Abbey swims off dock

Abbey just turned 1, and finally . . . we were able to get her into the lake. Guess what? She enjoyed it, no surpise. She even belly-flopped off the dock.

Abbey Update

Just a quick update on Abbey (can't believe I haven't posted for so long). Abbey is fantastic! At her last weigh in about 6 weeks ago, she was 52 lbs, so a little on the smaller side......although many people at the park still comment that "she is going to be huge!" I kind of disagree.

2 weeks ago, we had a training company called Bark Busters come to our home and work with is for an afternoon on many areas to improve Abbey's behaviour. Her biggest problem area is walking nicely on a leash. She likes to pull and I usually end up running behind her. This still may take some time and lots of practice, but she is really getting much better. She also has a new area to wait in when visitors come to the door...and she is getting the hang of it. One thing (thank goodness) she has never done is bark when the doorbell rings. So she just quietly goes and waits on the carpet in the living room....most of the time. She is still having a very hard time NOT licking the dishes in the dishwasher when we are loading it.......hopefully that will come...but it may require a lot of willpower.

Overall she is terrific, happy and generally well behaved. She has a very cute routine where every night when the kids are going to bed she goes to each of their rooms and spends some time lying on their bed with them. The kids love this! It's like her own way of saying goodnight.

Will try to be more dilligent about updating...I feel like a bad mom.....

Where Does the Time Go?

We haven't been so good about updating the blog lately...ooops! We have had sick kids and sick mom and just getting back into the swing of things. Abbey is doing great! What a sweetheart. She is starting to get into the stage where she just settles down and sleeps for a good chunk of the day, which is kind of nice then I don't have to worry about what she is up to every 5 minutes. Of course, she still has her moments....like 2 days ago when she decided to chew my daughters plastic headband!

Abbey has been making some friends at the leash free...she generally tries to find a dog who will tolerate her puppy antics and then sticks to them for the whole visit...tormenting them the whole time. She also does this very interesting move...she lies down on her belly and waits for the perfect moment to POUNCE! She looks just like a lion stalking her prey....yikes!

Abbey was at the vet today because she has a bit of an eye infection (which I'm sure she picked up from a "colleague" at the leash free. She also got weighed...41.8 pounds.

She is quite excited (well she will be) that she is going for a sleepover this weekend at Granny's....I hope she still likes her crate after getting the royal treatment and sleeping on the bed all weekend.

What is everyone else (Duke and Bodhan) up to????

Happy Halloween!

Abbey was exhausted after an evening of handing out candy and showing off her new hotdog costume!

Abbey meets Bodhan

Thanks to this blog, we were able to connect with Abbey's brother Bodhan, and we were able to arrange a playdate with the two siblings. Abbey had such a wonderful time playing with her brother. They instantly connected and played really nicely for almost 90 minutes. Many people that came to the park knew right away that they were siblings. They even have the same white coloured "racing stripes" on their shoulders. It was also great to compare stories with Bodhan's mom.......you know they are related when they do the same crazy things like chewing the knobs on the drawers in the kitchen. Abbey was exhausted after the playdate and will definitely be up for another round with her bro in the near future.

Here's a short video from the mini reunion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkTQlIHCQfg

Abbey Sneaks a Snack...

Well I always knew it would happen...it was just a matter of when. Our previous lab Riley, while he loved food and snuck his share of snacks, never did what Abbey accomplished tonight. I caught her snacking straight out of the kitchen green bin.....ahhhhhh! Our daughter was helping to clear the dinner table and put dishes in the dishwasher and she accidentally left the green bin on the floor with the lid open. I didn't realize that anything was amiss until I heard Abbey go into the kitchen for a drink and then she disappeared. All was quiet so I thought she might be up to something. I expected to see her with a shoe or a mitten in the kitchen. Instead I found her with her head right in the green bin enjoying some leftovers. I think I screamed so loud that she very well may never do this again....but talk about gross. The kids were so grossed out that they didn't want her to lick them for a while tonight (I didn't remind them that she has had worse in her mouth and then licked them). I just hope we don't see leftovers coming back up in the middle of the night. Oh dear.....she is a sneaky little pup.....she might need a bell attached to her...and an alarm on the green bin.

Abbey the "Ronster"

We have started calling Abbey the "Ronster" on occasion. For those that used to watch (or still do) Scooby-Doo, this is how Scooby says "monster"........and we thought Ronster was a little nicer than Monster. Abbey has been a real Ronster this week. When out for a walk, she doesn't want to walk in any direction that I am going, she tries to crawl under every bush to see if there is anything good to eat, she pulls and parks her butt when she doesn't want to come in the house. She spends a lot of time trying to get into mischief.....stealing shoes, umbrellas, backpacks....anything she can do to get some attention. She even climbed up on the couch and tried to hang out there without anyone noticing...nice try! It just seems like this week we can't tire her out. Endless walks and playtime outside just don't seem to cut it. I can't wait until she has had all her shots and can go to the leash free!!