Abby's has a beautiful gray face and such a sweet calm disposition.  Life at this age is lived in slow motion as if to savor each and every day we are graced with their presence.  Even foster pup Auggie 13-243 doesn't seem to bother her when he is licking her face or putting is feet on her back.  He quickly realizes he can't get her to react so he moves on to one of the other dogs in the house.

     Abby remains on the Maloxacam  and it seems to be as effective as the Rimadyl we previously used.  The only reason for the switch was cost savings for the rescue budget.  Abby does not have the perfect potty habits and occasionally has pee accidents so we go out as often as every four hours when I am home.  Abby also occasionally has trouble getting to her feet and I have had to help her which occurs more frequently if she is not on one of the many pet beds but on the wood floor. 

     Although I don't think Abby would wander if let out in the yard alone (I have a wood fence surrounding my back yard) she is accustomed to my fence.  More often then not she potties and returns to the patio door and the inside porch to wait for me to open the door.  The only time she moseys around is in the summer when we are all out for longer periods of time. 

Abby is enjoying the weather. She prefers to do her business and grab a piece of mulch to munch on and then head right back into the house. She likes to come forward more frequently for ear and head rubs and has no problem butting in front of one of the other dogs getting attention at the same time. Abby is getting Rimadyl for her arthritic hips as well as fish oil and glucosamine. She gets around pretty well (no steps), except if she lays on the wood floor instead of the dog bed, then getting up on her feet takes a minute. She looks forward to her bowl of food and often barks telling me to hurry up and not to forget her. They all have an uncanny way of knowing when it is time to eat, so if I am not on the ball or late, I get a lot of barking reminders to hurry up, we are hungry. Abby eats in the kennel and her foster mate, Bridget 12-118, eats outside the kennel in the same room. Abby has been known to steal food from Bridget if she is not attending to her food bowl.

I have a new photo of Abby. As you can see, she is getting more white in the face since first coming to her foster home. She is a love and easy to care for, and as the vet said at this year's check-up, she did not expect her to do as well as she had since she was so frail coming into rescue.

Thank you to all of those who gave so generously to Abby. She is sending happy thoughts for a wonderful summer to all of you.

ARF!!   ARF!!   Abby Dabby here.  Foster mom says when I bark for my food bowl I sound like a seal.  I say "who cares"  I just want her to hurry up as I have learned to love my kibble.  It is so much better then what I use to eat.  I have never had it so good.  I am toasty warm, dry, have a bed to lay on, and two & four legged friends to love me up and so many ear rubs it is heaven :) .  You don't have to tell me twice to come inside when my business is done.
 
Abby has been started on Rimadyl for her hips and she is moving so much better she actually watches me fill her bowl and then high tails it with a little hop trot to her spot in the bedroom.  She has also started to bark each time I fill the bowls so I guess she is really excited for mealtime and she gobbles it in record time.  Abby and Bridget still eat in the bedroom which is gated.  That helps keep the my two out of their bowls so they can eat in peace.  Abby is so happy with her bowl that if Bridget gets spooked Abby is right there to help her eat hers after finishing her bowl in record time.  
 
Abby is a great senior who is beginning to love ear rubs so much that she seeks them out.  She is less inclined to scoot away from me and is not afraid to butt right in for attention.  The only drawback is her less than stellar balance on her back end and she sometimes looses her balance so her back end ends up on the floor if more than one dog is looking for attention.  Have no fear she gets right back up and comes in for more.  In the evening her fav place is the kennel in the family room and Abby and Katie are often seen snuggling together.  Two great seniors without a care in the world.

Abby Fans:  Abby has had a busy week.  Week before last she developed a lot of drainage coming from her vulva.  Since I had a previous foster who was unspayed and older develop pyometra I knew what to expect.  We went to the vet the next morning (Fri.) for a check and confirmation and she was put on antibiotics and scheduled for pyro spay that Monday.  We had originally held off doing this because of her age (suspect 12 years) and the risk associated with anesthesia but we were now placed in a position to proceed with the spay.  While under I asked the vet to do any teeth extraction necessary and irrigate her always gummy ears.  Since RAGOM cannot routinely do this for all our rescues because of cost plus I knew her teeth were terrible I gave her an early senior special gift knowing how much better she would feel and  I did not want her teeth to become an issue in the future and risk anesthesia again.  Luckily she only needed one tooth pulled and only her left ear was icky (guess all that cleaning is paying off).  The vet donated the scaling which was really appreciated by RAGOM and of course Abby and me.  She is a week post procedure and moving well since we used Rimidel as a pain and anti-inflammatory medication which has helped her hip discomfort too. Depending on how she does getting around in the following weeks after this medication is done with her daily activities she may need to be on the Rimidel for hip comfort.

      I know Abby is not the most desirable golden we have for adoption because of her age and general health but she remains available if you are just looking for companionship without the need to do a lot of walking, ball throwing, etc.  She is just as happy to be in the same room as you are with an occasional ear scritch or head rub.  She is very good about allowing grooming though getting her in and out of the tub at 55 lbs. is not the easiest task  for me to do.  She does have a rare accident (urine) as she is not very good about her signals so when she wanders out from her corner in the bedroom to the patio door I take this as her way of telling me it is time to go out.  Sometimes she does not always go out with the rest so if it has been 4-6 hours since her last outing I leash her and take her out to potty and she always goes.  Abby is just a senior work of art and sometimes you have to just accept her for what she has to offer.  She is a great old girl and happy to have a roof over her head, good food, companionship, and a special place to lay her head.  Oh and someone special to love it up.  Really...isn't that all we expect of our seniors.

     Where has the time gone.  It seems we were in the winter mode and now we have moved to a combination of spring/summer all in March.  Many bushes and flowers are a month ahead and they are saying we may get our hard frost tomorrow night.  Hope the weatherperson is wrong so I don't have to cover some of my plants.  Dad use to say don't count winter over until we get out of April you never when it will give you a surprise.

     Abby takes one day at a time in her slow mode.  She is not a zooming kind of girl nor does she readily seek playtime with the girls.  The only fast move she makes is meal time and she has a pretty decent fast trot to get back inside.  She cleans her bowel very nicely but of course my girls lick the bowl just to be sure something was not left behind.

     Abby visited the vet and is maintaining her weight which is what I wanted to keep the stress of her hips and back.  While we were there she backed up and sat on the scale which one of the techs got a picture of.  They posted it on their board with a caption saying she was available to adopt by going to the RAGOM site.  I think I will ask them to send a copy to my e-mail so I can share it with everyone.  We laughed because her butt weighed 19 lbs :) .  We decided to go ahead and give only her the distemper shot this time and in the fall she will get her yearly rabies.  Abby as with all RAGOM fosters receives heartworm and flea/tick preventative care.  She does very well at the vet  though still shy with strangers.  I usually lift her in and out of my wagon though she acts as if she wants to jump I will not allow it with the arthritis.  Abby is a very easy foster rarely seeking attention but she does approach for gentle petting and is very good with grooming.  She lets you know she has had enough by walking away.

     If you want to meet Abby for possible adoption let your placement advisor know.   I am sending a picture of Abby with the new foster Bridget 11-118.  Two PM girls just hanging out sharing a corner.

     It is hard to imagine it is January with the lack of snow and temperatures we are having.  It really looks like spring except we finally lost the green grass around here.  Abby is really becoming quite used to living inside and often even though the rest of the gang rushes to get outside Abby just looks at me with this "I'm not going out unless I really have to do something".  On the really windy days making it cold she actually has a running trot to get back inside especially when it's meal time.  She can move pretty quickly.  She runs right to her spot on the pet bed waiting for her wet kibble.  Abby prefers to eat without me standing over her which all my breeder rescues have done in the past.  She is also really hesitant if I hover close to the door waiting for her (always the last one) to come in so I just move aside out of her space.   Abby prefers not to be leashed as did Murphy when he stayed here the past two weeks but once it is on they are totally cooperative.  I use a leash to get her to the bathroom to clean her ears or groom her on the enclosed porch.  Once the leash is on she does not try and move away.  Monday I groomed her muffin toes and she was amazingly cooperative even though I knew this would be a totally new experience.  She is so well mannered for having lived outside which by the way there have been no accidents in the house since her arrival.
 
    Abby does have a couple of quirks.  She loves to drag her body along any straight length of wall to include pet gates, the 6 panel doors, or other slightly rough surface.  It must be like a massage of sorts because she makes these funny noises in her throat like it feels so good.  Reminds me of the horses, pigs, and cows that rub on the fences on the farm.  The other thing Abby does is these tiny tap dances with the front paws when she is feeling excited and spry usually in the morning.  So...I know she is happy just hanging out here with the gang :)). 
 
     As I had said when I wrote a quick note on Murphy 11-374 (staying here while his FM was out of town) Abby joined Murphy in his favorite place the kennel.  I guess it was comfortable having another warm body next to you.  Abby prefers to lay next to one of the gang at all times and Murphy did not mind in the least. 

    Abby's needs have not changed.  She requires a home with children older than 10 years, a fenced yard, and another furbutt that is confident and well adjusted to continue to learn good things from their humans.  I would prefer Abby be adopted in a home that has very limited stairs with her hip/spinal arthritis.  She is a great companion and makes limited demands except for occasional pets, finger rubbing massages for fun, and ear scritches.  She does not even mind or maybe she does not even notice when I am out of the house.  Abby no longer barks at that phantom in the night but if I get up to use the bathroom I might hear her make a quiet growl and I just talk to her and she quiets down.  Enjoy the pics.  Abby is the one with the gray face and of course Murphy is the beautiful red one.