This month we feature two very special pets, Abbey and Cayenne. These two sweethearts belong to a special owner, Gayle Fible. Gayle has been a member of our Web Site team since its early days in 1999, and she has been working at Replacements, Ltd. since June 1996. Abbey and Cayenne accompany her to work at least one day each week.

Gayle often thought of owning a dog but never became serious about the idea until Christmas 1999. Gayle spent that holiday season with her niece and her niece’s husband in Atlanta. On Christmas night Petey, their wire-haired terrier, slept on the foot of Gayle’s bed. Enjoying the warmth of Petey snuggled against her feet, Gayle remembered thinking before falling asleep, “I really do want a dog.” That was the exact day that Abbey was born.

After the holidays, Gayle began hunting for her canine companion. Fond memories of a small stray white dog that her family had taken in many years ago led Gayle to research the American Eskimo breed. The more Gayle read, the more she realized that an “Eskie" was the perfect dog for her. She also decided that she preferred a miniature female that was at least 6 months of age. Gayle was afraid that the care of a very young puppy would be too much for her. Unable to locate the perfect Eskie, Gayle temporarily gave up her search. Then one summer day, while walking through Replacements’ Purchasing department, Gayle noticed two beautiful white dogs sitting beside Purchasing specialist Aubrey Rogister. She asked if the dogs were American Eskimos. To her surprise, Aubrey explained to her that the two dogs were sisters and he was looking for a good home for Abigayle. “Abbey” was exactly what Gayle was looking for – a 7-month old miniature female American Eskimo – and she was magnificent. Gayle took Abbey home for the weekend for a trial. Before the trial was a few hours old, Gayle knew she had found her dog. Abbey has been with her ever since.

Abbey proved to be such a joy to Gayle that she began thinking about another dog. Gayle found her second dog, Cayenne, by searching through an animal rescue site on the Internet. Gayle adopted a little red and cream Pomeranian with an irresistible face on July 20, 2002. Gayle advises that adopting a rescue dog required quite a bit of extra work. It was several months before Cayenne felt secure in her new environment, but once she did, her hidden, very playful personality became apparent to all. She was seen as quite a charmer to all who met her!

Regarding Replacements’ pet-friendly policy, Gayle says, “I love spending time with my dogs more than anything, and because of our policy I can spend even more time with them. That indeed is a great benefit!” Gayle adds, “Because of the generosity of a Replacements’ coworker and the compassion of an animal rescue group, I have two wonderful dogs, and my dogs have a wonderful home.”

One parting note, Gayle advises that if you find a typo while on our site, it was Cayenne’s fault!

Click here to view our Featured Pets Archive!