Annie is coming on nicely.

Again I will lazily use Julia’s Facebook posting as my Annie update.

I will say that Annie comes to me readily now to have her harness put on for walks and after that while we wait for Julia she comes and prods my leg to give her a scruffle. 🙂

Today our son came with his partner and Annie stayed in her chair just a few feet from them with no signs of nervousness.

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“Annie continues to make progress. It is incredible how easily she has settled into living in a home. She has been clean from the start and enjoys spending time curled up on a chair in the living room with us. She loves her walks! Now she trots about wagging her tail when she knows it is walk time giving gentle pokes with her nose as if to say “don’t forget me!” She comes over & stands calmly to have her harness put on. She walks lovely on lead & we only use a harness as extra security in case something panics her when we are out. She loves other dogs & is very polite greeting them. She is very good at reading other dogs body language, and isn’t as relaxed with bouncy dogs as she is with calmer ones, she doesn’t growl or anything, just crouches down low & tries to get out of their way. Annie is still wary of people she doesn’t know, but now sits or lays quietly if we stop to speak to friends, as long as they ignore her. This is improving as initially she was very scatty & would try to get away if someone dared say good morning as they went past! Auntie Eleanor came over yesterday & Annie was happy to stay curled up on the chair in the same room The key is not forcing the issue with her, just letting her come round in her own time. Her crate is kept closed most of the time during the day now and she has learned that she is just as safe on the chair as in the crate, though we would leave it open for her were we to have a workman or someone we don’t know come in. She does retreat to Hamish’s crate with him when I vacuum, but comes straight back out as soon as I have finished (Mick says he’d climb in their with them if he could, not a fan of the vacuum noise either) She also leaves the room when she sees me come in with the broom, ( a legacy of her days on the street?) but is fine with the mop & isn’t bothered by me squirting the floor cleaning liquid within a few inches of her.Annie is a very gentle soul, not a bad bone in her body & no signs of any aggressive behaviour at all. We put her food in her crate, as she usually waits until our boys have finished eating before starting hers, and though our boys are not food aggressive, they are greedy. I think if given the chance to scoff Annie’s meals, they would, and she would just stand back & let them, bless her heart. She eats until she has had enough, which is a first in this house! She doesn’t always finish her breakfast, but does eat her dinner fine & her nightly Bonio or dried tripe treat.We’ve seen glimpses of Annie’s playful side recently when out on our walks. She’s bounded like a little lamb with a smile on her face and yesterday she picked up Indy’s tug rope, gave it a little shake then threw it about a foot away, but scared herself when it landed 🙂  Today, she was laying down while I took Hamish’s long line off of him, and she was picking up a nut husk and was throwing it in the air (I know, we are easily excited ) There is a fun loving cheeky Annie just waiting to get out. ( she did manage to roll in fox poo the other day, I swear she was grinning when she stood up! No rinse shampoo & white wine vinegar meant that I got the last laugh)

She has free run of the downstairs at night. She usually sleeps on the chair, but on the odd occasion has taken herself off to her crate to sleep. She hasn’t been at all destructive, hasn’t pinched any food from the kitchen, nor tried to get into the bin. This little lady is amazing and is an absolute angel. She is unsettled by thunder, but doesn’t bark at it. The first time we had thunder, she went upstairs & lay down in the spare room. The other day, she trotted up & down the stairs with Hamish until it stopped

I am now able to give her a gentle brushing, though she gets a bit nervous if she sees the brush before I start, so I hold it in the palm of my hand & do the first 3 or 4 strokes as if I am fussing her, and then she is fine. She has a lovely little ginger beard, she even lets me brush that! She is a darling and considering her life on the streets, she is doing amazingly well. She is no trouble at all. All she needs is time & patience (patience because she is such a sweetheart, you’ll just want to cuddle & fuss her, but will have to resist the temptation until she is ready), there is a very lucky forever family out there waiting for her, they just don’t know it yet.”

Photo1- Annie & Hamish waiting for me to finish vacuuming.
Photo 2- Annie relaxing in her chair.
Photo 3- Annie on her walk yesterday.

Hamish is continuing to be Annie’s best buddy, he still tries to get her to play but she finds it a little unnerving still.

Indy got a little over vigorous when pouncing on a toy and snapped one of his claws in half and made his hand tender so is taking it easy for a while, as you can see from the picture below this isn’t going down too well! 😀  (that’s his not pleased look)

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There is no individual dog for homing today, I am posting a link to Love Underdogs who have just brought 13 more lucky souls from Romania for rehoming, most this time are young pups. 🙂 They now have 50 dogs plus some cats available for adoption.

Don’t overlook Annie who is featured on page 1 of the dogs available page.