Annie, 1997-2010
She was a survivor, all right.
She was found on a rooftop in Newark, covered in tar. She was rescued and taken to the Mount Pleasant Animal Shelter, where they shaved off all the tar-encrusted fur, only to discover the mange beneath it. This caused the rest of her fur to fall out, which is how we found her.
We had been looking for a puppy and had been to most of the shelters in the northern half of the state, and we'd seen a lot of traffic-stopping cute pups. Annie had two things going for her: Big brown eyes, and puppy-ness that made her forget how sick she was. That was it. She was bald, smelled bad, was covered in scabs, and itched so bad that at 13 pounds she was taking twice the normal human dosage of antihistamines.
But those eyes.
After the background check, they knew we were serious and wouldn't bring her back in a week, so they sent us home with a supply of Mitaban and appointments for follow-up exams.
Oh, right--there was the urinary tract infection that took four antibiotics to finally kill.
A few months later they declared her healthy, and we finally knew what color she was. It was at that point that they told us that they weren't sure her fur would ever grow back. (In a few places, it never was normal.)
None of that mattered to Annie. She was almost Viszla-like in her need, not to be the center of attention, but always to be where the action was. Until she fell asleep in your lap.
Smart, vocal and fun, she was the first thing ever to depend entirely on reillye and me. This gave us a small but significant head start on knowing what parenthood is like.
Even at the end, she didn't give up without a fight. Deafness, diminished vision, hip pain and loss of motor control, especially in her hind legs--none of that stopped her from being Annie. Some dogs, when they get to that point, go lie in the corner just wanting to be left alone. Not her. Even if she could only be up and around for a couple hours a day, she fought through all of it to make sure she kept her place and her role in the family.
Smart, vocal and fun, no matter what.
She was found on a rooftop in Newark, covered in tar. She was rescued and taken to the Mount Pleasant Animal Shelter, where they shaved off all the tar-encrusted fur, only to discover the mange beneath it. This caused the rest of her fur to fall out, which is how we found her.
We had been looking for a puppy and had been to most of the shelters in the northern half of the state, and we'd seen a lot of traffic-stopping cute pups. Annie had two things going for her: Big brown eyes, and puppy-ness that made her forget how sick she was. That was it. She was bald, smelled bad, was covered in scabs, and itched so bad that at 13 pounds she was taking twice the normal human dosage of antihistamines.
But those eyes.
After the background check, they knew we were serious and wouldn't bring her back in a week, so they sent us home with a supply of Mitaban and appointments for follow-up exams.
Oh, right--there was the urinary tract infection that took four antibiotics to finally kill.
A few months later they declared her healthy, and we finally knew what color she was. It was at that point that they told us that they weren't sure her fur would ever grow back. (In a few places, it never was normal.)
None of that mattered to Annie. She was almost Viszla-like in her need, not to be the center of attention, but always to be where the action was. Until she fell asleep in your lap.
Smart, vocal and fun, she was the first thing ever to depend entirely on reillye and me. This gave us a small but significant head start on knowing what parenthood is like.
Even at the end, she didn't give up without a fight. Deafness, diminished vision, hip pain and loss of motor control, especially in her hind legs--none of that stopped her from being Annie. Some dogs, when they get to that point, go lie in the corner just wanting to be left alone. Not her. Even if she could only be up and around for a couple hours a day, she fought through all of it to make sure she kept her place and her role in the family.
Smart, vocal and fun, no matter what.