Martha and I picked Abby up in Conroe, Texas on Saturday, March 29, 2003. We met the foster parents and they had brought the 2 female Maltese that had been rescued from a local shelter, which they believed, was from an elderly women.
At the time we had just recently lost our 14 year old female, Kcin, who we had since she was a puppy. We had arrived a little early in the Petmart's parking lot. We wanted to see if one of these foster dogs would be sociable with us and our other two remaining rescue Maltese dogs, Missy and Vidal. We set up a pen next to our car. The foster parents arrived with 2 small Maltese. Both were in bad ways, one was really matted and the other not as bad. The one that was so badly matted also had many other problems and rotten teeth. The other, Abby, had no teeth.
We set them down, all four together in the pen. The one dog, with teeth, wasn't feeling good and wasn't active. The other one, I picked up and held. She didn't squirm to get away, but stayed in my arms quiet and unassuming. Like; this is my spot. Yet she wasn't without her own problems, sores and scabs on her body, weak legs, and a heart murmur. I told Martha that this is the one . Abby was her name.

We paid the adoption fee and loaded her up with our other two and started back to her forever home. She sat in my lap all the way back to Dallas.
That was just over 4 months ago. She was somewhere around 8-10 years old. Her legs had gotten stronger from our daily walks, her skin had cleared up, and her coat had become beautiful, she was in all rights-healthy.
We all went on vacation to Yellowstone National Park. On our second day of the trip, we lost Abby, August 4, 2003 at 9:30 pm. We were in a KOA campground in Kimball, NE, when we believe she had something go wrong with her heart, that caused her to have internal bleeding. It was quick, 5-6 minutes and she was gone from us and the world. Ever since we had Abby, she never missed a meal, that morning wasn't any different. At the KOA camp, we had a rock band next to us and we put up the pen between the two RV's. We know Abby wasn't feeling good because she didn't even bark at any of these guys and she didn't want to eat her dinner. I'll miss her terribly.

I've never had a dog quite like her. She was something to admire. Abby was her own boss, but she never left my side, except for chow time. She loved Martha's homecooking and liver treats. She would stay by my side until dinner was ready and not any time before that. When she was finished eating, she would come looking for me.
I had back and shoulder surgery during this time with her. And she would want up on the bed with me. So I would place her up on the bed, she wasn't quite sure what to do. She would sniff around, look around, rub her face in the pillows. And then lean out over the edge of the bed. Right when I thought she was about to fall, I would have to get up and get her. Being that she was so tiny, all of about 6 lbs., I was afraid she would break something if she fell. So I moved to the couch, not much better. When Martha was at home and in the kitchen,

Abby was with me on the couch, she would get right on the edge. I would set her down and she would run to the kitchen to see what was cooking. If dinner was almost ready, she would stay and bark, bark and bark, with this tiny little sounding bark. If dinner was'nt ready, she would come back to where I was laying and want back up.
When we had company come over, she would bark, bark and bark, she wouldn't stop barking at them, she also got aggressive, with her having no teeth, it was safe for whoever she was after. But it became too much after a couple of minutes, she would also attack the ankles. It was pretty funny, but not really. It was teaching her the wrong message. We decided on our vacation destination, we were going to have our work cut out for us, keeping her under control, not wanting her attacking everyone. She didn't have any teeth, but her jaws were still strong, she would gum you to death.

I miss her terribly.
She was my beloved companion!
And I'll never forget her as long as I live.
Thank You Jesus for bringing her into my life, even though it was for such a short time.
She was Loved and she gave Love back to us.
It wouldn't have been the same without you in my life.
My Beloved Companion.
Love,
Daddy