Meet the globetrotting dog that has traveled more than 5,000 miles and seen most of the US – despite only having one EYE.
Abby, a tiny Maltese weighing just 5lbs, had emergency surgery to remove her right eye at two years old after a play fight with another dog left it bleeding and infected.
But the disabled doggy doesn’t let her handicap hold her back – instead enjoying a life of luxury, usually lying in the lap of doting owner April Smith, 60.
April and husband of 32 years Larry, 61, who are retired, live on a boat called The One Eye Dog – named after their precious pet – and are cruising around the world.
And lucky Abby joined the couple on a 12-month adventure beginning last summer which took them 5,600 miles from Alabama to New York, the Bahamas and Canada.
As they criss-crossed over 25 states Abby soaked up the sun on deck, stopping off to swim at beautiful beaches and even sample the local cuisine.
The well-traveled pooch also racks up air miles jet-setting around the US and loves vacations so much she jumps in the suitcase whenever April and Larry attempt to pack.
Mom-of-two April, a retired mortgage company branch manager, from Grass Valley, California, said: “When Abby first lost her eye we were devastated.
“We were worried that she wouldn’t be able to do dog agility and about how she would look and function.
“But she’s great. The only time she has had a problem is when it was really dark and hard to see and she walked off the side of the dock.
“A lot of people don’t notice that she only has one eye at first because she is so little that they’re distracted and they’re like, ‘Oooh.’
“Eventually they go to move her hair and say, ‘Does that dog only have one eye?’
“Everywhere we go, people just go nuts over her.”
April said Abby has taken a like to exploring and making new friends overseas – and next on the cards is the Caribbean.
She has her own spots onboard the crew’s luxury Hatteras yacht complete with her bed, food supplies and even a mat for doing her business.
April added: “Abby loves traveling and anywhere we go she loves to come. So long as she’s with us she’s happy.
“She goes to all the national monuments and also loves the water and playing on the beach.
“The most days she spent without getting off the boat was three but typically we would go one day cruising and then two or three in the port.
“Along the way we would stop off and visit restaurants and she would sit there without making a sound.
“She eats everything we eat, except sushi. She isn’t big into sushi.
“It’s like having a little child. She will walk around until she can’t walk any more and then we will carry her.
“But she is very cultured. She’s traveled more than a lot of people have.”
