Life Lesson from a Four Legged Friend

 
                                                      

 It was the winter of 2004 and I was heart broken.  I was 4 years into my marriage and still we were unable to conceive.  We had just seen another doctor and even though he prescribed medication,  the outcome didn't seem hopefully.  The sad fact was that our future may not hold the many children we had hoped for.  In my grief stricken mind I thought the best course of action would be to let my husband go.  He was young.  He could find another and build the family we once spent hours day dreaming about.  "fine" he finally yelled at me, frustrated beyond belief that I expected him to not uphold his vows of for better or for worse.  "You want a baby, I'll get you a damn baby".

    I had a moments fear as he left that I would hear of a kidnapping from the local mall.  Instead my husband came home with the ugliest, sickliest ball of black fur that I had ever seen.  This 5lb pup was taken away from his mom and dropped at the SPCA at 8 weeks.  He had kennel cough and his fur (he was Husky Sheppard mix,  and had ALOT of fur) was covered in poop.  If anything ever needed mothering it was this little guy.  He was named Abbott Walker and given a bath right away!!!!

     Now on a side note, and only admitted to my husband for the first time here, I allowed my husband to believe he was named Abbott after Abbott and Costello, or the great Tank Abbott.  The truth????  Well at that time I was reading and fell in love with the Ya Ya Sister hood Rebecca Wells.  My favorite characters in the book?  Buggy Abbott and Sidda Walker.  Sorry Cory your great big dog was totally named after a chick book!!!!

     Abbott needed me and I needed Abbott.  He gave me someone to mother, to fuss after, to pour my love into, and he gave that love right back in abundance.

     He gave this family 11 years (to the date. He died one day after the anniversary of the day he was brought home) of love, loyalty and friendship.  He was never just a dog but a member of this family, a child when a mother needed one the most.  A friend when anyone just needed a fuzzy neck to cry into.  An older brother to a 4lb baby we eventually brought home.  He was, and in memory he still is pure love.

     Abbott was as a dog, what I strive to be as a human being.  He left a very defined paw print on the hearts of everyone he knew.  So.......to honor this loveable furry being I'd like to leave you all with the life lessons Abbott taught me, and the memories that will forever keep Abbott in our hearts.


Do what you love. Even if it makes no sense and comes with a bit of trouble  -  Storm days were huge in my house.  While my son would be dancing around cause their was no school, then grumbling cause it was storming to hard to go out to play, my husband and I would be complaining about the extra work load.  Abbott though, he would be at the door whining wanting to go out.  The moment his feet touched that snow he was bounding off, sticking his face in the snowy fluff and making trails.  He loved that fluffy white stuff almost as much as he liked the fact that the whole family was home to watch him do it and laugh at his antics.

yup that's the garbage can lid

 



Love makes all the difference - Abbott was the greatest to have around when you were crying.  He'd set his big old head down against my shoulder and offer his neck to me.  You couldn't be sad for long with your arms wrapped around him and your face against that fluffy husky neck. When you were sick Abbott wouldn't leave you, he'd curl up next to you and keep watch of everyone and every thing that came near.  My favorite way though that Abbott showed his love was his hand holding.  He would sit up beside you and paw at you till you held out your hand.  He would place his paw in your palm and expect you to "hold hands" with him for as long as he wanted you to.  Sometimes it was minutes, sometimes it was hours but to stop the process before he had gotten his fill would only lead to more pawing and whining for your hand again.

 

Be True to yourself........Even in death - He was in pain.  His lungs, heart, stomach had filled with blood and he was dying.  To touch him hurt him.  Yet as I slipped my hand under his hips to help him stand and he screamed with pain, not once did he think to nip, to growl, to do anything but turn and look at me with those huge brown eyes and offer me comfort for his pain.  Abbott was deathly allergic to bees and sadly it took a couple of summers with me chasing him around with meds to learn that we can't eat these.  But Abbott didn't let bad things change him from who he was at his core, a gentle, loving soul.  When Darrell came along and little fingers were stuck in his mouth in the middle of eating he would just let his jaw go slack and food fall from his mouth, the thought of snapping never occurred to him.

Its ok to be scared- ok this is one of my favorite Abbott stories.  And yes I'm laughing still as I write this.  Picture this.......80lbs of black dog sitting in a Vets office.  Abbott is eating cookies happily from moms hand while sitting on the floor.  He looks over his shoulder to make sure everyone is happy too and sees the vet filling a needle.  Suddenly 80lbs of black dog is screaming, howling and on my lap pinning me into my chair as he try's to climb up on my shoulder.  The vet drops the needle on the counter puts his hands up in the air and says "I never even touched him" lol.  When we finally got out of the room this lovely little old lady with a cat on her lap calm as anything looks at Abbot and then me "did they have to pull a tooth?" she asks sympathetically..........nope, my dog is just deadly afraid of needles.

 Every Stranger is a Potential Friend -  Abbott loved EVERYONE!  Every visitor to the door he expected to pet him, kiss his nose, hold his paw.  I always said heaven help us if anyone ever broke into this house with a cookie. It didn't just stop with people tho, he loved cats.  He befriended smaller dogs and even the much bigger one on the other side of our fence.  His best friend for the longest time was a Ferret and just to add some spice to the mix he became friends with a gecko.

 

Try New Things - Some times you won't like them, like the time he ate a bag of tea lights and left me a nice poop candle in my kitchen, and sometimes you will.  We couldn't peal a veggies in this house without the dog begging for some, and we had to hide the bag of potatoes.

Its OK to Make the Same Mistake More then Once - So it started the same way every time. I would run a bath with bubbles and get in.  At some point if the door was left open Abbott would come walking in and stick his head in the tub to begin eating bubbles.  It was always the same result, he would realise they tasted bad and run his tongue along the wall trying to get the taste out.  The moment the taste was gone............he'd walk over to the tub........and start eating bubbles....and the whole process would continue



 Laughter is Life's Real Music - Abbott lived off of laughter, the moment he heard someone laughing the tail would start wagging. If he was lucky enough to do something to make you laugh you could bet the action would be repeated.  He lived up to his nick name of Scooby Duffus.

You don't need to be Leader of the Pack, you Just need a Pack - When Abbott was dying I called my husband from work and told him he needed to come home.  Thankfully he was already on his way.  Abbott was off in the bedroom wanting to be alone. The pain had gotten worse, and he could no longer move from his hips down.  The moment he heard my husbands first foot steps into the house he picked himself up and drug himself to the door even tho we were all telling him it was ok, to stay.  He had greeted my husband at the door every day for 11 years and he wasn't about to let death stop him from doing so today.  He made it to my husband and laid down at his feet.  It took almost everything he had in him to show this last sign of love and respect for the man he deemed the Alpha.

 
Just Smile -

 

 

 

     Abbott passed away on February 11th, 2015 after my husband and I made the decision to put him to sleep,  rather then wait for the cancer that had caused his stomach, heart and lungs to fill with blood, take him.  He took his last breath much the same way as he began his journey with us.  In our arms, being told he was loved.  He excepted death with his same loving and kindly manner he lived his life with.  There is not a day that passes where a action or a word doesn't bring about some memory of him.  Love never dies, and Abbott was and is pure love.