So my husband's comment about my last blog was, "What about Abby?” So here goes the story of Abby.
Amazing thing fate. All I wanted was a tall non-fat latte from Starbucks, yet I scored a phone number from a guy with a dog. No it's not as it sounds. I was a teacher at the time and usually would never leave the building during my planning time but this particular day I heard the call of Starbucks and well, I just had to answer.
It was a pretty normal trip; I got to the Safeway with the Starbucks inside, ordered my drink and began walking back to the car. Since I love dogs, especially retrievers, I couldn't staring and smiling at the cutest little black lab pup I had ever seen. Her owner noticed my obvious stare and said "You want a dog?” Well, at that time we had 2 dogs, my Rudy (see previous blog), and Niner. Niner was no ordinary dog! He was 150lbs of pure muscle and about the gentlest Rottweiller I had ever met. So when he asked me if I wanted a dog, I immediately said "NO! I already have 2 large dogs at home." I was so proud of myself for being strong so I got in my car and began to drive away but something wouldn't let me leave the parking lot. I watched in the rearview mirror as he went up to the doors of Safeway and stood there with this beautiful little girl. So I drove by with my window rolled down and said "Are you serious about finding a home for your puppy?" And well obviously the answer was yes, and that's where the phone number came into play. Since I was in between classes, I couldn't take her then and there so I promised to call as soon as school was over and see if he had found her a home and if not, I would come get her.
Luckily I married a man who is just as much as a sucker for dogs as I am and so when I called to tell him about Abby, he of course, said "bring her home". I called, she was there, and I went to get her and bring her home.
Now you may wonder why someone would just give their dog away to a stranger they met in the Safeway parking lot. Well, they got her to replace an older dog that they had had that was a very calm and gentle family dog. Here is where being a responsible dog owner comes into play. NEVER get a dog without researching the breed and knowing about dispositions and history of the breed. While retrievers are GREAT family dogs, they can be hyper and high strung, especially when they are young. They also have a history of being "bird dogs"; it's bred into them to hunt birds. Well one of the other reasons for finding her a new home was that she chased his chickens (well duh, she was only doing what came naturally to her). They also wanted a calm lethargic dog (well in that case they probably should have never gotten a puppy since all puppies have boundless amounts of energy no matter what their breed.) Ironically if he has just kept her for 3 1/2 years she would have turned into the lethargic, calm dog they had desired. Unfortunately it comes at the cost of her thyroid and she now has to take medication on a daily basis. Anyway his loss was our gain.
I was amazed at how well the other two dogs accepted her. There was no fighting or a challenge to be top dog, the pecking order was Niner (150lb rottweiller), Rudy (90lb chesapeake/chocolate mix) and then Abby. At 7 months she was not allowed some of the luxuries that the older 2 dogs had like being left out when we left the house. She was still in the chewing phase and we knew that if we left her out like the other two, we soon would have no shoes, or decent furniture. Well it turns out that she had not been kenneled as a puppy or if she had it had been a horrible experience for her. So the process of getting her to the kennel was not an easy one. We would have to literally drag her to the kennel and she would pee the entire way. So once we got in her in, we would then have to go back to where the dragging began and clean up her urine. Well she eventually got what she wanted by chewing a big hole in the kennel. And getting what she wants has pretty much been the theme of her life here (she’s just a little spoiled and she wears a neckerchief that says “It’s not easy being a Princess”).
Life without Abby seems unimaginable. She has quite the personality. She talks and sings and I’m not being the exaggerative dog owner. I really think she is trying to talk/sing. Almost every morning she greets us with a song and when someone comes home she says “hello”, though it sounds like “wwhaaooo.” If you are sitting where she wants to sit, she will look at you with those big brown eyes and go “roo, roo, roo, roo” which I’m sure is her way of saying “I, the princess, would like to sit there, so move it”.
If you are not paying attention to her when she wants attention, she will let you know by lifting your arm with her head. And she loves it when I put my forehead against hers and we look into each other’s eyes. Yes, she is a good dog and I wouldn’t trade her for anything.
The moral of this story, when Starbucks calls, heed the call, you never know what else you might be blessed with while sipping your tall non-fat latte!
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