Buddy and Abby are our third and fourth dogs.
First, we got Chester, a 5-year-old golden from one of my college roommates. He was a well-trained dog and helped teach us dog novices how to keep an indoor pet. Chester lived to be 12 1/2 years old - pretty good for a large-sized dog.
Chester lived with us for about 2 years and did okay, but not what I would call thriving. I decided that, since he came from a house with another dog and a cat and two growing children, that our house was too tame for him. We thought we would give him a dog friend. And that's how Chelsea came into our lives.
Buddy and Chelsea
I had never raised anyone or anything from the ground up, so this was a REAL learning experience for me. Chelsea came with a bladder infection, so we were up every two hours every night for a couple of months. She went through three courses of medicine before it cleared up. I was nearly dead by then, but somehow that bonded the two of us for life. Chelsea was with me through three moves from state to state. When I didn't know anyone around me, Chelsea was there. I wouldn't say she saved my life, but she certainly helped maintain my sanity.
Two summers ago, on July 7th, we had to put Chelsea down. She was 10 3/4. I told Les that I hoped Buddy could manage to be an only dog, because it was too hard to put our pets to sleep. Well, Buddy made it five months. Then he went from sad to really sad. We both spend good chunks of our week working, and he was alone in the house for hours at a time.
Finally, I relented. I went on http://www.petfinder.com/ and tried to pick out the perfect dog to be Buddy's new friend. What I found was a smallish female which looked like a black lab. The article about her described her as a very laid back dog.
We visited with the family who had her (the lady works in our vet's office and we all knew each other) and learned this puppy's story - as much of it as anyone can know.
When I saw her, I immediately knew that her name had to be Abby, so that's what I'll use in this story.
Abby and her brother (who now lives in Michigan) were found wandering in the woods behind this family's place. They happen to be dog rescuers. The two puppies were about four months old, abandoned in the woods in November. We don't know how long they were on their own, but it took a while to stop Abby from being a garbage eater. We know they had been abused. Abby had a spot under her chin that was caused by neither fungus nor bacteria. Should we guess that it was a cigarette burn? She also has a scar along the inside of her thigh. Don't know when that happened. She barks at all tall thin men - especially ones with lightish hair. My brother John has to sit down before she'll crawl up to him for a timid petting.
The point of this story - tonight's point anyway - is this. Abby was about 4 months old when she was found in November. Backtrack that and you get July. We choose to say that Abby was born on the same day that Chelsea died. It is sort of poetic and gives me a small sense of continuity. I am aware that they are not the same dog, not the same personality of dog. Chelsea was all golden retriever down to her toe nails. She was the consummate companion dog. Abby, for all that she looks like a black lab, is 100% Jack Russell terrier. We call her our terrier-ist. She barks at everything. She dances on her hind legs when we come home. She stands on her hind legs to look into bushes for birds. She likes to climb. She runs rings around Buddy, who just stands and watches her with an Odie-like grin on his face. She was a digger before we started feeding her better food. She has caught and killed a couple of birds. The girl is FAST!
No, she isn't Chelsea, but she can share a significant day with her predecessor without any stretch of the imagination. And she does like to curl up next to me just like her predecessor did. She just doesn't take up as much space on the bed.
Buddy and Abby
Thanks for visiting with me.
Kathi
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