Can you imagine this dog displaying fear-based aggression? I couldn’t. Sojo was the sweetest thing during her session! If I wanted her to sit, she sat and stayed. If I wanted her to look to the right or the left so that I could get a profile shot, she did just that. She went into a down on command and stayed there. She even seemed to go into her Frog Dog pose on command!!! She is one well-trained dog.
Zanne, Sojo’s mom is quite the writer, and she tells Sojo’s story much better than I ever could. Read on!
I met Sojo 11 months ago at APA!, Austin Pets Alive. As a volunteer with the Behavior Department at APA!, I often work with our behavior cases. Sojo was one such at the time due to some extreme fear-based aggression she displayed. On May 9th, 2015, I had some extra time on my hands after working with my usual dogs. I asked Mike Kaviani, then the Dog Behavior Program Manager and now the Director of Lifesaving Operations at APA!, and he told me about her. Extreme scaredy? Just my cup of tea. It would end up being the most important, wonderful thing Mike has ever asked me to do.
I took Sojo home on August 7, 2015, two months after I met her, for a “sleepover”. Really, I just wanted to make sure she wouldn’t try to eat my cat. On August 9th, I went back to do the paperwork, and she officially became mine (and I hers).

The only thing aggressive about Sojo these days is her fierce kissing game.
- For all the fur Sojo lacks, her kitty sister Ember makes up for it with all her floof. (Ember was adopted from APA! May 7, 2015.)
- Sojo is also part cat.
- This has been the most magical cuddle moment between Sojo and Ember to date.
- It took Sojo several months to adjust enough to her new life so that she wasn’t always curled up in a ball when she slept. This is now one of her favorite sleeping positions.
- In addition to coconut oil, Sojo is a sun addict.
- Sojo and my dad’s dog, Luna, dozing after hours at my parents’ glass art studio.

Lucky (the blue pittie on the right) is one of the undersocialized dogs I’ve been able to bring home a couple times because of Sojo’s great social skills. He is still looking for a home!

Sojo recently met one of my longtime APA! loves, Pancho (adopted earlier this year).
Austin Pets Alive! is an amazing place, full of wonderful people like Sojo’s mom. Perhaps you might find your next best friend there!