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!!

Abbey's First Sleepover

Since we were attending a wedding last Saturday, Granny offered to look after Abbey overnight. I was a little worried. I thought she might pee on the carpet or chew something she shouldn't...or cry all night! This is how amazing our little puppy is......she ate, slept and peed when she was supposed to. She played nicely with her toys and followed Granny around like a shadow. Now, we usually take Abbey out for her last nightly pee around midnight and she is good until 7am. Well, Granny goes to bed around 11 so I thought Abbey might be up around 6, which is a bit early. As it turns out, Abbey went out around 9 to pee and they spotted a racoon in the backyard. So Granny was a bit nervous to take her out at 11 fearing they may run into a skunk, so off to bed they went without a late bathroom break. Well, doesn't the little stinker sleep all night and have to be woken up by Granny at 7:15am! Here I was thinking she was going to wake up at 6 and she ends up having the sleep of her life! After that performance I am not falling for any of her tricks to get us up before 7. Granny said she was a great house guest and she is welcome back anytime......phew!

Abbey's Condo

Abbey may have had a breakthough with her crate when we leave the house. She was put in her crate 4 separate times today while I popped in and out taking the kids to school and picking them up. After all trips out, she seemed calm when I came home!! I even took my time getting her out of her crate and she didn't make a peep. Yeah!! We have now renamed her crate "Abbey's Condo". She is doing just great! In the last few days, true to being a lab, we discovered that she really knows the word "hungry". If we are about to feed her a meal and we say "are you hungry" and she happens to be in another room...she runs as fast as she can to the kitchen and waits for her meal....nothing like having a personal chef and wait staff!!

Last week before school.......

This has been another rough week for Abbey. While "swimming" (this is code for sit on the top step of the pool and watch the kids) at Granny's house this week Abbey decided to check out what yummy treats she could find in the garden. Well she managed to find an apparent great appetizer......cat poop. We couldn't get it out of her mouth fast enough and down it went. Well that evening her little tummy was rumbling a bit and she seemed more tired than usual. At 5:30 in the morning she was begging to go out and she ended up having really bad "dog-a-rhea"! Poor thing. All morning she was constantly going out. I got her an appointment at the vet in the early afternoon and got some great "dog-a-rhea" pills and a pre/pro biotic. She was wiped by that evening, but took her meds no problem. She felt better today, but she really had a rough ride. A few more days of the "dog-a-rhea" pills and a week and a half more on the pre/pro biotic. Through it all she has managed to gain weight. Up to 19.4 pounds and almost too heavy for the kids to carry. She is still a gentle little sweetheart that hates to be left alone in her crate when we go out (still fine at night and for naps during the day)......Abbey is going to have to suck it up the first day of school when I have to take the girls to school and pick them up at lunch etc.