Abby x2
Our Abby waits her turn while her sister takes a drink
A few months ago when we first got Abby, we encountered a guy walking a large yellow lab. Abby and the other dog did the dog greeting thing. As we chatted we learned that the other lab was six months older than Abby. We started to speculate whether Abby would get as big as the other dog (who the owner said weighed eighty five pounds - a large female). Probably not, the owner said. The other dog's father was an English labrador retriever, which is stockier than other labs. Well Abby's father was an English lab also. That seemed like a coincidence, so we asked him where he got his dog. It turned out to be from a breeder near Horseshoe Bend. Really? That's where we got Abby. As we talked it turned out that the other dog came from the same breeder near Gardena, Idaho. In fact both dogs had the same parents, Brody and Bella. They were from litters six months apart. I looked that up and it makes them sisters. So that was an amazing coincidence, that two dogs who are sisters from different litters ended up living in the same neighborhood, only a few houses apart.
No. You're not seeing double.
"So what's the dog's name?" we asked.
"Abby."
"No, not our dog, your dog."
"Abby."
Now that is just spooky. Two dogs, from the same breeder, with the same parents, living in the same neighborhood, both are named...Abby. (Queue eerie Twilight Zone music.)
It turns out that both Abbys have a lot of energy, and while good dogs can be quite destructive if they get bored. So they both get at least one walk every day. That means we run into the "other Abby" pretty often on walks. We have gotten to know her people, Tom and Melissa. We have also found that the dogs like to play together. It's a good way to tire them out too. A few times when she ran into the other Abby while out walking, Sandy would let Abby off leash and they would play together in the park. They really enjoyed it.
They are both tough girls - they love to wrestle.
Then back in November she arranged a play date, and took Abby over to the other Abby's house. This past weekend, we had the other Abby over to our house. We sent them out in the back yard. For an hour they raced all around the yard and wrestled with each other. Man, I could not believe how much energy they both have.
Over time, our Abby has grown, although not as big as her sister. Big Abby is about eighty five pounds. Little Abby (our Abby) is not quite sixty pounds. But when you see them together there is no missing that they are related. We wonder if somehow they know that they are related. More likely, they are just very similar dogs and enjoy the same type of play. There is never a dull moment when they are together.
