Chapter 3 – Gabby Grows Up

Gabby’s primary veterinarian, Doc Slobody, saw the picture above and commented, “That’s a dog with a high level of awareness. You can tell from her expression and stance she knows what is going on.” I had other people tell me about that all her life… “she knows what’s going on.”

Gabby is about nine months old in these pictures, taken in August of 1998. What a beautiful little dog she grew up to be!
I will never forget this day. I took her up to Gram’s (my grandmother’s) for the day, and in the early evening I took her to the back yard to play.  I think this is when she first realized how athletic she was and what she could do.
I didn’t do anything but watch as she ran around on her own. She started tearing around in circles, running faster than I had ever seen her run before.  She would stop and look around, then run around some more, darting around all over the yard.  She was so happy. When she was done running around I picked her up and praised her.  
Afterwards I put her in my Miata and took some more pictures of her.
I got the 1997 Miata brand-new in April of 1998.  It was a leftover as Mazda transitioned to the new body style.  I still have it today, and will never sell it!
She never let her eyes off me for long…
This is my favorite picture of the ones in the car.  When I see her little grin, it tells me she is happy and content… that she is happy she is my dog.
This video was taken in the same back yard the following year.  As you can see, whenever she would chase things, after she touched or stopped it she would backtrack and try and pick up the scent.  Part of her hound dog heritage, I suppose.