Annie's Most Amazing Adventures...

Forever friends...

                    Actually this is a short story of our adventures with Annie.

Today was Vet day again...Annie's ears are clear but she will have her two upper back teeth pulled next Monday.   One is fractured and broken off and the other has deep fractures.  They hurt when she eats her food and hard treats.  Hopefully next week she will be pain free.  She's on soft food and treats for three weeks.  We just added water to her regular food and she's loving it.  So that's all good.

Tonight Hubby went out to close the garage door across the yard and took Annie with him - she's doing pretty good off leash.  I grabbed a couple of Dove chocolates, opened the shades since the sun wasn't coming in the kitchen windows and checked Facebook.  I glanced up and see Hubby running through the opening to our west field.  Now I see Annie behind him, watching him run.  I put my shoes on and go outside to see what is going on and Hubby runs by yelling "Annie, Annie, Annie!"  Well, its more like "ANNIE, ANNIE, ANNIE!"  Then I see Annie running along the outside of the fence in the same direction that Hubby has run.  I scream, "ANNIE, ANNIE, ANNIE!" as I see Hubby ducking through the barbed wired fence at the road.  I yell at Hubby - "What are you doing?  Where are you going?" 

Now Annie has stopped, has turned around, has come over to me, and I have her by her collar.  I try to call Hubby and no answer.  He doesn't hear me...or at least isn't answering me.  I don't move because I don't know if Annie will go towards him which is towards the road or not - so I stay where I am holding her collar. 

Now I can hear his shoes on the gravel...so I tell him that I have her.  He still doesn't hear me.  He was coming to tell me that she was gone...


After closing the garage door, he couldn't see Annie and started calling her but saw a black dog-like animal running through the field and thought it was her.  Now Hubby doesn't run anymore...but he was running because he thought it was Annie chasing something toward the road.

He never saw the animal he was chasing once it went through the fence at the end of the field because of the brush - his relief at seeing her with me was more than priceless.  Annie just looked at us wondering what had just happened.  She melts you with her soulful eyes. 

So here we are - old - with a middle age dog (6 yrs. old) - with so much energy that she would catch those bunnies except for a bush or fence where the bunnies can hide.

We've bonded - we're weary - we're a family.  Whew!  I hope we live through this time of adjustment and trust.

Hug your dog and take care,

Bonnie

Sweet Annie...

Annie joined our family five days ago.  She is an Aussie Shepherd/Shepherd Mix.  The shelter thought she was about 5 years old but today the vet and groomer believe she is older - like seven years old.  She is in good condition for a stray but has a chronic ear infection and today we found out she needs to have her largest tooth pulled.

She's so fluffy now after her bath!!!

Having a dog is a big responsibility - financial and day to day care.  Loving her is the easy part.  We feel so lucky to have found another dog that fits into our lives so perfectly.  She is a gentle soul - we will never know her story.  I can't help but think that someone is missing her terribly.

Annie's favorite place to relax is under my enamel table
by the back door where I kick off my shoes!

She spent 1/2 hour with the vet and almost two hours with the groomer.  Her coat is shiny and soft and wavy now.  What a pretty, intelligent addition to our family.  She can sit, shake hands and stay. 

Sweet Annie

The groomer gave me some suggestions about training her to be off her leash.  She would love to chase the rabbits that have made our yard their home!  So I will get a long rope and begin training as soon as this heat subsides.

The shelter named her Sweetie because that is her nature.  We changed it to Annie because that fits better for us.  So name recognition is first...then the hard part begins.  In one direction, certain times of the day, our road has lots of fast traffic .  In the other direction, lots of sounds, fields, and places to explore.  She has lots of energy so we have to build a trust between us.  When she comes to us when we call her, we can begin to let her off her leash.  The scary part because we don't know if she ran away or was abandoned or ...

So we have our work cut out for us but what a good project we have ahead of us!!!  We are smiling again and fuss over her like a kid.

Take care and adopt a dog if you have the time, love and financial means to do so.

Bonnie