Names I called my Beagle

Me & Abby Christmas 2003

Me & Abby Christmas 2003

Abby was named after my father’s mother. Why? Originally, that’s what I was supposed to be named: Abbigail Eileen. Instead, I was named after my mother’s mother, Karolyna. Growing up, my father made me promise that someday, I would name my first daughter Abbigail. From an early age, I knew that human children were not something I aspired to raise, I wasn’t sure how to keep that promise to him, but knew that somehow I would.

In 1994, when I was 30, with no prospects of marriage (which was fine by me) I decided I wanted a dog. Not just any dog, but a companion, someone of my very own. It took 6 months of interviewing countless breeders until I found the Beagleman of Oviedo (FL). It was one of his girls (Mary) that gave birth to my Abby. I knew immediately what I would call her, and thus fulfilled my promise to my father. Initially, my father wasn’t very happy that a dog bore his mother’s name, nor were some of my cousins, who also named their daughter Abbigail. Abbigail was a bit too formal for a little dog like her, so I started calling her Abby for short, but that was just the beginning of her nicknames she would ultimately answer to:

  • My father was the first with a nickname : Abbigail, SH!t in the Pail
  • Then came Abby-gator after her favorite squeeky toy
  • She was my little Abby Foo-foo, and then just “The Foo” for short
  • The Schmoo soon came after, along with Schmoo-ville
  • Her appetite quickly earned her the nickname “Pigger La Rue”, “Pigger” for short and finally, Schmoo-Schmigger
  • My little Monkey Nut
  • Favorites have been Beaglette, Scooter Pie Beagle, S.P. Beaglette
  • Other recent nicknames have been The Boo and Booboo
  • I sometimes referred to her by the following names because this is all she would sometimes eat during her illness – CBB (Cheese Burger Beaglette) and PBB (Peanut Butter Beaglette) and the Chiggy-wiggy Beaglette
  • And finally, Tim’s personal names for her: Abbatha and Boombala

No matter what we called her, she always knew it was with love. Sometimes she would even come to you, if it suited her. I miss you my little Schmoo. Pleasant dreams.