Baby Abby

So last week I introduced Abby and her love/hate of squirrels. This week I wanted to share how Abby became a part of my family.

Abby is currently 8 years old, and will be 9 in May. I believe her birthday is May 6, 2002. I got her when she was only 7 weeks old, and she was the length of my foot. I believe she was only about 7 or 8 pounds at that time, and now she is 35 pounds. I remember I used to drive around with her sleeping in my lap and whenever we would go to the Dairy Queen she would try and stand up on my lap to look out the window. The people working the drive-through thought she was so cute and would give her a pup-cup, which was a small cup of vanilla soft serve.

Here is Abby the day I brought her home. She looks like a little doll. I still have that little red collar and can't believe how small her neck was.

So the story about how Abby became a part of my family actually starts a year before I got her. When my ex and I moved in together he had a basset hound named Woody. About 3 months later we ended up with a chocolate lab named Groundhog. Groundhog was one of my ex's friends's dog, and this friend could no longer take care of him, so he ended up at our house. Woody and Groundhog became the best of friends, and about a year later, something happened to Groundhog and he passed away. We are not sure exactly what happened to him, but we think maybe he ate something that caused his stomach to twist.

Woody got so depressed and really missed his buddy. He even got to the point where he wouldn't eat very much any more, and we really started to worry about him. After about a month, we decided we needed to get him a new friend. I had a beagle growing up, and my Grandfather raised beagles, so I researched them online, and found Abby through an ad in the local paper. I did get her through a breeder, but she is not a registered beagle, and I'll be honest, I think this breeder was actually just trying to sell these pups, so I am not sure if she is 100% beagle or not. Some people tell me she has basset hound in her, and at times I do see that. She has longer ears than a beagle, and her hind-end is somewhat like a basset hound (or so I have been told).

When I went to go pick her up there were 3 female beagles left. They brought all 3 of them out into a small pen in the yard for us to watch them play. They all looked the same, and I had no idea which one I wanted. Abby was the first one to pee, so I said, "look, she peed, so she is good to go!" The breeder was about an hour from our house, so I was a little concerned she would go to the bathroom in the car.

When Abby was little her head and ears were almost black. Within the first year her head and ears turned brown, and besides a little gray around her eyes now, she looks about the same as she did from when she was a year old (well, she did put on a few more pounds also, but we don't tell her that!). I did this scrapbook page a while back to show how much she changed over the first year. It's amazing because she looks almost like a different dog!

Abby has always been the baby in the family, even though most of the dogs in my family are younger than her, but it is funny because she has always been the more dominant dog in any situation. I think she loved my ex more than me, and Woody took to me more than my ex, but when we split up, I ended up taking Abby and my ex ended up taking Woody because it was his dog to begin with.

Here is Abby a few months ago, begging for a treat. She is really good at sitting or standing on her hind-legs if you have a treat or some type of food to give her. She loves food, but that is a whole different post!

Mutt Monday: Abby's Love (or Hate) of Squirrels

So through another blog I read, I found some postings (a few years back) about Mutt Mondays. I thought it was a cute idea, and have decided to go with it. I have all kinds of stories about my beagle pup Abby, and am always told I should write a book about her. I thought it would be fun to document some crazy/funny things from the past, as well as new things that she does in the present. Hope you enjoy.

Here is my girl, Abby, right before Christmas time.

She is wearing her holiday bandana I made for her.

When I first came across this idea, I knew I had to totally post about Abby's love (or maybe hate) relationship with squirrels, especially since we just had another incident last week.

I have been living in my apartment for a little over 6 years now. I live on a golf course, so there is a ton of great greenery and wildlife, especially squirrels. I have never seen so many squirrels in my life!

When I first moved it, although Abby does like to howl at EVERYTHING (people, dogs, bugs, whatever), she never really took to the squirrels. She never really took to rabbits either (which she should since she is a beagle dog).

Well about 2 years after I moved in, something happened, and Abby was able to catch a squirrel. One of my good friends was visiting, and I hear her say "Jen, come here quick, it's Abby!" At first I thought she was hurt or something, but I look out, and there she is with a squirrel on it's back, in her mouth. I freaked out, yelled at her, and she dropped it and backed away. I then tried to get the squirrel to run away (I think it was shocked at first), because I was afraid it might then try to attack her, or even me. It finally ran off and we went on with our day.

After that, Abby could not stop looking for, and howling at squirrels. She would sit under this tree in the backyard, and just look up at it and watch for the squirrels. We would take walks around the complex, and the min she would see one, she would go crazy (like super crazy to the point where I was having trouble controlling her, and she is only 35 pounds!). It got so bad I had to start taking her to other parks for walks because I could not take her around my complex...too many squirrels.

Only one other time had she caught a squirrel, which I was once again able to get her to drop it, until the other night. She was being very quite, and had been outside for a while. It was very cold out, so I was getting nervous, so I decided to check on her. My boyfriend was over that night, and luckily because she comes running up to the door with something that looks like one of her toys. I was confused because I didn't remember her taking a toy outside, but sometimes she does manage to sneak one out on me.

She comes up to the door, and I quickly realize this is not a toy, but a dead animal. Luckily it appeared to be frozen to death, so I don't believe that Abby had actually killed it, but still it caused me to freak out. I got her to drop it, and then let her in. My boyfriend, who at this time is telling me to calm down and that I am over-reacting, finally scoops up the squirrel in an empty cereal box, and takes it out to the woods to dispose of it. I am sure my neighbors were wondering what the fuss was, but let me tell you, it totally freaked me out.

Although I didn't get a pic of her that night,

here she is begging to come in a the back door (taken today).

So my little rabbit dog, is a squirrel dog, but as the vet says, that is her nature, and nothing I can do about it. I love her anyway!!

My Sweet Girl

I don't think I have ever introduced my little girl before:

This is Abby. She is a beagle and just turned 8 years old this month! Here is a pic of her as a baby (7 weeks old from back in 2002). She doesn't even look like the same pup:

She has been with me through a lot, and is my little buddy. She does have her issues (don't we all!), and we have dealt with some major seperation anxiety issues over the last couple of years, but we have finally gotten them mostly under control. It's a good thing she is cute, or else she would be in a whole lot of trouble.

Anyway, this weekend she had a bath, which she hates, and every time she goes nuts running around my place trying to dry off. I try and keep her out of the bedrooms so she doesn't get the bedding all wet and smelling like stinky wet dog, and I try to keep her off of the furniture (not succeeding in this video), but I think it is funny. Maybe I am the only one, but just wanted to share some video of my pup.