It is with an extremely heavy hearts and lots of tears that we pass this news along to let you know that we had our big buddy and best friend Abbott put to sleep.
Three weeks ago Abbott lost his ability to walk. Two different vets felt that Abbott had a small stroke and possibly lots of therapy could get those hips working again. For three weeks we worked and worked and nursed him to the best of our abilities, moving him in and out of the house and around the yard in a blanket sling.
Never did it appear that Abbott was in any pain. He ate and drank well, he adapted to using the bathroom while sitting down and still keep himself clean. He was very talkative and would let us know when he needed a change of scenery, the sun was bothering him, or it was time for him to go to bed.
He got very emotional the past couple of weeks and would bring a tear to your eye with all his noises when we got home after being away for a hour or two. Each day it seemed we saw small steps of progress. The front legs recovered in time and he was starting to use the back legs a bit. But when we walked him in his sling those back legs just didn't seem to be getting any control back in them. So finally we drove him down to a vet clinic with the X-ray machine capable of examining his spine. The X-rays showed arthritis had set in rather heavy between his vertebrae and was pushing against the spinal cord. The likelihood of surgery being successful on our 10 year old was very minimal. He would never walk again.
So we brought Abbott home and took the steps to prepare for his final day. We feel good that we had a good last night with him and had proper time to give him a bunch more love and to say good-bye.
He gave us everything we wanted in a pet. He sure had his own way of doing things and certainly did them at him own pace. He showed us his love daily. He's going to be really missed around here. Deer Park Lodge was his home and to a lot of people who visit the area Abbott was more a part of Deer Park than we were.
We remember the day well when we went and picked up Abbott. We were just getting ready to leave the breeders house so I put little Abbott on the drivers side floor while we said our goodbyes and within seconds he had deposited a full size Abbott dump in the car. What a way to start a relationship. Got to admit, though, that he never again took a dump in the car. He was a woods man. Even when the snow was four feet deep Abbott would somehow trudge his way into the woods to do his business daily.
When Abbott was about six months old his first venture with water was enough to convince him that he indeed was not a water dog. After putting the dock out for the summer Abbott decided to walk out to the end and check things out. Not sure what was going through his head at the time but when he got to the end he just kept on going. Poor guy sunk like a rock and in Mike went to pull him to safety. He never did care to get past his knees in water after that adventure. Now, snow was a different story.
Then there's the time when Abbott was about 2 years old and not yet smart enough to know his strength. He was playing tug-a-war with one of the neighbors sons who was probably five at the time. Well, Connor's sweatshirt was the object both parties were pulling against and unfortunately for Conner he was still wearing it. Abbott wasn't about to let up, which in turn cause Conner to start laughing hysterically and then fell down. This just gave Abbott the momentum he needed to start dragging this little boy around the yard by the arm of his sweatshirt. Us adults got a great laugh out of it too!!!
Of course his very best friend was always Mocha. They protected each other, loved to walk on the beach together. They shared the water dish and whatever one wanted, the other had to have, too. In the past couple of years they both seemed to take comfort in resting while being very close or touching one another. It never seemed to bother Mocha, but Abbott could snore like you wouldn't believe. There was been plenty of nights in which we were awakened by his lumber jack snores. More times than not we'd laugh ourselves back to sleep.
Abbott's size certainly wasn't a reflection on how brave he was. A few years ago we had a group of horse back riders come up to the store and they tied up the horses across the street. We got Abbott out to take a look at them to see what he might think. He wanted nothing to do with this large creatures and ran back to the other side of the house.
One time though, he stood his ground and sent a very clear message. Late at night we had a bit of a confrontation between a couple. The gal came up to the house for some help. We were at the door talking with her, when a truck pulls up front and out jumps this guy. Not sure why or how Abbott got in front of us, but when I told the man he should stay were he's at, Abbott let out this deep, mean and definitely loud bark!! The guy got the hint and decided to stay put.
But Abbott was certainly a lover and not a fighter. What a cool and beautiful dog he was. We sure will miss him!!!!! Keep him in your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Mike & Monica
p.s. If you were fortunate to have known him, please share your memories with us in the comments section, below.
