Abby
GSRNE #211
2001 – April 4, 2015
Abby’s story, like many of GSRNE’s dogs, has a sad beginning. Abby lived her first seven years in a loving home, with four children and a male dog. When her owners got a divorce, her world was split in half; the two dogs stayed with the husband, and the children went with the wife. Abby had loved “her kids” and missed them, but she still had her canine buddy. The new arrangement was short-lived, however, because there was a bad fire in the home. Abby’s owner couldn’t live there any longer, and he turned to a friend, who owned Abby’s sister/littermate, and asked him to take Abby. This arrangement didn’t work out, because the sister was jealous and kept attacking Abby. The new owner was worried about her safety and tried keeping Abby in a crate, which she hated; she kept breaking out in order to be near him. He turned to GSRNE and asked that we find Abby a real home of her own.
Update from Abby’s family, Jennifer Jordan and Paul Jordan
Abby is incredibly happy in her new home. She was able to make the transition rather smoothly. Other than her getting into mischief, she is an amazing dog to have around the house. She has an outstanding personality! She is great company for my dad since I am away at college. She became immediately attached to my dad and now has learned his schedule and waits by the window for him to return every day.
My dad walks Abby at least three times a day, and this is by far Abby’s favorite pastime. When my dad goes to walk her, she runs to her leash and almost starts talking to my dad and yelling at him to hurry up and take her outside. She is a pretty good walker although she does sometimes chase small animals, such as squirrels and dogs. She also gets along very well with our other male shepherd named Jake. They are about the same age and similar in build. They do not fight at all and spend most days together lounging around and looking out the window. Abby will take his bone when he is chewing it, but he really doesn’t put up a fight because he is very passive. Also, she absolutely loves finding and fetching sticks. Abby found a huge stick in the woods and carried it all the way back to our house in her mouth and was so proud of herself. She still has that stick to this day. Abby also loves when my dad and I come home from work and throw her stick around for her in the backyard where she expends tons of energy.
When Abby is tired she has a few favorite spots to sleep. She actually rarely lies in her big red bed. She has taken over a couch that we have in our living room right by the window so she can look out and watch people and my dad in the yard. She loves sleeping there and is amazing because she always manages to take the pillows, fluff them up and put them under her head. However, her other favorite spot to sleep is with my dad in his bed. He has a giant king-size bed and every night when he goes up to watch television, she hops right up on her side of the bed, watches television with him and then goes to sleep. She is very cute and often will poke at him with her paw, which she uses as a way to get attention and say goodnight.
Abby has had such a rough life, I think at this point she deserves to be treated like the princess she is, so we really do not scold her for sleeping on the couch or in beds.
Health-wise, Abby is doing incredibly well. While she does not like the vet, she tolerates the visits. We take her for regular checkups with Jake, who helps calm her down when he is there. Her ear with the hematoma is doing great; my dad is very vigilant about giving her eardrops weekly. She is very greedy when it comes to wanting bones, but her weight has stayed the same. She is overall very healthy and happy, and we are very grateful to have such a beautiful dog!
Update in 2015:
Abby passed away on April 4th at the age of 14. She enjoyed the last seven wonderful years of her life with her forever family to make up for the period of loss and confusion she had endured before that.
When we first met her, Abby was about 20 pounds overweight; she had one ear that had been damaged by a hematoma, her skin was itchy and her coat dull. We didn’t have a foster home available, so Abby had to wait in a kennel for a home to take her in. Three of our volunteers took turns visiting and taking her for walks, but it was a difficult time for her. Once she did move to a foster family, they helped her trim off the weight by taking her for daily walks, playing in the yard and teaching her NOT to counter surf or get into the trash. She had several visits to the veterinary dermatologist to get at the cause of her repeated ear infections and skin problems; and a program of weekly ear cleaning and drops, regular baths and a special conditioner made her much more comfortable. She broke out of her crate while her foster parents were at work, so they gated off a small room with a couch she could lie on, left stuffed Kongs for her to work on, and solved that problem. It was several months before the right adopter came along for Abby, one who would give a 7-year-old dog another chance at a good life; the match was worth the wait.
Abby was adopted by Paul Jordan and his male GSD, Jake, who was almost the same age as Abby. Jake was easy-going and didn’t object when Abby would take away a toy or even a bone he was working on. Over the years, we’ve been delighted to receive pictures of Abby and Jake playing in the fenced yard or looking out their car window…pictures of Abby stretched out next to Paul or curled up on her bed with her head on a pillow. She was a big girl with a big personality and one of the many reasons we all do what we do so we can be here for German Shepherds who would be lost without us.
Rest in peace, Abby girl.
