Sandcastle's Westminster Abbi (Abbi)

Abbi was my first Lab and my constant hunting companion for many years. I still recall many of her spectaular retrieves, including on a crippled juvenile blue goose in Manitoba that glided for hundreds of yards before finally dropping. Despite having hip surgery 6 weeks before, Abbi ran it down and carried it back, still alive. Abbi aged more quickly than I wanted, probably because she suffered from hypothyroidism. In June 1997, I decided that another trip in September to Manitoba would be too tough on her, so I thought to leave her home. Later that same evening, when I went to the kennels, I found she had passed away.