Sunday, January 22, 2012

Abby (Abbie) is Sweet and Clean


After a walk in the melting piles of gritty gray snow, if you're low-slung, you come back icky, which makes it not so good for a winter snuggle up -- the remedy is a , oh bow-wow, grr, -- bath.  Worse, there's getting dry again, from the, woof, grr, bow-wow, ruff -- hair dryer.  It's enough to exhaust even the relentless, tough, Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  But you get treats afterward, and you can run all through the house searching for your lost smell.  The humans seem to like it when this has happened, but they have absolutely no sense of smell and less good taste about it!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Abby Comes Home


When there's a dog-sized hole in your heart, you eventually have to fill it, and I hope you'll be as lucky as me. I applied to Seattle Purebred Rescue for a Corgi and heard right away from Mary Day, in Lacy who helps Corgis find new homes.  Wonder of wonders, this lovely little girl needed a new home after her good people decided she needed to be separated from an aggressive half brother.  They had given her training, love, exercise, all the right attention, and I know it broke their hearts.  But it's almost as though they had created this special companion for my retirement, who already is getting me out and walking around the neighborhood, and briskly.  She is so bright and jolly and adaptable -- it's like we had been together for years, and she even respects the guinea pigs although she wishes they needed some herding.  My biggest concern was whether she would settle down while I spend a few hours in my studio, making things.  Well, as you can see above, noooooo probbie!  And just in case you think that little size means you have a foo-foo on your hands, read the story of Ole, who survived an avalanche and came home by himself.  You may think that Nordic name is not so appropriate for a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, but they are descended from the Swedish Vallhund, brought to Wales by Vikings long ago.  I plan to test that lineage soon -- we are going to celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King by going snowshoeing.  That dog-sized hole in my heart has been custom fit!