#5, Sweet Abby

#5, Sweet Abby came to us one month after #3, Duke's, untimely demise.  It was Madolyn's sixth birthday, I believe, and we heard that our neighbors up the road had a puppy or two they couldn't get rid of.  Perfect, we'll take one.  And so we did.  She has the same parents that our sweet Macey, #2 had and so we were very eager to bring her home.  Macey was a great dog and we were hoping Abby would be too!

That was in August of 2006.  Folks, we still have Abby #5.  She was alive and kicking this morning...in fact, as I drove down our long driveway this morning, she was eating my dust and barking.  She has been a good dog.  She is extremely loyal to me and will not leave my side, I mean feet, I mean she will stand on my feet and has to be rubbing my legs when we're outside.  I love taking walks and she loves going with me, but it is so very annoying that until we get down the driveway, she is hovering so close she almost causes me to fall or trip.  I always tell Jay one of these days, she's going to cause me to fall and I'm going to break my ankle.  Hopefully not.

Not too many eventful happenings in the life of Abby unless you count this past December.  Christmas Eve actually.  What a night to remember.  The kids and I had been at Wilhoits all day for the family gathering.  Jay had worked but came in around 6:30.  I decided to run home around 7:30 or so to finish making these homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  I finished up the rolls and was ready to proceed back to town, but first I needed to run by my parents for a minute.  Abby chased me down the drive and to my parents which is very normal.  I almost hit her all the time but she has quick moves and I've never actually hit her...or I should say I hadn't until...

It was snowing just enough that the roads were covered and somewhat slick.  I pulled out of my parent's driveway headed to town.  Abby followed. There is a little hill and dip right before our driveway.  Normally, I would be turning left into my driveway there, but this evening I was going straight to town.  Abby did what she normally would do and veered left in front of me and my car was going straight.  The road was slick.  I screamed, skidded and nearly rolled on over.  Seriously, I was very fortunate not to have went in the ditch and rolled my car.

The unfortunate part was that I ran over my sweet Abby, my faithful and ever-loyal companion.  The oldest dog we had ever owned...BUT...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...she wasn't dead!! Ya-hoo.  I regained control of the car and found a place to pull in and turn around.  I couldn't see a black heap lying anywhere in the road or beside the road...then I saw her, sitting faithfully at the end of our driveway.  Oh, yes, she's fine....or so I thought.  I pulled up and she tried to stand.  Her back right leg was dangling.  UGH.  She was bleeding.  UGH.  I had on my brand new pair of Silver jeans (which I saved like a year to buy)...what do I do?  I call my cousin Chris and he comes over.  I'm crying.  I'm sick to my stomach.  We load her up in my car.  Now what?  It is CHRISTMAS EVE for heaven's sake. 

Here's a little 411 for you animal lovers.  There is an Animal Hospital in Terre Haute that is open whenever normal vet clinics or not...for your convenience, of course, and for a fee, of course.  So by the time we had figured out what we had to do, it was about 10:30 on Dec 24, and Jay and I were heading to Terre Haute in the snow.  We left her there overnight and returned to pick her up on Christmas morning.  She had a cast and we were to see our regular vet on Monday.  Merry Christmas to the vet and the Animal Hospital.  Our dog had shattered her leg.

Of course my solution was to cut it off.  I mean seriously I've seen lots of three-legged animals.  They adapt, they survive.   It certainly would save some moola.  No one agreed with me however and after about a thousand-plus bucks and eight months of rehabilitation, Abby looks as good as new.  Every now and then she'll carry her back leg, but it doesn't seem to bother her much.  And if I thought she was loyal and needy before, she's even worse now.  She likes being spoiled and in the house.  She's a good dog, obviously a fighter, she's seen her share of animal loss (which I haven't gotten to yet) and has remained on our little farm.  Hopefully, I didn't just seal her fate...