Farewell To Abby The Wonderdog

The thing about dogs (and Abby was the best of the best of the dogs) - they love you unequivocally. The more love you give them, the more they have to return....and so it was in this household where Abby, and her sister before her, Carly, shared our space and our lives and our trials and our tribulations. The hole in our universe now that her time, their time has passed is huge. The day we knew had to...and would come...did. Abby's heart was still strong. Her eyes were still vital and alert, but the rest of her had pretty much shut down. The legs that needed to carry her up and down the stairs to the coach were failing fast. The ramp was no longer enough to carry her in and out. She had trouble standing up...and trouble getting back down. Pain, despite the doctor's remedies, was her constant companion. And this day it just became too much for everyone.

So Abby The Wonderdog is no longer on the road with us. Our journey will be longer and lonelier. But memories will be our new companion. Abby was born in Honduras and flew to America. Believe us, she was a LEGAL ALIEN. She accompanied us to 49 of the 50 states- (we all missed Hawaii) and three countries. She visited Alaska twice. She was cool, calm and collected in the presence of buffalo, elk, caribou, all manner of bears, even wolves and coyotes. German Shepherds? Not so much!

She never met a snack or a treat she didn't fully appreciate. Next to the first walk of the new morning, dinner time was her favorite time of day. She never protested being dressed up in ridiculous fashion for a blog post- wearing a pirate's three cornered hat, comes to mind...and I swear to you she loved putting those gigantic sun glasses on for our annual Christmas Card shot each year.

Somewhere tonight I hope and pray she is fine without us. Resting comfortably. Sniffing good smells. Sharing munchies with a friend. Barking only when necessary. Getting lots of pats from adoring fans. Wearing her signature scarves. Loving...and being loved. That was her specialty!

We hope to be OK again soon too. But not right now. And for sure- never the same....








And wrapping it up with images from Roatan, Honduras, where we lived for 5 years and which is the birth place of Abby and her twin sister Carly. If there is consolation in this day, it is that they are inseparable again in the afterlife as they were in life- chasing each other round and round and round a coconut palm there on our beach, or chasing the iguanas that usually managed to say out in front....or the yard chickens that usually didn't manage to stay out in front...or maybe just resting under the avocado tree munching their choice of select fruits of the day. They came into this world filled with love and they left it the same way they found it. If only we could all do as well.............