Annie - Cockapoo

[vangorm]

[see Bella's post here]
- Age: Almost 3 1/2 years old
- Sex: Female, spayed
- Favorite Food: Hot dogs! She'll do anything for hot dog.
- List of Tricks:

1) Sit​

2) Down​

3) Stay​

4) Wait​

5) Touch(target with nose)​

6) Jump​

7) Up up! (jumps into arms)​

8) Over (uses my arms has hurdles)​

9) Around(for frisbee throwing purposes)​

10) Play Dead / Bang​

11) Drop it​

12) Take it​

13) Bring it​

14) Spin​

15) Sit up​

16) Leave it​

Sorry! It's not the most impressive list. We're working on it though!
- Videos:

- Photos:

- Toys: Whatever Bella has
- Habits: She lays down with her back feet splayed out behind her! It's very strange looking.
- Problems: She can be a bit possessive when she thinks/knows she's not supposed to have something. For instance, the other day she found a kit kat bar on the floor somewhere and was carrying it around and when I went to get it, she growled at me. Today she snatched a treat off the ground outside and since I didn't know what it was that she just grabbed, I instinctively went to grab it out of her mouth. She didn't even care except for the fact that I had shoved my hand in her mouth! (I rewarded her with more treats when she allowed me to do that though!) She also has a bit of separation anxiety but it's improved SO much that it barely even exists anymore. No more ripping up things, yay!
- Strengths: She is the least fearful dog I've ever owned. Aside from some minor fears like fireplaces and fireworks(which we're working on), she's happy to meet everyone and everything.
- Adoption Story: I love adoption stories! XD Annie was adopted mostly to help my other dog Bella to get over her fear of dogs(she had gotten to the point where she could be /around/ other dogs, but interacting them was a stretch) and Annie is who Bella picked as her friend. I took a vet tech course in high school and we often got dogs in needing baths or shots or just some basic care. Annie was a foster dog from the shelter I now work at. She had been surrendered as a puppy(I think they couldn't find homes for all the pups?).. around 5-6 months old or so, then adopted and returned because the owner found out she was pregnant, then adopted and returned because she was too much work, then adopted and returned because the family didn't realize how much energy she had(an 8 month old dog? really?), then adopted and returned because the owner became ill, then adopted and returned because the owner decided she didn't want a 15 year commitment. By this point Annie is around 11 months old and got really sick. She looked awful when I met her in class. No energy, just slept all day, had trouble breathing, needed fluids, etc. As she got better, she became happier and a bit more perky. Once she was out of the "contagious" zone(to be safe, we waited around a month and a half, I brought Bella in for a bath and Bella started playing with her! Brought Bella back for a few more play dates and ended up adopting her.

 

[Gracegeorgina]

She's gorgeous! I love cockapoos

 

[Linda A]

She is adorable! What an adoption story. Bless you for giving her a forever home!!

 

[Dogster]

What a story!!! Annie is abosutely gorgeous!!! Love the photos!!!

 

[brody_smom]

Poor Annie! Bless you for giving her a better future! (How can people be so heartless? And thoughtless? Don't they know the damage they are doing?) She looks like one happy, carefree pup!

 

[blacknym]

She is freakin adorable! What a story....im glad you took her!

 

[Pia Lagotto]

I love the fact that you adopted Anne to become a companion for Bella. My dog Pia was a rescue too.

 

[southerngirl]

What a great adoption story. I adore the picture of Annie running with her ears flying, so cute.

 

[vangorm]

Thank you!

Yeah, I was completely in shock when Bella started trying to play with her(Annie was still too weak to do much more than wag her tail at her though). I had been looking into getting a second dog for a few months before that, but was having trouble figuring out what I wanted. Bella needed something SO particular that I was on the verge of thinking I needed to just get a puppy which she finds far less intimidating and since she loves baby animals.. well. Yeah. But I really just wanted an adult dog. So when I was figuring everything out I knew Bella couldn't have a dog be bigger than her (because she had always been attacked by bigger dogs) unless it grew up(ie. we got it as a pup) to be bigger than her, but my family has never been big on small dogs. I kind of left myself in a pickle! Having Annie there and just happening to meet her(rather than going to the shelter and falling in love with a dog(or dogs) just to have Bella be a grump about it really worked out perfectly for both of us. <3

Haha southerngirl! Me too! She's so full of joy.

 

[Gordykins]

Thanks for taking Annie in and giving her a forever home! And thanks for all the hard work you do in the shelter you work at.

Annie is absolutely adorable! I love, love, love those EARS!!!

 

[MaryK]

Thank you for giving Annie her forever home. She's absolutely gorgeous and those ears!!!!!!!! Love her! No wonder the poor baby got sick being backwards and forwards to the shelter so many times. Honestly people are unbelievable. She sure is one very happy girl now, lovely that Bella chose her, dog's know who they want as their friends!

 

[vangorm]

Aww, thank you guys! <3

MaryK: Oh, definitely. Dogs go downhill SO fast in the shelter. It's such an abnormal environment and so many different people handle the dogs.. We put signs everywhere for the public NOT to touch the dogs without asking staff for permission first. Yet so many people come in and reach through the cage to pet Daisy, then next it's Fido, then Lucky, then the color puppies, then go back and start again. It's nuts. And when a staff says "please don't pet the dogs, they will get sick," they're apologetic and stop.. until we come around the corner. I've caught people doing it right after I turn my back or as soon as I round the corner and they see me, they yank their hands out. It's incredibly aggravating and it's so unhealthy for the dogs. People really should be more educated about that and it's not something that should be taken lightly!

Here are a few more pictures from an outting at the dog park the other day!

(^ she was rolling around, playing in the grass, not showing submission or anything like that :] )

--

Oh, and here's a picture... well, I'm not really sure what's going on in it but it IS cute!

 

[MaryK]

Love the pics and LOL nope not quite sure what's happening in the last one either but she sure is cute and having fun.

That's awful, people should realize that it's not kind to pat all the dogs, but down right unhealthy for the dogs. I do wonder about people at times, the homa sapien is supposed to be the most intelligent animal but........ I often wonder. I suppose it depends on how you define 'intelligence'. Dogs are much more sensible and intelligent in so many ways.

 

[vangorm]

Ahaha, yes! She's all about having fun.

Right! I also think it's just a lack of compassion in general. When someone tells you that you are making the dogs sick or putting the dogs at risk of getting sick and you go back to doing what you were doing, what does that say about you as a person?

 

[MaryK]

Ahaha, yes! She's all about having fun.

Right! I also think it's just a lack of compassion in general. When someone tells you that you are making the dogs sick or putting the dogs at risk of getting sick and you go back to doing what you were doing, what does that say about you as a person?

She sure is a fun lady!
Absolutely! Can excuse lack of knowledge or ability to read but once told stop right away and don't claim to be an 'animal lover', makes me so mad! Actually it should be 'common' sense not to touch all the dogs, though I often wonder also about why sense is called 'common' as it doesn't appear very often!

 

[vangorm]

Exactly. And I can understand it a little bit more here in particular because we live in a college town. A lot of people that come in are college students wanting to see the dogs as they miss their own. A lot of our volunteers are college students as well. It doesn't excuse petting all the dogs, but I understand why they're more inclined to want to, if that makes sense? I mean, if I couldn't see my dogs for weeks or months at a time, I would desperately want to have some sort of dog interaction, but I wouldn't want to risk them getting sick for my own satisfaction.

 

[MaryK]

Exactly. And I can understand it a little bit more here in particular because we live in a college town. A lot of people that come in are college students wanting to see the dogs as they miss their own. A lot of our volunteers are college students as well. It doesn't excuse petting all the dogs, but I understand why they're more inclined to want to, if that makes sense? I mean, if I couldn't see my dogs for weeks or months at a time, I would desperately want to have some sort of dog interaction, but I wouldn't want to risk them getting sick for my own satisfaction.

Yes I can fully understand the need for interaction with a dog, any dog, I would be exactly the same. I'm bad even a day away from my boys. But after being warned, then stop, no excuse after that. They could also volunteer, as do others, to help take the dogs for walks etc. that way they would get their 'doggy fix' in a safe and useful way. From what I know about Shelters they are always in need of volunteers.

 

[Gordykins]

Kind of on the same page of petting all of the dogs, I hate when people let their kids (or themselves) yell, and poke at, and just pester all of the dogs. I know that a lot of times they mean well, but they just don't seem to understand that being at the shelter is already a stressful thing for most dogs. Then to stick your hand in and pet them... sometimes it's just risky! Then if the dog bites... it's the dog who ends up needing to pay for it.

 

[vangorm]

Exactly!
Yesterday I actually had to tell someone to leave because they just weren't listening. I told them at LEAST 10 times not to touch dogs and you know what I caught them doing? Going in the dog's KENNELS. Actually, I caught them in one of our shyest dog's kennels. She's terrified, you can't even get her out of her kennel unless you carry her and she'll only let certain staff do that. I felt so bad for the poor girl. So I go over and tell them "She is new here and is very scared--" and they interrupt me: "Yeah, I was getting that idea..." and then they go back to trying to pet her while she cowers as close to the wall as she can! Ridiculous! Ugh, people! Not only are they terrifying her even MORE, but they don't know if she has any diseases, what she could be sick with, etc. and then they go into another dog's kennel while I take the scared dog out to eat. Really?! Gah! I guess I sounded harsher than I meant to when I told them they needed to sanitize and to never go into a dog's kennel(especially without asking) and they acted all insulted and left. Ah well. Who needs 'em, right?