Abby

My pets’ names: Abby, AKA “Sugar Bear”, “Abby Dog”, “Abby Dabby Do”

Breed/species: Cocker Spaniel

The story: About five years ago, Abby’s owner had bought a German Shepard to be her companion, but the two did not get along, so she gave her away. I drove to Minot, which is 100 miles to the north, to rescue her. She is our second family pet/greeter dog – Shyla was another blonde Cocker Spaniel that passed away of congestive heart failure at age 15.

My favorite thing about my pets: She loves being at my salon with the customers & riding in the car to do banking or errands. She is so friendly & pretty, the customers just love her.

Tricks/talent: Abby can do many tricks! She can sit, lie down, crawl, shake hands, “paws up” – she puts her paws on the side of a hospital bed or chair to be petted by patients (see below) or salon customers – and plays hide-and-seek with customers, when they hide a treat somewhere in the salon and she will go find it. She can also pick which hand you have a treat in; if you put both closed hands in front of her, she picks it with her paw. Abby can tell time … every day at 3:00pm, she comes to get me for her daily walk around the block. She even tells me which cabinet her leash is in by pawing on the door.

Comments: To have her at the salon, the Health Department required that she be a Certified Pet Therapy Dog. It required 12 weeks of Obedience Training & several months training to pass the Canine Good Citizen testing & Certification, then 15 visits to the St. Alexius hospital to finalize her Pet Therapy Certification for Love On a Leash. She is also certified by the AK

To sum up my pets in one word: Awesome!

Greg Weimer, Owner
Tan Las Vegas – Henderson, NV    

Don’t we just LOVE our pets? And, don’t we just love to tell people all about them? Just for fun, this column spotlights members of the tanning community & their beloved pets.