1995-2009
Haviland is fond of saying that she knew Abby before she got me. Abby was a stray dog wandering the streets somewhere outside Dallas, Texas. She was reportedly killing chickens from the local farms and so she had to go. Abby and her puppies were picked up by a teacher at a girl's school in Dallas. The puppies were beautiful and went quickly to their new homes. Abby was cute, but already a couple of years old. After being rejected by all the girl students at the school, Abby decided to pick her new owner by walking over to Haviland and putting her head in Haviland's lap. Although she never owned a dog in her life, Haviland took Abby home that day.
I came onto the scene a couple of months later and met Abby when I traveled to Dallas from Colorado. Abby was spoiled then - a city dog who got to watch the weather channel from the couch while Haviland was at work. Abby and Haviland made the long drives to Colorado a couple of times a year during the holidays. She would love playing in the snow and enjoyed going on hikes around Summit County, CO. She seemed to be more of a mountain dog than a Texan -- I guess it is that wolf I- belong- in- Alaska look.
In the summer, Abby joined our summer program in Montana. I was trapped living in a church in Eastern Montana with all girls - even Abby was a girl. She loved the attention of all the 11 and 12 year old girls. Better than all the love, she got to run free for the first time in a year. Abby did not come back when you called her, so she was always on a leash. However, in Montana, there was only one seldom used road and lots of fields for her to run in. She would run free for the day and usually only come back when food was out at the end of the day. It was a good summer for her. She spent one more year in Texas and then Haviland and I made the commitment to be together.
From there Abby was our constant buddy as any good dog should be. She traveled to Massachusetts when Haviland and I moved in together. She had a nice back yard and a new dog house that she never used. She would dig a hole and curl up in it in the summer and find a nice spot in the snow in the winter. She went on walks with us each night,she would run up Mt. Watatic with me, cross country ski with me and bike with me.
I think she liked the move to Colorado. Although her back yard was not the best, she was able to hike each night into Eldorado Canyon. She could lie in the rivers, hike trails, run and be with us while I biked or snowshoed. She could camp with us and enjoy the wilderness. Abby went just about every where - Utah, Wyoming, Alaska and throughout her life crossed the country multiple times.
Life changed for her when Sam came into the world. There was just wasn't enough time for everyone and her outdoor time diminished. At this point, we moved into our house in Longmont and she had a nice fenced yard that she could dig into and lounge as she pleased.
We were lucky, Abby was always such a mellow sweet dog. She was great with Sam like she was with all the people she met. Abby would attract attention wherever she would go. People would always ask about her, pet her and often try to take her picture. One professional photographer in Boulder wanted to do a photo shoot of her, in the airport on the way to Alaska many people would talk to her and not even notice us. One man even gave her Caribou jerky in Anchorage. In Alaska she would protect us from the bears, porcupine and skunks. She could protect us from animals, but never from people - she was just too mellow.
Abby was a good older sister to Sam. As she got older, she perfected the act of cleaning up after a messy Sam at eating time. Sam and the Abby dog existed together well enough. She was still a good companion for me on walks and hikes, but she didn't run so well with me anymore.
When we decided to go to Guatemala, we knew Abby had to go with us. We assumed it would be her last move. Guatemala was a nice final home for her. It was consistantly better weather than Colorado - a constant spring time temperature. She again had a nice back yard with a lime tree and several outdoor spaces covered by a roof. Her arthritis was bad and the house that was fully tiled was not the best - she would slip and often would have trouble getting up again, failing to get purchase on the slippery floor. We knew her health was failing.
It happened so fast. We all knew Abby was old, her arthritis was getting worse and she had a tumor, but she was doing ok. Then one day, she simply couldn't get up any more and within 12 hours the vet recommended putting her to sleep.
It has been a hard month. Each day now we look for our Abby dog outside in the backyard or on her favorite rug. We catch ourselves saving food scraps for her, before we realize she is not tangible part of our lives anymore. We miss our fluffy dog very much.
I put together a photo album of Abby through the years. You can see it on our Picassa page:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GrobGuat
