Athena - female German Shepherd Dog Cross

Athena is a special girl who is looking for a hero family to adopt her. She has been through so much in her short time and tries her very best each day, but sometimes she is overwhelmed. Athena began to chase her tail in a pervious home and this has continued into her kennel life too. Our training team work closely with her and have managed to reduce this, but she will need ongoing training in the home also. Athena is so bright and just loves to work, which makes things a little easier! She has lots of energy and loves toy play, especially tug or fetch with her handlers. Once we've worn her out, she loves to have cuddles on the benches or in the grass, getting fuss and neck scratches as she watches the world pass by. Athena is to be the only pet in the home as she struggles to meet other dogs out on walk, and she has struggled to share her resources with other dogs in the past. She would also benefit from having few neighbouring dogs at home as she can find it stressful hearing other dogs bark, and this has been a trigger for tail chasing before. Additionally, Athena has a history of traffic chasing and, while we have reduced this behaviour through training dramatically, she can still struggle at times around heavy traffic or large vehicles. Athena would benefit from having access to quiet walking areas so that she can have stress free walks. Help and advice from our training team is always on hand throughout Athena's adoption and Dogs Trust also offers full lifetime behavioural support for all our dogs, Athena included. This sweet young pup really deserves a better life than she has had.

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Athena is looking for a VERY specific home. She needs an quiet environment free of other pets and ideally away from neighbouring dogs, but can live with children aged 14 and over. She obsessively tail chases which our training team are working with, and her new family MUST be willing to continue this in the home. Athena can settle when left on her own, but it has been a while since being in a home so she will likely need a refresher on toilet training. She would benefit from a family who is able to spend most of the day with her and build up time alone slowly, so that she doesn't become destructive.