Such a good sport! Look at how tolerant she is of my decorating her for Christmas!
My neighbor in Florida offered Abby to me. She found her running along US301 covered in ticks, fleas and cigarette burns. It looked as if she had had puppies. People in Florida are famous for breeding a dog, then when the puppies are weaned, they drive the mother out. She is SO maternal, I expect it was horrible not knowing where her puppies were.
I didn’t want her. I am a CAT person, not a DOG person especially not a large dog. Luckily my neighbor persisted, making the point that I was always forgetting something in the car and usually went out late at night to get it. Since we had so much wildlife in the yard, she asked what I would do if I got part way back to the house and a big panther was between me and the door. She said a dog would have let me know before I went out. That was good advice. I took her for a week. One week only. That was ten years ago.
She is an amazing mother to me, the cats, visiting dogs - whatever. In Florida the cats were allowed outdoors during the day and when they came in, she would inspect each one at the door and chew off any fleas, ticks or other debris. If I had weed seeds stuck to my sox, she would sit at my feet until every seed was gone. She responds immediately if the cats scrap, stopping the fight, then growling at the bully and licking the victim. She stops them from scratching the furniture too.
When I decided to keep her, I noticed that she would bark at animals outside, but not people. So, I had to teach her. I would hide behind a tree when I saw someone walking down the road, then start barking until she also started. Hiding behind the tree was my way of not letting anyone know what an idiot I am.
She is getting pretty old now. She loves her heated bed in the winter and can’t always hear when someone comes to the door unless they ring the bell. She snores very loud and has become much less possessive about her food and bed.
November 2020 - Abby suffered a ruptured disk and passed away in my car. I miss her so very much.
If she could talk to me now, this is what she would say:
I hope to find, not a replacement, but as she says, “To a poor and lonely stray, I’d give my happy home."