The Truffle Puppy Sophie

We all know those extreme pet lovers and I don't like to call myself one, but I do have to admit that I have fallen head over-heals in the last 7 months with our pup, Sophie. In school there is always that kid with the long funny name that even when parents hear it they get a perplexed look on their face and say, "I'm sorry how do you spell that", or "where did you ever find that name"? Well I feel like I have that child when people ask what breed Sophie is. I honestly go in stages of what I decide to classify her as. For the first month I was all about her official breed, Lagotto Romagnolo. Then as she started getting bigger and I was able to take her on a few short walks I started shortening her to a truffle dog. Well this was great until a sweet old woman dove into a long conversation about how she would just love a truffle dog but she would be scared it would eat the truffles and we all know dogs are allergic to chocolate truffles. No ma'am, I mean the fungi, the fruiting body of a subterranean mushroom. And eventually I have come to a point with some I simply claim her to be an Italian Water dog. Now all these terms are correct. She is a Lagotto, a truffle dog, and a water dog!

Truffles! So what does a truffle dog do? The Lagotto is an ancient breed of water retriever from the marshlands of Italy. It is said that modern water retrieving dog breeds have descended in part from the Lagotto Ramagnolo. The Lagotto is a medium sized, non shedding, hypoallergenic dog that has been specially bred to find truffles on all kinds of terrain. We got Sophie from a very special place to us, Blackberry Farm, in Tennessee. Blackberry Farm is part of just a handfull of breeder here in the United States. Your probably thinking what a pretentious dog, huh? Well its not like she is some rare specimen of life form on this planet, Lagottos are common in Italy.

Now we don't have truffles in Texas and I don't expect any to grow anytime soon, so for the future Sophie has to plan a different career. Sophie currently working on manners and basic dog skills hopes to become a therapy dog, specializing in children's therapy and hopes to work with The Center for Child Protection in Austin.

Where will you will spot Sophie? She loves to play fetch, go on long walks in the neighborhood and has recently found a love for swimming. She also enjoys raw hide chews and cold tile floors!