely adopted family gave this update:

Hi everyone,

Quick update on little Sophie!

She's settling in very well so far, no accidents or issues at all. On the Saturday after picking her up, we just let her have a good poke around her new home so she could figure out where everything was. Her and Jack are fine, they are sounding each other out and having good sniffs, they walk fine together when they're out and dive into the same smells together with no signs of any problem about sharing. They swap bowls after eating without issue either.

She did have one little grumble at him when he came and plonked himself right next to her on her bed so he was pushed up against her! She didn't do anything, just sort of grumbled to herself without looking at him and he shifted away from her. He does like to share beds! I'm sure he'll win her round eventually, it's obviously early days but they really do seem to be fine. Since then, he's tried again but just barely touching her as he curls up near her and she's been fine with that.

Sunday was much of the same, I was in all day and apart from the walks they basically moved around the house following the sunbeams so they could sleep in them. Sophie went out into the garden for a bit to catch some rays out there as well.

On Sunday evening, since they'd been fine all day, we thought we'd pop out and leave them for an hour to see how they coped together, as we'd be going to work the next day. We drove the car away and went to a friend's down the road. We snuck back a bit later to see if there were any signs of barking or howling (Jack has been doing this when he was on his own) but all was quiet and they were both happily in their beds. Sophie had taken one shoe and a slipper with her! I'm so happy, she steals our shoes too

I've just come back from lunch and all was well again, no accidents either. More shoe stealing has occurred.

I'm thinking about seeing if she can cope with the dog flap, although with her little legs she might struggle. Jack leaps through it as he's had one for years and he's not much taller but she's a bit more delicate in her movements. As Angela pointed out to us, she can get up stairs but not down them. We have a stair gate, so that is shut when we're out to stop her getting stuck but we leave it open when we're in. If she goes upstairs, it's a simple matter for her to summon one of us to carry her back down, which is right and proper and just what slaves are for.

She also tells us when she would like to be lifted onto the sofa, which is basically every time we're on it and she isn't. She can get up herself but only just and she finds that it's much easier to get the help to lift you up.

More updates to follow soon...