Dog News

Rescue Dog Now Raises Money for Other Shelter Dogs with Her Paintings

by Melanie

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Many dogs have special talents – skateboarding, balancing things, jumping really far.  But how often do you see a dog who can paint?  Arbor was once a shelter dog, but once her new family figured out just how much she loved learning new tricks, they taught her to paint.  Now she’s using her talent to save the lives of other dogs in need.

Jennifer and Bryce Henderson adopted Arbor from a Las Vegas shelter in 2011, and soon after discovered how much she loved taking on new training challenges.

“Soon after we brought her home, we realized that she loved doing tricks and pleasing us. She breezed right through the basic commands and tricks, so Jennifer looked into more advanced training,” Bryce told Petsmart Charities.

She taught Arbor to hold a marker with her mouth, and rewarded her whenever she touched paper with the marker.  Then they transitioned to a paintbrush.

“Now it’s like she was born to paint.  She probably wishes we would do it more,” Bryce explained.

 

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Arbor is equal parts Australian cattle dog, German shepherd, Border Collie, and Rottweiler, so staying busy is just in her nature.

“When we tell people that our dog paints, they say ‘oh that’s nice,’ but many people don’t quite grasp it.  That is, until we show them a video of Arbor with a paintbrush in her mouth swishing, swirling and dotting the canvas and soon their reaction changes.”

While it’s just a lot of fun for Arbor, she’s helping to bring in some serious cash for animal rescues in need.  The auctions for her art have raised thousands of dollars, and she’s been a tremendous advocate for how amazing shelter animals can be.

Follow Arbor on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

 

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