The photo on the animal rescue’s website showed a small brown and tan puppy with amber eyes and floppy ears. “Sugar Plum,” as they named her, had a fuzzy backstory. She was taken from her mother when she was just five weeks old and dumped at a shelter. The rescue wasn’t sure of her breed, and their best guess was dachshund, perhaps with some chihuahua mixed in.
The author's dog, Sofia. (Credit: Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi)
We renamed our little puppy Sofia and marveled at her confidence and sass. She pranced from one room to the next like she had somewhere to be, and she authoritatively took all the toys from the bin and claimed them as her own. She struck us as a chihuahua, and we decided to do a doggie DNA test to learn her exact breed background.
