A Boy and His Dog

Abby and Blake are quite a pair. She is the greatest pup - very sweet, very gentle, and has always just sort of left Blake alone, which was a really good thing when he was tiny. She just turned 13 years old last week. She has breast cancer. She recovered nicely from her mastectomy (it seems funny to talk about this in such human terms) and they think they got all of the tumor.


I just hope that Abby lives long enough for Blake to have true memories of her. I know that I don't remember much from when I was 2 years old - so probably we'll just keep having to talk about her so he can keep her in his memories. There's just something about a boy having a dog that is important to me. I thought I would never let myself be without a dog, but now I am thinking I might take a break for a few years until Blake can appreciate a new dog a little bit better. We've decided not to treat her cancer, which wasn't really a difficult decision for a 13 year old dog. We will just wait for it to reappear make sure she isn't in pain.

We are headed down, with Abby, this weekend to let her run and play on the 12 or so acres that my aunt and uncle own outside of the little town of Chappell Hill, about an hour northwest of Houston. The property is completely chain-link-fenced, so it is a great, safe place to let your dog go wild. It makes me sad that this may be her last trip down there. We call her Country Dog when she is down there because she loves that setting and just goes crazy with all the room to run, the pond to play in, and all the other benefits of country living.
Anyway, Abby has been the best dog I've ever owned (OKOKOK...so I've just had 3 dogs my entire life) and I'm so glad my son gets to love on her and hang out with her. They are a great pair!