Monday, November 29, 2010

Abby's been thinking...

Do these glasses make me look smart?

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.  ~Author Unknown

This is Abby and she’s our two year old Golden Retriever. We love her to pieces and I don’t hesitate to admit that she’s a bit spoiled by everone in this family. But in this house being spoiled comes with a price tag…she has to tolerate the kids! Actually, she’s very patient and laid back and just goes with the flow. When I watch her I am amazed and bewildered that she somehow seems to fit right in as one of “the kids”!

This is our first experience as a family beginning at the puppy stage, and I never knew it could be so entertaining.  Only days after we got her she got her tongue stuck to the frozen fence...and we didn’t even have to triple-dog-dare her! And she has always been a very generous dog, eager to bring us presents that she gathers from around the house-underwear, socks, a tooth bush, pantyhose, bra, stuffed animals, bracelets, toilet paper tubes, stockings, rubber bands, boots, toys, ornaments off the X-mas tree-really anything that fits, and as much as she can fit in!

She also has quite the appetite,eating more than her fair share of logs, branches, leaves, rocks, concrete, bees, and butterflies. She has also eaten knock-out roses (2), crepe myrtles (5), a small cherry tree and Japanese maple, each down to the ground.

But this is a dog that has her priorities straight.  Abby doesn't miss out on a chance to do what she loves most. Whether it's going for a dip in the pool, playing  football with the boys, catching some Frisbee, and you can never go wrong with a good round of tug-of-war, but her most favorite would be playing with her soccer ball.



Now this is the life!
The beloved soccer ball!
I got this one!

When we take walks she pulls like crazy while on her leash, but without it you can barely walk without tripping because she stays so close. And there's a rumor going around that she has pulled the socks right off my sons feet one night while he was sleeping...I certainly wouldn't put it past her! She loves to put her paw up to have you scratch the top and  bottom, and if you’ll just pet her when you come over to visit she is putty in your hands, literally, her eyes roll back and she melts down onto her back!

Oh, and Abby loves to get good and comfy, for some reason she has taken to sleeping on the steps and has nothing against cuddling up with a good….



And just for the record, Abby is not the only goofy dog that we’ve had.  When Rob and I were young we had a Siberian husky named Jaws but goofy is not the best fit for her.  The more appropriate word would be CRAZY!  She was wild and crazy and loved to run, and run, and run, and run. Just what you would expect of a husky, right? Not me, I was totally unaware she’d be like that, I just wanted her because she was so adorable and fluffy!

That dog would bolt on any given opportunity. But we had a trick up our sleeves, at the time Rob and I both smoked, so we would take the cellophane off our packs and crumble it up. She thought it was the treat bag and would come running...she fell for it every time! 

And this dog was like Houdini, she could escape from anywhere. At one time we had a fenced yard, an electric fence, and she was also on a wire cord.  Some how she still managed to get out. Once she made it over the fence but had to hang out in the neighbors’ bushes until we realized she was there…at least the leash kept her from running away that time.

She was hit by a car 3 times- one not serious, one somewhat bad, and one pretty serious.

We got a ticket once because she would get loose and go after ducks that a couple had been raising for their grandchildren. One time she even carried a duck back to our house, and another time we had to pay vet bills for one that she injured. This was one of her favorite places to visit at the time.

She was stolen from our backyard once and we think our landlord set it up, I still haven’t figured out why they would want to do that!

And boy was that dog fast, she could catch birds and squirrels and would stand her ground to any intruding raccoons and possums. We would try to get her inside, but she'd never come 'til she knew she had things taken care of.

If you were sitting on a couch she could jump over the couch…and you, really!

She also had this grass phobia and would stand on the edge of the driveway and just hang over when she needed to go to the bathroom, she even choose to go right on the driveway sometimes.  And she would lay on that driveway whether it was a blasting 100 degrees or pouring down rain outside. She especially loved to stay out during the winter, she would curl up in a ball and we would enjoy measuring the snow that would build-up on her. She never wanted to come in, we even left the doors open to the garage, but she never bothered. This one time it was raining so hard, and of course she was laying in the middle of the driveway, so I opened the door and yelled out “what are you doing stupid”, and no lie, my husband comes walking out of the garage looking guilty...he thought he was busted for sneaking cigarettes!  He had quit for about a year I think!

Jaws was pretty old by the time we had the kids, but they sure loved her.  Putting her down was one of the saddest experiences in my life. As an adult it was the first time I had experienced death. I don’t know what I expected, but I remember sitting there thinking, oh my god, just a second ago she was alive, and now she's gone...just like that.  We drove away only having our memories of her.

Our pets play such an important role in our lives.  We love and value them as "part of the family".  We celebrate their birthdays, give them presents during the holidays, let them out to play with their buddies, take them for a spin in the car, and we even find places where we can vacation with them.  Heck, there are a lot of people who would choose their pet over any human!

We love to tell our pet stories, I love to tell my pet stories!   And I have no doubt that for ever story that I have just told, you could match with some great "tails" about your pets!  My intention was to make a short, cute little post about how great our pets are and why I believe dogs have the deal figured out, but once I got started, I just couldn't stop!  So here it is, simply put: 

  • Dogs love us no matter what, and don't hold grudges.
  • They take advantage of any opportunity to spend time with the family.
  • Dogs know the imortantance of spending time out doors.
  • They love to play and have fun...and also know how to enterain themselves.
  • Dogs want to be friends with everyone!
  • They accept us no matter our faults and imperfections.

We still have a ways to go if we want to catch up to them, but I know they will continue to teach us even when we go astray!


P.S.  Unfortunately I didn't have any pictures of Jaws readily available to post, back in the day we had to use camera's with film!













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