Gabby

We found her in the woods on our property when she was 8 weeks old. She bit me. She was not wanting to be caught. 3 days later she spent 5 days in the hospital with parvo. We originally thought she was a border collie mix & I followed all training advice which worked but she had lots of fear based aggression issues which we continued working through. She was very smart. We had a game for the first 2 yrs of her life called Tricks for Treats. She not only learned tricks but taught us many things as well. Like that she understood concepts like choosing toys or treats or if I told her not to growl at the other dogs, she would just “smile” at them. The silent threat. Lol

We are convinced she knew more English than commands and people’s names. We could say “go find daddy” or “where’s mommy” and she would find us. “Keep an eye on grandma” and she would not leave my mom. I’d tell her “grandma and grandpa are coming” and she would look our the window for them. She would remind me when it was time to feed the ponies. She loved going to the barn and barking at them.

Although she was very independent and not needing much attention, we would frequently hug her and she would tolerate it. I think she came to enjoy all the attention. She was so soft and fuzzy and smelled so good. Not like a dog at all.

At almost 14 she came down with osteosarcoma, She had to have a hind leg amputated. She healed quickly and was back up and running, with some assistance of a hind end harness and my husband. Less than 4 months later, it showed in her lungs, her spine and possibly her abdomen. On March 29th it became obvious we were not going to win this battle and she had to leave us 14 yrs and 4 days to the date that we found her.

She will always be our precious puppy. We will always miss her. Who would have thought a puppy we found in the woods would mean so much. She was the best dog ever. We just can’t believe she is gone.