Her long piano fingers did not fit the rest of her body. She had a stout football players body with these long elegant toes
When she was near me, she needed to touch me. with one of her front paws. and she also wanted me to touch her. she just wanted to feel my body on her in some small way
Her squawk when she wanted something. she would just lay on her bed and squawk at me, beckoning me to come to her
she loved to squeeze tennis balls in her mouth. she looked like she was eating a devilish chocholate cake , in so much bliss.
How she loved me most of all. she really really only wanted her mama
She corrected dogs verbally with a loud squeech. she never ever hurt them but her squeech was as effective as a bite.
She flirted with many dogs. standing stiff for one second then loose wag body flriting. a cougar girl.
Years ago, when she was in the foster home- and I went to pick up Sonny to walk, she did not yet go with me- but she still ALWAYS ran to the fence when she saw me arrive, with a huge red kong in her mouth and shook it right at me, with a serious shine in her eyes and massive grin on her face
She had a small unique group of people she just adored. Silvia, Kate, Beth. She just lit up when she saw them. Others she liked or was neutral about
She also made it clear when she was not so sure about someone. spatially sensitive . do not kiss her right on the head if she does not know you well. who would do that ?! she never ever bit but she sure did do a surprisingly snap
Her first foster mom ,Astrid says about her – “Oh Abbey!! What a special great girl! The first memory that springs to mind is her first day with me when she slept for over 12 hours straight! I would go to check on her, wondering if she was alright and then she would let out this big deep snore!”
She and Madeline were instant friends. no tension ever. The older wise sister was always thougthful and strong in her abiding subtle advocacy of Abbey
Patrick annoyed her and enthralled her. total kindred souls. they existed in the same silent world. she “got him”. and she taught him a lot. he trusted her above all else. never an aggression. Siblings for sure
She knew when I was not okay. that is all. she knew and it worried her a lot. she could not be herself or relax when I was not okay
That HUGE smile. it took over her whole face.
The day she went through Sarah’s window. ( foster time years ago). because Sarah left with her dog Maddox. and she was very anxious. and then once outside on the Oakland street- she saw a cat and took detour from the anxiety 🙂 she brought out the whole neighborhood. She had the cat cornered under a car. the cat was just scratching her face over and over again. Abbey got all the wounds and the cat- nada. but the people outside saw a bloody pit and called the police! Sarah turned around and got Miss Abbey out of her adventure.
She veered toward people on her walks only if she wanted to get pet. Usually the person would have already been making their way to her. and then she was so so subtle in askng for attention- she would just stand silently right next to them. they often needed me to tell them that she wanted to get pet. and then she would not move from them. so stubborn to me and welcoming to them.
Another thing she did in her last year or so , when she did not want to walk anymore- she would act overly interested in sniffing a bush. like it was the best smelling bush that she had to spend minutes at, she just was using it as a distraction from walking more
She resisted the wagon years ago when she had a acl tear, she tried to jump right out. the last several months here. 2017- she loved the wagon. she got right in and snuggled down in the blanket. It became her throne.
How her big tongue hung out to the side or in front ( the front tip) when she was oh- so- satisfied
The front of her tongue had was cut off from the cat, under the car, biting or scratching at it. her battle scar!
Her big snoopy nose
When she completely rolled in dank mud and looked exactly like a pig
She barked orders at me. when she wanted attention, when she wanted to get up from her bed, when she was lonely for me
Her old lady waddle walk.
She loved for me to provoke with the big broom. she hated and loved that broom
She was so dog appropriate. her deafness had no deficiency. she was perfect in her posture and communication to all dogs. standing still, wag, flirt, sqwak. all her communication had no conflict. super super clear
She was an old lady and did the cross country trip 2016 summer like a fucking warrior
Her almond shaped eyes
The day in the hills she got out of my truck , unloading the pack dogs,, no vibrating collar on! and meandered away for a good long while . Oh I my heart! then she literally just meandered back to the truck in her own good time; ( our first month together)
She would fall over like a weeble wobble. ( when we began to play and she would lose balance). it hurt my heart so much to see her fall. but how she got right back up and wanted to play- in true Bull Terrier spirit
One time, early in her adoption ,Lucille went after her strong, fight ensued for freakin 1 minute because Abbey, 1/2 Lucille’s size, was on top of her and giving it back to her hard. It surprised the hell out of Lucille and fight ended. There was never another fight again between these 2 bull heads
She waddled down the ramps slow . how she would often not come back up but wait for me to get her from the side. I never quite understood why
I hung ropes from many trees hidden off trails in various east bay parks and she KNEW a hundred or more yards from the various spots that we were approaching the rope in the tree and she would start waddling/running , so so excited, and by the time I would catch up with her, she was either hanging by the rope or if she could not catch it- she was screeching like a banshee to try to get it. people might pass by and they either laughed or looked very concerned. One of my best memories ever!
The Sausal Creek trail rope swings were her favorite. She and Lucille would be be making so much noise. Lucille was barking like a maniac AT ABBEY, loving her intense fixation. Abbey would scoff at her with a big quick verbal correction when Lucille started jumping too close to her rope cause all Abbey cared about was getting that rope. Pretty amazing that a Bull Terrier and a American Bulldog in the height of adreneline never once fought. I think Lucille admired Abbey so much in these moments of Bullish tenacity!
Her big pink belly
Her short stout body
Her soft white coat
She loved intact male dogs. in her senior years especially- so freaking cute to see her go from hum drum on a walk and then we encounter a dog with balls, and she perks right up. looking good lady. doing her very best flirting poses. she did this with many other dogs too, puppies- she loved them. she really was a dog’s dog. more at ease with dogs, a bit particular with us humans.
She loved riding up front with me. After Lucille and Madeline passed,she took over co-pilot. oftentimes her head on my lap.
She would voraciouly hump me when she was so excited, usually when I got home, sometimes when she was nervous like at the vets. she always had a good solid grip on me, she was a hoot! when she would see me bend over on my knees, she would often try to get on me. i joked that I should put this on my dog training you tube channel. she did not do it to dominate , I honestly think she just need to express her andrenalized JOY at seeing me come home. she would also occasionally bite nibble between my shoulder blades when she was on me. so inappropriate!
The way she ran, like a little mechanical dog. I used the remote colllar on her, the months before she passed to ensure she would follow me. -it was like operating a mechanical dog. she is not moving, I press a button for vibrate and she starts to move like a perfectly obedient mechanical dog.
People were very drawn to her in her old age. She had her big flower collar on , often a pink coat, and she was very slow. she would gravitate toward any human that was looking at her sweetly . when she got to them, she would just stand there, and they did not quite know what to make of that. I told them she was asking to be pet. and so they pet her, and the whole while, she is just standing there still while they pet her. and then she won’t leave them, she does not kiss them or really look at them, but she continues to stand stoically enjoying every moment.
She tolerated every needle, medicine, probing that I had to do to her the last year with her kidney disease. oh it was so so hard on us. but she never once tried to bite me. she never would. I was her mama after all. I am so sorry my dear little girl for all those needles. I just wanted you to feel as well as possible.
Her gummy mouth, all her teeth were worn out. gummy lovey mouth . she liked to do corn row nibbles on me when she was expressing big love.
Her snore. especially when the last little bit of her tongue hung out.
The depth of devotion she had for me. I was her everything. I was her mama. her protector, her best friend. I will cherish every precious moment with you my baby girl.