With a lifetime of volunteering and working with animals I firmly believe that adoption is for life. However, this is not about me. This is about Ivy and what is best for her.

My husband, Jason, adopted Ivy as a shelter stray in rural New Mexico in her late puppyhood about six months before he and I met. At that time she had plenty of open land, quiet, and stability.

This all quickly changed as we started moving to increasingly urban areas. With more noise, lass land and more foster animals in and out Ivy has shown increased anxiety. She does not like fireworks or gunshots but with this unfortunate noise exposure, she is growing less and less sensitive to thunderstorms. She has been seen and treated by veterinary behaviorists for her stress and we’ve been told that she is a dog that does not handle change well. She needs a lot of companionship with her person or people and to get more exercise which is part of her breed, of course. We both work 10-12 hours daily and have another move which once again will involve massive restoration work in the near future. We know we’re not the right parents for her and Ivy deserves happiness.

Ivy is a great dog. Despite her anxiety, she has never bitten anyone in any setting. She has lived with a cat and a small dog successfully but we’re hoping that she can be an only dog as she seems to really want the one-on-one attention. Personally, I think it should be “all about Ivy” time, if you know what I mean?!

She is entirely housebroken and travels well in the car in a seatbelt attached to her travel harness. She loves to go for leashed walks on a near daily basis. She tends to pull just in the very beginning out of excitement but then will walk by your side for the rest of the time. We use a Martingale collar. When she does pull, she is strong. Ivy knows sit reliably, will come when called, doesn’t run off off, and will down sometimes, not always. She is crate trained. Of course, she would go to her new home with all of her belongings for her comfort and familiarity.