Abbie

Abbie is a soon-to-be 5 years old black beauty from Ireland. She’s such a great combination of mature personality and spunky energy. She’s very smart and learned the house rules very quickly. Within the first 2 days, she learned she should use the dog beds, and that couches are off-limits. She was walking around the dining table at human meal time, and she soon learned she should not do that, so now she just lays on the kitchen floor or waits on her dog bed.

Abbie is great with any human big or small. She is very patient and gentle with my children and she’s figured out she can always go to them to get loved on. She has this cute gesture that when she wants more pets, she gently scratches our hands with her front paw.  Also, she’s not destructive, and leaves our shoes and kids’ toys alone. She’s new to house life and a bit curious, so she sniffs a lot, and doesn’t take anything away. Our backyard is where she plays with her toys and she even plays fetch and chases balls! The great thing about her is that she does play with toys and balls and while she likes some certain ones, she’s also a great sharer!  She even shares her meal with my greyhound! My grey checks on Abbie’s bowl after she’s done with hers, and snacks on Abbie’s leftovers when there is some and Abbie doesn’t mind it!

She walks fine on a leash, and like many other Irish racers with GALT, she has a high prey drive. Abbie’s very quiet in the house, so we believe that apartment life is pretty possible for her. Sometimes she cries on our walks when she spots squirrels or bunnies nearby. She spends a lot of time on a dog bed by our front door looking outside; Abbie doesn’t bark at delivery trucks, postal workers, people walking with their dogs or critters. So far, the only time she is vocal is outside on a walk. She gets along well with my greyhound very much, though because of her prey drive, we believe she should not live with cats or small dogs.

Abbie lets me brush her teeth and trim her nails with no problem, because it means she gets more attention and affection! And I just realized that she doesn’t shed as much as my greyhound.  I was expecting to find black dog fur all over the house, yet when I brush her coat, nothing comes off.

Abbie is affectionate and likes to stay close by. She spends a good amount of time on our kitchen floor just staring at me. When my kids are back from school, she stays by them, so we believe she may be more into humans than into her fur sibling. Abbie has so much love to share. She really likes to be petted and will sometimes nip at my husband’s hand lightly as a way to ask him to keep petting her. It’s not a hard bite, and she hasn’t done this with anyone else in our household.

We highly recommend Abbie to a future family that is looking for a smart and affectionate greyhound. We’ve grown very fond of her!