Abbey

In honor and memory of the sweetest girl, my Abbey, who came from the beautiful
hill country of Fredricksburg.
She showered me with love on a daily basis and became lil sis to her brother
Buff. She swam many a mile, her favorite

thing to do, in the waters of the Blanco River, Barton Springs and Town Lake. Oh
how we miss her endless
snuggles and kisses. Live on sweet girl in our hearts. - Maria Solis, Buff and
the other furries

My Abbey was a country girl - she was rescued in Fredericksburg
by a marvelous angel who volunteered at their local shelter.  Abbey had
been a "yard dog", lived her life tied to a tree where the squirrels and the sky
was her only friends.

Abbey was my "first" foster for Gold Ribbon. The moment she walked out of Carolyn's
SUV I Knew she was mine --- she was exactly what I had been looking for as my 2nd
golden; i luckily already had a 5 yo boy. I tried to fake myself out by pretending I could
just be her foster; but nope, I had to have her. And thank goodness for me, she was the
best decision I made.

Abbey didn't know how to like other dogs; she had never learned. But she loooooved people,
and was always definitely an affection hound. But with the love of my persistent boy Buff, over
the years they became pretty inseparable, sleeping on the floor together, swimming together and
playing together.

My girl never knowing the outside world, turned out to be crafty at being a fence climber.  She wasn't
trying to leave me; she was just making up for lost time learning the world.  Slowly but surely, i had to
extend the fence on all 4 sides so she didn't get hurt.  It wasn't that she was wanting to leave me, she
just needed to explore. 

Another thing that Abbey had was a love for ducks. 3 different times at Lake Austin, the Blanco River
and Barton  Springs she took off after a flock of ducks swimming.  Not to hurt them, she just needed to
get to them - totally in a trance, it was hard to bring her back.  But all 3 times were pretty funny.

It came as a total shock when my Abbey's cancer surfaced.  Even though she had been slowing down,
I had just taken her to the park that Sunday, and to the park the next day to get her out as the weather
had changed and i wanted to get her some exercise.  I discovered her not moving overnite and knew something
was wrong.  She had had a bout of arthritis, so i thought it was acting up again.  I gave it a day, and nursed it
with aspirin, but she was in so much pain, she wouldn't walk. So we went to the vet hoping to get some pain relief
from this, when my vet discovered the tumor in her ankle. After more probing, she felt that the cancer had spread.
I couldn't accept the diagnosis, so we went home on pain meds, even though i knew the diagnosis was true.
The following day Abbey surprised me and rallied. Was up again on all fours, even wanted to go for a walk.  It
made my heart soar to see her up again.  Sadly, that only lasted a day.  As this was the weekend, i spent the
weekend totally by  my Abbey's side trying to soak in all of her that I could.  Even my boy knew something was
going on as once again they slept next to each other touching.  My girl was so miserable that Sunday i made
the decision to let her go the next day and so we went.

The male vet tech carried her in like the princess she was.  I knew I had to let her go; she was as ready as
she could be. As much as I terribly miss her, i know she's in a healthier body frolicking over the rainbow bridge.