2 years and counting

 

2 years ago yesterday Cala fluff was finally able to get up the stairs without the 7 babies in her belly making it difficult for her.  Hubby, Beautiful B and I sat in amazement and watched more and more babies appear.  We already knew that we would keep one of the girls and she would be named after the nutty character, Abi, in NCIS (you know it was my choice!).

Having gone through the birth of 2 of Lily’s litters we knew what to expect and the next 8 weeks were rounds of cleaning, feeding, playing, cleaning, feeding, playing and on it went.  Abi was inquisitive and playful from the get go.  She was insistent she would not stay in the dog bed and she fell in love with Fred who, being scared of unpredictable little things, spent 6 weeks upstairs where they could not get to him.

Abi loved nothing more than running around Fred’s legs and tugging on his beard to beg him to play with her.  She was and still is completely fearless and did not care that she might get stood on.  She had endless fun trying to convince Fred that she wasn’t scary and slowly over time he learnt to trust her.  Now, if she goes to kiss Fred once a day she does it a hundred.

After the other puppies went to their new home at 8 weeks old we started what we thought would be the difficult training to teach her to walk off the lead as the other dogs do.  Amazingly she was happier off the lead than on but also obedient, happily following the other dogs along the 3 mile trail we walked daily.  To this day she must walk 6 miles to our 3 as she runs back and forth on the whole trail.

Abi is a lover of people and would happily follow us and the fluffers until someone walked in the other direction, when she would turn around and say hello - every single person fell in love with her.  We used training treats to teach her to come back to us, within 2 days she thought it was a great game to wander off after people, looking over her shoulder at using knowing we would call her back with a treat.  

Still, walking off the lead went swimmingly, except the time she thought she would it was a good idea to go swimming in the dirtiest brook she could find.  She hated the feeling of the mud on her paws, less so the more it dired and was was grateful for the bath when she got home.  She is still, to this day, happy to do as she is told until we walk back towards the car and put her back on her lead when she gives us the run around as she is not ready to go home.  Treats are still handy – I see a pattern emerging.

Abi does things at her own pace and refuses to be rushed with her tea; so much so her grandma eats in another room as she is like a tornado before she looks to hoover anyone elses remaining tea.  She wakes me up in a morning to go out and then insists on sleeping another 2 hours before she is ready for a play.  She is still happy to have me hold her upright against my chest cradled like a baby while I watch TV and she sleeps.  She keeps my feet warm at night – brave girl - and stands on my chest to wake me up whining until I listen to her.

Abi has a straight mouth and so we affectionately call her Zippy after the Rainbow character and she will give birth to more family members in the future so I can pass on all of this love and joy to other families.

Abi was 2 yesterday and time has flown since her birth.  She still looks like a puppy, she is still as playful as she was 18 months ago and just as scruffy as she is in these photos - ignore the strange woman with bags under her eyes that are begging for plastic surgery above.

 

Happy 2nd Birthday Abi Fluff!