Everyone loves a happy ending, right?
We at BAPBR love to share adoption announcements, but that’s just the start of the next chapter for that lucky dog and that lucky family. We are kicking off our “One Year Anniversary” series to let those special families share their stories with our supporters directly. We hope you like them!
Norm and Sarah adopted Abigail on April 25, 2012.
Abigail’s most common nicknames:
It bounces between Abby and Abigail — I make sure to break down Abigail into four distinct and slow syllables when I’m teasing her. We kept Abigail’s name as she had been in foster care for around five to six months and it was the name that she knew well. It certainly fits her — so props to whoever gave it to her.
What drew you to adopt Abigail in the first place?
Her eyes — just look at those eyes! This is the photo of her that we had seen on Facebook and I absolutely fell head over heels for her — some could say it was love at first sight. Her story was a touching one as well. I had been watching her for months and couldn’t fathom why month after month she’d still not found her forever family — her boyfriend, formerly known as Duke, had been adopted out as well as her pups Tulip and Posey — yet she remained in foster care.
I swore if she hadn’t found a home by my birthday in early April that I’d apply for her. In the meantime, I think I had filled out the adoption application a few times and basically just stalked her online, following her stories, updates from her foster mom and checking out her latest pictures. Yes — I stalked a dog! She was beautiful and I just felt that she belonged with me — she didn’t come cheap though. In trade for me bringing another dog into the house I made a pact with Norm that he could get another motorcycle, and it just so happened that the dog of my dreams and the bike of his were both located in Central Oregon. Roadtrip? Yes!
This picture of Abigail in the back seat of the truck was the first photo that I took of her on the way home — you can see Norm’s motorcycle loaded up in the back. It was a pretty exciting day to say the least!
Do you have any other pets in the house?
Oh yes. Abigail has a 2-year-old Boxer/pit bull type dog mix sister, Mille, as well as a 5-year-old Boston Terrier brother, Nugget. We just recently lost our little Chi, Beandip, who seemed to rule the roost. Abby loves to play, so having a few play buddy options is nice, because you know not everyone wants to play all the time.
Abby has also brought out a little bit of a jealous bone in Mille. If she catches you petting Abby, she’ll weasel right in to take the attention away — or there’s usually a battle in the morning on who can snuggle in the closest to mom, usually resulting in a dog laying on me. Abby has also picked up some habits from our Mille. Mille is quite a vocal dog and you’ll catch Abby trying to talk or make noises from time to time — usually just resulting in a big squealy yawn — it’s quite hilarious! But I do love the fact that she’s trying to talk to us. Abby frequently engages Nugget into playing a good game of tug of war. I must say that he plays a might tough game considering he’s a third of her size.
We also have fish, which, from time to time, totally and completely enamor Abby. Sometimes it’s as though she’s seen them for the first time ever. A few of them even take an equal interest in her if you can believe that! She’ll bark at my large goldfish Jerry almost as if she’s expecting him to come out and play with her.
What’s been the most surprising thing about Abigail, as she settled in or grew up?
Abigail was quite rambunctious when we did our meet and greet and didn’t have a lot of interest in us what so ever. I was bit intimidated by her initially and remember having the thought, “Oh no, what did I get ourselves into?” but that must have just been a bunch of pent-up puppy energy because Abigail is a total love bug. She’s eager to please and prefers a lap over a dog bed any day. Did I say prefers? Okay, maybe she insists on it.
The training that she received in foster care really shows! She’s super smart and the first to perform out of all the dogs for a treat. Even after a year, I can see that she’s still developing trust in us. She’ll now roll over to expose her belly for a belly rub. Okay — maybe it’s just a quarter of a roll with her leg hiked up — but it’s still progress! Just recently she’s allowed Norm to pick her up and cradle for a few minutes at a time. Before she had a reaction to that much like trying to put a cat in a bath.
Any funny habits or quirks Abigail has or does that make you laugh?
Certainly her trying to be vocal as mentioned above. If she’s afraid that she’ll get in trouble or knows we’re leaving the house without her, she’ll hide under the dining room table and it takes quite a bit of coaxing to get her to come out. Man, does she have the saddest pout face — breaks my heart and makes me laugh all at once with her pink piggy nose and pouty lip.
If Norm starts the pick-up truck, she’ll run straight to the front door, sit and wait – she expects to go on all outings that involve the truck. The dogs loves truck rides — the car, she can pretty much do without.
What has she brought to you and your family’s life?
We’re a blended household, meaning Norm and I both came into this relationship with two kids each and dogs of our own. Bringing Abigail into the household has given us something that is ours, something that no particular human has more ownership in than the other and that everyone is jointly responsible for.
Abigail has bonded differently with each family member it seems, as I would assume is normal of all pets. She’s been an absolute dream around my youngest daughter — it makes my heart smile when I see Abby standing there giving her kiss after kiss. Did I mention that she’s a kisser? She says hello with a kiss normally, asks forgiveness with a kiss for cowing on you while you’re trying to watch your favorite TV show — she believes it’s better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission — and just about always gives kisses on demand. She’s been an excellent companion to our Mille and helps her with some of her anxiety — like truck rides.
Late last summer we had an opportunity to meet up with one of her pups, Posey — now known as Isis — along with Isis’ parents. Since then, I’ve enjoyed keeping up with them through Facebook and foresee other opportunities for future meet-ups. She still has quite a bit of excitement with meeting new dogs, so having opportunities to socialize is great for her! I’m so thankful for the wonderful work that BAPBR does and for bringing Abigail into our lives — she really is a wonderful pup and we love her to pieces!
