About Abe - Only $85!!!!!

ABRAHAM (Tri-colored w/speckles Kelpie) - ( 5 VIDEOS INCLUDED!) Only $85 adoption!!! My adoption profiles tend to be long & very detailed. Please read the ENTIRE Adoption Profile (all the way to the FAQ) so you understand everything about this dog & if you are a good match for him. If you still have questions after reading the entire profile, PLEASE read the FAQ for your answer instead of e-mailing me the question. Most of the questions are answered there, & I'm not always able to answer all the e-mails. The FAQ is at the bottom of every Adoption Profile. Some of the sites that I post on do have space limits & cut it off. In those cases, you can find the full Adoption Profile on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1405138936478168/?epa=SEARCH_BOX Abe has been bounced around a lot. He was originally found as a stray & went to the Animal Control in that area, & was then transferred to a smaller local Shelter. He was very skittish & they said they worked with him for sometime & he bonded with some of them before he was tested and moved to adoptions. He was adopted out through that Shelter and returned due to being to skittish & food aggression towards the other dog (more details on that under the food section below. As a side note though, when he came to Safe Haven, he was skin and bones. So my guess is that they had 1 bowl for the 2 dogs & the other dog wouldn't let him eat. He has been nothing but sweet here!). Anyways, that small Shelter got to be over capacity. So one of the larger Shelters here in the valley took some animals from them to help relieve their over crowded status. While at the big shelter, he was fearful & avoidant and they were going to send him back to the smaller overcrowded Shelter. But that Shelter allowed them to first reach out to the local Rescues to see if any of us could take him. So that is the long story of how he ended up at Safe Haven. Abe is wonderful! He is the sweetest boy! He has been very easy to handle, and has allowed all handling. He was scared at first when being handled and froze in fear, but still allowed all handling. He has started to trust me more now, and no longer freezes when I touch him & seeks out attention from me. He loves to play in the water & is very puppy-like and playful. He has a lot of energy and needs to go to an active person or family that will help him get all that energy out. He will also need someone patient & gentle that is willing to continue to work with him and help him learn. This gorgeous boy looks to possibly be a purebred Kelpie. Here is more info on the breed: https://youtu.be/DDaBJOMdOsY He has a double thick coat that will need to be brushed about once a week to be maintained. He was scared of being brushed at first, but I've gotten him used to being brushed, and now he even enjoys it. I can tell he has not been worked with or handled much. He had a lifetimes worth of undercoat that needed to be brushed out! So far Abe knows 'Wait', 'Ok' (command release), he comes when called (although he can be apprehensive about it at times), he knows the word 'No', but from what I see, he listens to the word 'No' because he is afraid of it. Which tells me someone more than likely followed that word with hitting him. I am working with him to learn that 'No' just means to stop whatever you are doing, & that he will no longer be hurt anymore. With training, it takes a very soft touch with Abe. I do use food as a reward, and have finally got him to start taking treats from my hand. I haven't done to much more with word training because he still gets scared & thinks he's in trouble. When I started to teach him 'Stay' he got scared & regressed a bit & didn't want to then come in the house. So I have held off on that and continue to work with trust, basic house manners, socializing, & letting him know he is safe here. All of the pets at Safe Haven receive basic training when they come here. What each pet learns depends on how much time I have had to work with them, & if that pet has any additional issues that need to be focused on first. The pets here are always improving. Birthday: 10/17/17 Weight at last Vet visit: He was just under 52 lbs. when he came here, and he was skin & bones. Even though he has a double thick coat, I could see his spine & hip bones. He has gained the weight he needed, but I have not had a chance to take him in to get weighed to see what he is now, & I won't be able to do that until the threat of the corona virus is over with. He is probably 65 lbs now. Cats: He appears to be good with cats. He is very playful though, and may try to play with them... The average cat would not appreciate that! I took him to Petsmart to see if he would react to seeing any of the cats there, & I couldn't even get him to look at them. So that was a great sign, but not a full test. A full test would be his reaction to a cat running around... Here is the video of him at Petsmart: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7vC7kwfaPvqq8Yhz8

Maricopa County
Litchfield Park, Arizona 85340