avra

German shepherd lovers! Avra, a family dog, is looking for a home in NY, NJ, CT or PA, ideally a max 3h drive radius around NYC.

Avra is an almost purebred German Shepherd, estimated to be between 6-7 years old. She is extremely loyal, fun, calm, great with kids, and a true family dog.

Avra was rescued from the streets of Crete by a small, New York-based, prevention-focused NGO during a work trip providing free veterinary care to low-income pet owners and farmers in Greece. Her rescue wasn’t planned. But Avra made it impossible to simply walk away. She is a truly special, one-of-a-kind dog! Who touched your soul! She is currently between NYC and PA in boarding.

Avra is looking for a family who will truly love her. Avra gets along with every dog she meets; she had a big group of stray dog friends and even now during walks, she is super sweet with every dog she meets. Avra will thrive equally in a home with or without other dogs. She follows her human like a shadow and, after going so long without the love and attention she deserves, really enjoys being close to her person. Her ideal home would be as a single dog or with another male dog. She was tested on both submissive and dominant dogs and did well with both, although we believe a male dog would be best for her, although with the right loving family, she would also be happy living in a larger pack.

Avra has been through the worst. She was previously owned, but after her owner died, his daughter put her on the street. She was left abandoned along a busy road, constantly at risk of being hit by a car and struggling to survive. Kind neighbors fed her, but nobody was able to take her in. After having had many puppies, of which there is sadly no trace, Avra was spayed by the municipal vet, possibly 1–2 years ago. Unfortunately, the surgery was not performed properly. Part of her ovaries and a small piece of plastic were left inside her abdomen, causing a massive hernia, infection, and pain while she was trying to survive on the street.

When our founder found her and got her into surgery, our veterinary care team estimated that without intervention, Avra would likely have not survived within the next couple of months. That is how much she had suffered. As an abandoned previously owned, now stray dog, Avra was full of parasites. She was dewormed and treated and is now completely parasite-free. She tested negative for heartworm and all Mediterranean diseases. Her blood panel, which was repeated twice, shows that she is recovering well from the hernia infection and is remarkably healthy considering everything she has been through. She is now properly spayed, microchipped, and fully vaccinated, including against rabies. She is also on ongoing anti-parasite prevention. All of her medical records will be provided to her adopter, along with her pet passport and health certificate.

Avra is a soul dog. She touches your soul and communicates with her eyes—fittingly, Avra means “soul” in Greek. She is extremely loyal and active and loves frequent walks, long or short, she likes to explore and discover new things. She is a truly fun dog, bouncing around with her floppy left ear and dancing when she is happy. She is wonderful with children and a real family dog: quiet and respectful at home, as well as housebroken. Even in stressful environments, Avra remains remarkably calm. She handled a 10-hour ferry journey from Heraklion to Piraeus and a long flight beautifully. She is comfortable around crowds, completely unfamiliar environments and loud noises, she is a car-ride pro and seems to enjoy long car rides and just spends time watching out of the window. She is good in dog parks, and walks well on a leash, especially when she is with children. With children she walks even better as if she understands that she cannot pull at all. As a German Shepherd, Avra has opinions and voices them in a very sweet way, often by pointing or staring at you and then at whatever she needs. Once her human makes a connection with her, she is very easy to read. When she trusts you, she is incredibly cuddly and follows you everywhere but in a respectful way, always searching your eyes for approval and as though she is asking, “Are you my person? Will you be my family?”

Avra has stayed with us in hotels, Aibnb's and apartments along her journey and she has never barked once.

Some fun facts: she makes a funny grunting sound when she poops, most of the time she now understands the commands “pee” and “poop,” and although she is not yet fully off-leash trained, she naturally stays close to her human during walks and looks up for approval. She listens to her new name and loves to be trained. She stayed in two fosters in Athens and PA with trainers who crate trained her and started training her on basic commands. What she wants the most however is simply to belong and be loved. Avra can be a little picky with food and prefers wet or human food mixed with dry food, her favorite food choices will be shared with the new owner. She is currently underweight and would benefit from gaining a couple of kilos. However, we recommend that she gains weight slowly and in moderation.

Avra is an absolutely amazing girl who has suffered so much yet has never lost her faith in humans. More than anything, she deserves a family who will love her to the moon and back and treat her as a true member of the family and never lets her go again!

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ADOPTION PROCESS:
Reach out to info@zerostraypawject.org. We promise, we answer all emails. Our adoption process consists of an initial video call interview (Teams, Zoom, or WhatsApp). As we know our dogs inside out, we can answer questions. If we all feel Avra and the family will be the right match, we will carry out a home visit with Avra and have you meet Avra at your home before we all take a final decision together. We ask for a reference from a vet and landlord (in case of a rental flat), work with an adoption contract and take an adoption fee.