Name/Age: Martin- 3.5 y/o
Family Member: Mele
How long has Martin been in the family? Since April 2019
Profession: Firefighter
Location: Atlanta, GA (Cabbagetown)
Nicknames: Marty McFly
5 words/phrases that best describe Martin?
Wild & Crazy Guy
Athletic yet spastic
Extremely Sensitive
Friendly
Very kind soul
What makes Martin unique? Martin is extremely smart, he can take lessons learned and apply them to different situations to problem solve. He is the only dog I have ever met that you only have to say NO once. He is incredibly sensitive. He can learn new things by watching others do them.
Shade seeker
Rescue Story: I lost my soulmate in Feb 2019 and had decided I would wait until the following Sept when I retired to adopt. After 2 months I couldn’t stand not having a dog another day. On a whim I went to Fulton County Animal Services and adopted a dog I saw online. She unfortunately was aggressive and wasn’t going to be able to do what I needed her to do. My dog travels with me on my part-time business trimming horses. With an extremely heavy heart I took her back to FCAS. After conversations with the intake specialist I agreed to look at some other dogs that were struggling at the shelter. While waiting in the kennels a worker walked up and said “I hear your looking for a dog, I have one you might like”. We went outside and talked… Martin FKA Aster had been at FCAS for over a year. He was picked up as a stray puppy.
The stress of shelter life takes its toll on all the dogs eventually and Martin had started nipping the kennel workers when they turn to leave the kennel. He was tagged as a biter and put on the kill list. I understand he was a favorite of the kennel staff and one of them decided that he would take him home to see if he was just stressed. He had only been with that person for 2 days when I came in. He sounded great and the helper called his partner and asked him to bring Martin to the shelter. The minute he walked out of the shelter I was in love. He brought him in and turned him loose… Martin looked at me… walked over to my chair… climbed up in the chair behind me and heavily rested his head on my shoulder with a big sigh. I said “I’LL TAKE HIM!!!
Martin heading to his forever home.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Martin travels everywhere with me but we looooove to hike together. I will retire Sept of this year and we will hit the road hiking as many states as we can!! He has also turned out to be an awesome agility dog and will compete in his first trial the end of May.
What is life like since you rescued Martin? As I said above he is a wild and crazy guy! It was a challenge when he came home, not because he is bad but he is busy, nosey, smart, silly and gets bored easily. My previous dog was just the opposite. Martin has taught me so much about just relaxing and letting things flow. Everything is fun to him and I am finding that for myself as well.
Photographers Note: Martin is a smart guy and very well trained. We met up at this small park, which had a lot of boulders spread around. When I asked if Martin would get up on a boulder, Mele said, no problem. Sure enough, up he went! He posed on several different boulders for me but since this boy is not a fan of the heat (can you blame him), the money shot ended up being by chance as he went under the decorative grasses looking for a bit of shade. Not posed, just lucky and turned out to be one of my favorites!