Welcome home Gabrielle Louise

Gabby is my Austrialian Shepherd and has been my faithful sidekick since she allowed me to adopt her on December 1st 2007. My husband and I were only going to go look at her that evening. I'd wanted a Border Collie, but was finding working with rescues a bit difficult. Our yard had a raggedy, old fence along the back that a dog could easily escape through, but we had plans to replace that section of the fence come the spring. I'd made the mistake of saying that I was planning on tying my dog out for potty time during the coming winter. I didn't realize that in the mind of rescuers, that would lead to me neglecting my dog.

Luckily I'd been in contact with a guy that participated in Flyball. He checked the available dogs on an Aussie rescue site that was managed by a woman who also participated in Flyball. I clicked the link in his email and saw a scrawny, little, blue merle Aussie named Suzy. She looked Border Collie-ish so maybe she'd work. But she didn't have a tail. To me tails always seemed like an essential reason to have dog. We decided to go check her out anyway.

I'd already been approved for adoption when we went to meet Suzy. I knew by that time to say that my dog would be walked on a leash for potty breaks. She was so cute that night. Nine months old and just excited to be alive each moment. Thinking back to that night, one word always comes to mind: energy. This crazy, little Aussie loved everyone and everything and with her boundless energy she made the world aware of that fact. There was no way we wouldn't take this dog home with us.

I always knew that my first female dog would be named Gabrielle. I'm Xena, and therefore it only made sense. I was hoping that I could call her Bri (pronounced Bree), as I didn't particularly like Gabby and found Gabrielle too long. However, our lack of supplies that evening forced us to stop at a pet store, and it was apparent that Gabby was the only fitting name. She immediately went after a Border Collie as we stepped through the door and then continued to bark until my husband took her to the car. As I hurriedly finished shopping, I could still hear her outside. I suppose I should have known that such a high energy dog would need a release valve for the moments she was even more reved up. I still think there is no way I could have expected an Aussie to have the high pitch bark of a dog a third her size.

It is 4 years later and the word 'energy' still is foremost in my mind when describing Gabby. There is no greater reward for her than to simply run. It doesn't matter if it's during Flyball, or chasing a deer, or simply running in circles. As long as she's running, nothing else matters.