BIF Little Abby Quicksilver CD, TDI, FCH, CGC

Patty got Abby at 1 ½ years of age from Carrie 1988. Shortly before I got Abby, she had broken into a closet and eaten nearly an entire bag of dog food and bloated, but thanks to intensive veterinary care, survived the life threatening ordeal. Abby would later pass on the “snarf gene” to all of her pups. She was my first whippet – a lovely blue brindle bitch and one heck of a speed demon. I never realized until later the caliber of lure coursing dog that I had. Carrie encouraged me to enter her in a lure coursing trial, so I did. Carrie released her for me. I watched with eager anticipation from the side lines. Abby walked away that weekend with back-to-back Best of Breed wins, a Best in Field, and finished her FCh. That was my introduction to lure coursing and I was hooked. I later learned that Elaine McMichael, who I would get a whippet puppy named Bridget from 15 years later, was one of the judges that weekend. Not only was Abby my first lure coursing dog, she was also my first obedience dog and scored in the high 190s on her way to her CD title. If I had the wisdom then, that I do now to recognize an exceptionally talented dog, I would have competed with her much more than I did. In 1992, she was bred to Carrie’s dog Reggie and delivered 7 healthy pups. Soon after the whelping, she experienced her 2nd life threatening event when she developed a septic uterine infection that required emergency surgery. After 10 days on IV fluids, she recovered, but was unable to nurse the pups because of the strong antibiotics that had been required to save her life. That is where Papa Bruce entered the scene. He loving raised the first Bunnygetter litter. Every pup made it to weaning in perfect condition thanks to Papa Bruce’s TLC. We kept two blue brindle male pups, Turlough and Winston, aka The Blues Brothers, from that litter. Abby ruled the house with an iron fist. She was small, but mighty and no one dared cross her. At age 12, she developed thrombosis of arteries in her rear legs (a condition that we later realized was probably genetic since her son Turlough developed an identical condition at the same age), but lived happily for another 3 years on anti-blood clotting drugs. She crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in the winter of 2002. We still miss our little blue bunnygetter.