Annie

Meet Annie. She is a 10 yr old female shih tzu with hearing loss and a heart murmur. Annie was kept outside for the first part of her life by a family in Southeastern Missouri. They finally dumped her at the local animal shelter because they thought she was too old and not worth keeping around any longer. An independent rescuer saw Annie at the shelter and stepped in, pulling Annie out of her cage and into the woman's home. She reached out to many rescues, including SDR, to find help placing Annie in foster care. No other rescue would take Annie in due to her age, health issues, and appearance. Being kept outdoors her whole life, Annie was severely matted and incredibly dirty, so much so that she was unable to see through her hair. She had to be shaved down completely once she was pulled from the shelter in order to get her cleaned up and able to see again. SDR took one look at the photo of Annie when she was found, and agreed right away to take her in.

So Annie made her way on a volunteer transport from SE Missouri to Rochester, MN. Her first foster family fell in love with Annie the minute they met her. But the family barely had a chance to enjoy Annie's company when she started acting very lethargic after her arrival. Annie ended up being hospitalized due to extremely irregular blood work results from unknown causes. But Annie had a full recovery and went to stay in a new foster home that was closer to the vet clinic in case any other issues arose. Her second foster home was full of children and other dogs, and Annie made herself right at home amongst them all, stealing everyone's hearts in the process.

Next comes the best part of all. After everything that Annie survived in the first part of her life, her unique forever home was found. An adoption application for Annie was submitted for an elderly man named Harold on behalf of his family. Harold has assisted living staff in his home around the clock, along with constant visits from family members. Harold wanted to help a senior like himself out and give Annie a forever home. In return, Annie has given Harold's entire household the joy of having a dog. Below is an update from Harold's daughter on how everyone is adjusting to their new life…


"Things are going even better than I had hoped!!! She has brought such joy to not only Harold, but all of us. I truly feel as though Harold and her were meant to be together. He is so protective of her and has fallen in love with her. She loves to play and we all love to play with her - staff are always on the floor playing with her with her toys. We have two beds for her and she has always preferred to sleep in the livingroom but last night she slept in the one next to Harold's bed:) She has us all wrapped around her little paw. She loves her head, cheeks and under her chin scratched and makes little grunts while we do this. She now owns us, the house and the block (at least she thinks she does)!! She is the best and we are soooo blessed to have her. Thank you so very much for helping make this happen:)
She got a bath, haircut, nail cut, etc. Tuesday. She was an absolute angel. I was so proud of her. While we were there we picked out an adorable raincoat, winter coat, nametag, and a new collar since she doesn't like the halter. Harold insisted on staying up until she returned he was so excited and worried about her and how she would do. She is sooo funny. She digs her head in any bag or purse left on the floor looking for treats, tries to play tug of war with Harold's lap blanket, and comes running in from outside right to her treat canister. She was helping me fold clothes the other night - I was trying to fold as she was trying to unfold and play! Of course she won, she always does:) The other night Harold was having fish for supper and Annie was waiting for some. He gave her a few little bites and then the caregiver told him he needed to eat the rest that Annie had her own food. He grins at her with his eyes sparkling and moves his fork with a piece of fish on it to
the end of the table ready to give Annie more. The caregiver said, 'Harold, you need to eat that." He just continued grinning as he dropped the piece of fish onto the floor for Annie. A few of us were talking tonight about how we miss her so much when we go home and can't wait to return to see her again. Having her around has brought staff closer together as well. It is amazing! She has to have all of her toys in her basket when she lays down. I try to tell her there isn't room for her and all her toys but she insists:) Since she got her haircut she likes to have one of her blankets covering her now too when she sleeps. I could go on and on and on. I am so proud of her I feel like I'm finally a 'grandma.' And Harold continues bragging about her, even if you've heard it all before. What a blessing she is! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!"


SDR is thrilled to be a part of this touching success story, and will continue to work to help more dogs like Annie find the forever homes they deserve too. Thank you to everyone who helps make this work possible.

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