Rescued therapy pup solves kid's puzzles to bring smiles to hospital patients' faces

NYACK, NY (WTVT-TV) - This is one smart little pup! Sophie is a 2-year-old Boston terrier/beagle mix who was rescued by her owner, Karen Profenna. 

The pup knows about 100 tricks, and visits hospitals, hospices and members of the military to bring smiles to people's faces.

Recently, Profenna told FOX 13 she trained her dog to complete a kid's puzzle, which involves putting multiple shapes into their proper spot on a board.

In the video, Sophie breezes through most of the shapes with no problem. She has a bit of trouble getting the oval shape to fit, but soon completes the whole puzzle, to her mom's delight.

Profenna said she and her four-legged friend visit their local hospital 200 times a year, performing tricks to bring joy to patients.

"It makes people happy because they forget about their problems. People can just pet the dog or watch Sophie do a lot of tricks and turn tears into laughter," Profenna told the Rockland County Times.

"Medicine takes a while to work, but laughter happens at once because a dog's antics and tricks help people forget about their pain."