My Abby

You all know how fond I am of animals. I have had dogs from the time a I was a small child. A pet is a luxury..or it should be, once they enter your life. We should treat them with the respect and love they deserve; as they will do the same for the owner. My Abby came to us almost 13 years ago. She is a mix of Black Lab and we think Queensland . What a cute and loving, 6 week old puppy. She was one of three pups left in the litter and very shy. With that, I wanted her; as I thought with that character, she might be treated badly. I know we picked the right one! As a puppy though, we had our doubts. She decided to pull lots of my plants out of the garden, dig holes in the back yard, even chew on the redwood outdoor furniture we had. I worked at that time and that's when she did all the damage. We were at Wits End to what to do. Bill threatened to take her to the pound; I would not hear of that! So, I decided to do some research and found out that Abby has Seperation Anxiety Syndrome. I took her to dog obedience training and she did ok; as long as she was with me. She really didn't do well with the other dogs, though. When driving up to the parking lot, all she did was bark at the others. It was hard to get her to be in the crowd of the other dogs, as well. Once we got in the circle; dogs of all kinds and their owners, we did what was expected. We did our six weeks and the instuctor mentioned that I should do more; as Abby needed to learn how to be with other dogs. I decided not to. Even with this; not liking other dogs, I was excepting her as she is. So, I did training in the back yard. She learned to sit on command, stay for some time in one spot, shake hands, and lay down. I taught her to get the paper in the morning; as Bill didn't like to go out with his Sticky-uppy-hair; for all to see. So, our Abby did that for us. Taught her to go upstairs with a bag in her mouth to fetch something I needed. With bag and a note, she went up to the first landing, turned to look at me and I told her to, go see Bill....she did! Down she came with the bag swaying back and forth and dropping it at my feet. With that, she got her doggie cookies. When Abby barks too much, I would tell her to go upstairs and lay down in her bed..she would go, leaving hurt; I could tell. Like a Time Out, with 20 minutes in her bed. I would call her after that time but she wouldn't come down. I would go upstairs to tell her it was o.k. and she would follow me down stairs; happy at that time! When the phone rings and we decide to screen the calls, she howls when the answering machine picks up; as to say, the phone, you need to pick up the phone!!! How smart is that! Abby even played Soccer with me. She would always have two toys, one stuffed animal and a ball. The ball would be the first to let go, and the stuffed animal still in her mouth. I would kick the ball and she would either return it to me with her nose or her paw. We would do that while I did my make-up and hair. So, that could be a good 45 minutes, at a time. We enjoyed that time together. If one of our indoor cats gets on furniture or something we tell them no to do, Abby is on a mission to get them off; nugging them with her nose. She will look at us and come for a pet; with a "Good Girl", and a pet on the head...She loves that! Now that our Abby is up in age, she does some of the tricks, but we can see her slowing down. She was recently diagnosed as having , Cushings Disease. There is no cure. As time goes on and symptoms appear, she will be put on meds., and they can sometimes, as the Vet has said, cause damage to her other vital organs. I cried my heart out when I was told of this. That was back in April and we still have our, Abby. When reading more about her condition, it is commen with her age, being a female and her breed. She isn't in pain; with that we are blessed. We now just love her, and are thankful she is still here with us. As I have always said, our pets are not with us long enough. I love my Abby Girl....