Gabby the Dog: 1997 - 2006

Just over a year ago, we had to put our cat, Max, to sleep. Yesterday, we had to do the same for Gabby, our collie mix that had been with us for 9 years. She had developed liver failure and other problemss which had caused her to stop eating and drinking, and the vet indicated there was no cure. The life expectancy for this breed was 10-12 years, so it was not a total shock.

We got Gabby in March of 1997. A colleague of Dorene's indicated she had a dog that had been abandoned along a roadside up in Michigan and they took it in. We went to visit to see if we wanted to take her home. At that time, her name was Callie. We immediately fell in love with her and brought her home.

Why the name switch? Well, she talked! When Britt, Dorene's colleague, called out for her to come in to the house, Gabby just stared at her and howled. This would be Gabby's trademark, and it was always funny to watch.

Although a full sized dog, Gabby liked nothing more than coming in at night and sleeping in our room. She did this every night. Never made a sound or got restless. When we opened the door at night and said "go to bed," she headed straight for the bedroom, plopped herself down on a blanked, and that was it. Same for trips. She loved going for a ride in the van. You asked her if she wanted to go "bye-bye" and she immediately got all excited.

We built a fence in our backyard so Gabby could run loose. She was not a dog that needed much entertaining. She just liked being outside and doing the usual dog things like barking at the mailman (which she did so ferociously). Although, her bark was likely worse than her bite. One day, she got out of the gate, barking at the mailman. The mailman yelled at her to get back in the yard, and Gabby slinked away. However, other people did not know if Gabby would indeed bite their arm off, so she was a good guard dog in that capacity. My grandma used to have a dog named King that I have no doubt would have bit my arm off, just for starters.

Gabby had a special bond with my brother Steve. When Steve would scratch her back, Gabby would just howl in delight. She did not do this with anyone else, just Steve. It was always hilarious to watch and Steve always got a kick out of it.

Last year, we got a puppy. A rat terrier named Daphne. Her and Gabby immediately bonded. We're glad that Gabby had a playmate for the last months of her life. They had a lot of fun together. When we visited Dorene's parents, Gabby loved to explore their big back yard. Daphne would just trail along, going wherever Gabby went like a faithful sidekick.

On Tuesday of this week, Dorene took Gabby to the vet and was told that we could choose to run some tests on her to diagnose the problem. We were given a 60/40 chance that it could come out okay. We were given some antibiotics to try out. After a couple days of this, it was obvious that the problems were very serious and the medicine was not going to work out. It was decided I would take her back in on Thursday to run the tests on her. On Wednesday, we both came to realization that this would be her last day with us. We spent a lot of time in the back yard with her, just sitting with her and petting her. Dorene took a midnight walk with her as her last activity. Going on a walk was what Gabby lived for.

On Thursday morning, Gabby was her usual excited self when I loaded her in the van. At the vet's office, she was very perky and wagging her tail the whole time. When it was time for her to go with the vet to begin her tests, she was very happy. Later that day, the vet called and told me the results of the tests were not very positive. We could choose to bring Gabby home and let her live this out for as long as we could, or, we could choose to remember Gabby as she was. It was clear that if we brought her home, her quality of life would be severely diminished. We don't believe in doing that to animals. So, I gave the go ahead to put her down.

Cameron asked me if Gabby was "smiling" when I left her at the vet's office. The truth is, she was. That was the last image I had of her and it's a good one.