“When I got our sheepdog, we realized what power she had,” Martin said. “She stopped people before she was even certified, she stopped people to touch her and pet her.”
Martin and Abby were the first Navigator Buddy team to win the Phoenix Impact Volunteer Award from the city of Phoenix. Other teams received the honor since then; in 2026, the award went to Beth and Will Thompson and their border collie, Finn.
In addition to being one of Sky Harbor’s first Navigator Buddies when the program launched in 2017, Abby also did work with the Mayo Clinic’s Caring Canines program and the Chandler Police Department’s Paws for Police program.
“Abby was my partner for 10 years,” Martin said. “She would go in and see what I was wearing to know where we were going. It’s like if I put on the purple vest (for Sky Harbor) she knew where we were going.”
Abby died in July 2025, two months before what would have been her 13th birthday. She logged a total of 1,070 lifetime therapy visits, including close to 400 at Sky Harbor.
Filling big paws after loss
In many ways, Abby’s spirit lives on at Sky Harbor. Martin wears a pin with Abby’s face on it.
Inside the Sky Harbor Navigators office in Terminal 4, hidden behind a row of escalators, medium-sized cardboard cutouts of past Navigator Buddies are spread around. Abby is displayed most prominently, stationed by the doorway. Martin said the cutouts date back to 2020, when the Navigator Buddies couldn’t come into the airport because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Today, Martin’s shih tzu/bichon mix Ashley is helping to fill the void left by Abby’s passing.
Ashley, described in a therapy dog card as “the teddy bear dog,” is also up in age — she’s 12 — but Martin put her through therapy dog training because she wanted to continue her volunteer work, knowing the calming power dogs have on people.