ABBY

Meet our stunning shepherd, Abby! Abby is one of our longer-term fosters here at Tango’s Lead, and recently benefitted greatly from a board-and-train stay to correct undesirable behaviours. She is now putting her best paw forward and ready to start looking for her forever home again.

Are you looking for an adventure buddy?? Abby is a high energy gal who loves the outdoors! She is fantastic on walks/runs and will remain by your side in heel position with few corrections. She also enjoys playing nose games and exploring on long line, finding sticks to parade with or chew on, and loves a good game of fetch or tug.

With her physical exercise needs met, Abby is pretty chill and has great manners inside the house. She loves to hang out either on her bed, in her crate, or near her Foster Mom (who works from home) to maximize ear scratches and pets; she’s great at respecting boundaries such as a baby gate blocking off a room, but sometimes needs to be reminded that she is not a sous-chef in the kitchen  Abby has a great “off switch” when playing indoors and it’s time to wrap up the game. She greatly benefits from a few hours of structured crate time during the day, and while resource guarding was previously noted, her current foster home has not seen any either with food or toys.

As Abby has previously shown guarding of her people, “stranger greetings” are rare and only done in controlled circumstances, with trusted people. Currently Abby is happy to observe by her Foster Mom’s side when she chats with friends and strangers in public, and will give a courtesy sniff of a stranger if prompted – but will require multiple meetings with someone before becoming comfortable (treats help with gaining her trust!) Abby will require continued advocacy on her behalf in her forever home.

Abby can get anxious easily when overstimulated. In her foster home, she is working hard on handler engagement and environmental socialization; she is much more comfortable on quiet trails than busy downtown streets. She currently is being fostered in an apartment and is also working on remaining calm when noises occur in the outside hallway; chewing on a stuffed Kong works wonders in quieting her mental state! On walks, while Abby has made progress towards becoming dog neutral and can tolerate walking by a non-confrontational dog, she does still show reactivity at times and will require continued work with handler engagement and redirection; she is not a candidate for meeting other dogs. Last but not least, Abby is currently being muzzle trained.

Abby currently lives in a very active foster home. She enjoys 5km runs every other morning, and has long walks on the alternate days.

Here’s what Abby’s Foster Mom has to say about her:
“At first glance, Abby is your typical shepherd – aloof, independent, and meaning business. However once you gain her trust and her personality comes out, Abby is such a special girl. She is smart, funny, quirky, goofy, playful, and groans like an old man when settling in for a nap. She can be chatty with her special moans and groans language, but you’ll learn quickly what they all mean! Abby will absolutely thrive with proper rules and structure to her daily life – she is a dog that when given an inch will take a mile otherwise; and her forever home will need to continue advocating for her in public, and with her training needs. Yes, this will take work – but trust me, she’s a pretty perfect shepherd and so worth it <3”