Happy tails - Annie the sparkling gem!
Dear PetRescue and I mean "dear" sincerely.
If it was not for the caring people in this world, like yourselves life would be very sad for lots of animals, so for that I say thank-you. Also I would not have my sweet little fur ball sitting on my knee at this very moment if a caring soul had not taken the time to care and save her life.
I lost my sweet boy Oscar about 1 year before I had the desire to let another dog into my life and with that thought in mind I ventured onto the Pet Rescue website. I was a goner when I opened the first page, all these sweet little faces looking up at me from my computer all saying pick me, pick me!
One sweet face in particular shone like a rare diamond, and I knew at that very moment that I had not picked her but in fact that she had picked me.
I immediately got on the phone and luck was with me, because her carer Norma (a lovely lady I might add) was going to be home so I made arrangements to take a 2hr drive with my two children to pick up Princess Leila and take her home that very afternoon.
When we arrived this scared little dog ran and hid by Norma’s side, not sure about herself or us. Norma picked her up after a while and handed her to me and at that moment I felt that she needed us. She clung to me like a frightened child actually hugging into me, with her claws pulled in tight. I remember thinking that I knew this was meant to be!
So we put her in the car and waved goodbye to Norma (Princess Leila waved as well with the assistance of my son) and we headed home. On the way home Annie (as she is now known) would not look up at anyone of us and stared at the seat she was sitting on not moving an inch her body was stiff and ridged and she looked so sad.
After about an hour she allowed my daughter to move her closer to her and lay down along side her for the best part of the journey and then moved over and snuggled up to my son for the remainder of the drive.
When we got home Annie followed me around everywhere not wanting to be apart from human company. She would bark constantly if she was separated and she would also run around the house if my voice was on the answering machine. At times she would yelp and run if someone patted her when she was not expecting it, which makes you wonder what her past was like before coming to our home.
I got on the internet and looked up an article on separation anxiety in pound dogs and immediately started putting into affect what I had learned - began closing doors periodically between her and myself. At first she panicked and barked wanting to be near me, but as the article said this was very important so we soldiered on closing bedroom doors, bathroom doors, back door ect not allowing her to always be in the same room as us all the time.
After about a week she started to settle down not worrying so much about being alone and us not coming back straight away. Sometimes still she will run around the house looking for me if I have left the room while she has been sound asleep on her pillow or snuggled up on the lounge.
When Annie met our kelpie she was not fussed at all, now she loves her and lets her lick her wet feet dry, and sleeps curled up on her back when the sun is warm in the morning. They play all day and now when Annie is on my knee she kisses my kelpie and has let her mother her.
They have a special dog bond, her anxiety is a thing of the past but I think in total it took about 2 months for her to really start to settle down and now after 8 months she is so relaxed that she lies down on her back with all fours in the air looking as happy as Larry. She loves the kids and knows when its time to pick them for them to come home. She loves the car and is friendly to everyone she meets, she is a sweet little dog and Is very much loved.
Annie is the most gentle sweet funny little dog and I can’t understand why anyone could not have loved her. She is a rare diamond indeed and thankyou for giving me the opportunity to find this rare gem.
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