Missing Abby
Once there was a 12-week-old puppy. I met this puppy in 2007 at a scheduled rendezvous with a woman in Florida who bred dachshunds. She brought along another puppy from the same litter, just in case I wanted two! I declined and chose the red female. She supposedly was a full-blooded miniature dachshund, but she really wasn’t. Other than the price she charged me, I never regretted buying her, or her unusual characteristics: nails that weren't black and legs a bit long for a dachshund. Why? I did not care about those things and she had a heart of gold. Those slightly longer legs also gave her an unusual ability to spring up in the air as if she were bouncing on a pogo stick when excited about something, such as some sort of “people” food, such as steamed broccoli, her favorite! No normal dachshund, standard or miniature, could have achieved that physical feat! I am telling you she could leap quite high into the air!
We had another dachshund at the time, Sophie, who had been the runt of the litter, and looked to me like a full-blooded dachshund, but without an outrageous price tag. Sophie was indignant at the arrival of this new female puppy in the house, I found out later it wasn’t such a great idea to get two females. Sophie was about 11 years old at the time and the two did not get along very well. If Sophie went after Abby, Sophie would find herself on her back with Abby’s paw on her chest, letting her know who was boss. Sophie lived another 3 years, and the two tolerated one another for the most part. They were funny about stealing each other’s food that first year, since Abby was eating puppy chow for a time. Each thought the other must be getting something better!
Notice how much longer Abby’s (red collar) legs are?!
After 2010, Abby was our one and only dog and was one of the family, with her own stocking at Christmas. She has already pulled out one toy in the photo below, and is investigating to see what other good things she might find!
Abby on Christmas morning in 2015.
Our dear Abby lived a long life of seventeen years. She had lost a good bit of her hearing (the plus side was that she was no longer terrified of thunderstorms or fireworks). Her vision was also not so great in her later years. Her gait could be unsteady and she fell down quite a bit, but scrambled back up on her feet and kept going. She didn’t seem in any pain, so things just kept going until she had an ulceration in her eye in late April. After a couple of weeks of eyedrops around the clock and pain medicines, it was decided to let her go and not put her through any more treatment, especially considering the unlikely outcome of any eye improvement. It was extremely emotionally wrenching to have her put down. I forget sometimes she is no longer here.
If your child has recently lost a dear pet, or even a close family member or friend, I am linking a short article which discusses good books about death. I hope you find them helpful.