Sponsored by:
“In memory of Judy Lilledahl”
Beth Richards
"In memory of Bubba"
Merry Christmas from Team Hudson! 
Merry Christmas in memory of sweet Bubba who was adopted 3 years ago from wonderful Foster Mom Lou in the middle of a blizzard! (12/13/2010) 
From Kathy G. to Annie 11-415, Merry Christmas to a very special girl! Merry Christmas to the Senior Goldens from Santa
December 23, 2011
Introducing Miss Annie. This petite, thin little sweetie, was found as a stray in South Dakota outside all alone. As you can see she is thin and also has a growth on her right front leg. This lovely little girl has been with us about a week now. Here is what we know about Annie:
Annie is one of the most loving, gentle girls I have met. She is a little nervous at first traveling in a vehicle and of course, who knows if she was ever really experienced in one. She has come so very far since she first arrived here at our home for fostercare. Our girl was examined by our vet and is chipped and UTD of course. We still need to get the growth (some type of cyst) off her front leg which is scheduled to be January 6th. Prognosis is very good and again, is seems to be some type of cyst with fluid inside and at the present time, is harder (feels like a baseball glove), but it does not really seem to bother her, thank goodness. Considering the shape and achiness of Annie when she first came in, after examination, Annie also had a bladder infection. She has since completed a antibiotic treatment successfully and that has totally cleared up. To aid Annie in comfort, she is on a mixture of deramaxx, Tramadol and S3 chews. Also ‘good’ food which is Prescription JD.
I am so happy to say that Miss Annie is, I believe, feeling very good! I am feeding her 3X a day to begin to help her slowly put some weight on, she gets one dose of deramaxx in the morning in her food, along with 1 dose of Tramadol, and she eats it all right up. I think perhaps enjoying good meals (which we add some cooked chicken, or ground deer meat, ground hamburger, rice, or quality moist food). Both she and our resident girl enjoy their breakfast. With Annie I feed her a small amount of kibble around noon with 2 crunched up S3 chews (with glucosamine/chondroitin in it) and just plain kibble in the evening. Our miss has a good appetite and cleans up her dish every time. After the first couple days, Annie seems to be completely housetrained. She will give you ‘cues’ to watch for which are easy to read (walking around in circles, etc.) otherwise she just goes in and out with our resident dog, Maggie into the fenced back yard.
She has free roam of the house now. We did crate her the first few days of course not knowing her history and she was ok with it. As we have learned now, she is totally fine on her own and is not destructive or anything. She does enjoy 1 of 2 large doggie beds we have in our bedroom at night and sleeps like the little baby girl she is quietly all night. She is fine with our cats also (3 of them). She does great with our grandchildren inside and out in the backyard. (they are ages 5 & 7). Annie is a very gentle girl. She takes treats very nice. We have seldom heard her bark. Once she and Maggie have been outside and want back in, she (and Maggie) will let me know. Again, Annie’s little bark is not much and she perks those darling ears up and wagging that cute tail, and wants back inside again where it is warm and safe. Annie is, with the above treatments, walking great. I use a harness and she seems to really enjoy her walks and we have done about a mile with no problem. She perks her cute little ears up at a squirrel or some of the turkey which are around. A face to make you melt! She cocks her head and looks in fun.
A yet another adorable thing she does here inside is toss up her stuffed toy(s), flip them around in the air, watch them land, and go get them and do it again. I wish I could get a video of this, it is so entertaining and cute to watch. However, she cannot just ‘keep’ the stuffed soft toy and then we will progress to de-stuff it! It is amazing just how very far this little, frail, scared girl has come and she is feeling so good and all set for Christmas holiday this weekend!
What a wonderful gift indeed.
| Mixed Breed | Born: December 2002 |
| Female | 41 lbs |
Status: Deceased
Sponsored by:
“In memory of Judy Lilledahl”
Beth Richards
"In memory of Bubba"
Merry Christmas from Team Hudson! Merry Christmas in memory of sweet Bubba who was adopted 3 years ago from wonderful Foster Mom Lou in the middle of a blizzard! (12/13/2010) From Kathy G. to Annie 11-415, Merry Christmas to a very special girl! Merry Christmas to the Senior Goldens from Santa
December 23, 2011
Introducing Miss Annie. This petite, thin little sweetie, was found as a stray in South Dakota outside all alone. As you can see she is thin and also has a growth on her right front leg. This lovely little girl has been with us about a week now. Here is what we know about Annie:
Annie is one of the most loving, gentle girls I have met. She is a little nervous at first traveling in a vehicle and of course, who knows if she was ever really experienced in one. She has come so very far since she first arrived here at our home for fostercare. Our girl was examined by our vet and is chipped and UTD of course. We still need to get the growth (some type of cyst) off her front leg which is scheduled to be January 6th. Prognosis is very good and again, is seems to be some type of cyst with fluid inside and at the present time, is harder (feels like a baseball glove), but it does not really seem to bother her, thank goodness. Considering the shape and achiness of Annie when she first came in, after examination, Annie also had a bladder infection. She has since completed a antibiotic treatment successfully and that has totally cleared up. To aid Annie in comfort, she is on a mixture of deramaxx, Tramadol and S3 chews. Also ‘good’ food which is Prescription JD.
I am so happy to say that Miss Annie is, I believe, feeling very good! I am feeding her 3X a day to begin to help her slowly put some weight on, she gets one dose of deramaxx in the morning in her food, along with 1 dose of Tramadol, and she eats it all right up. I think perhaps enjoying good meals (which we add some cooked chicken, or ground deer meat, ground hamburger, rice, or quality moist food). Both she and our resident girl enjoy their breakfast. With Annie I feed her a small amount of kibble around noon with 2 crunched up S3 chews (with glucosamine/chondroitin in it) and just plain kibble in the evening. Our miss has a good appetite and cleans up her dish every time. After the first couple days, Annie seems to be completely housetrained. She will give you ‘cues’ to watch for which are easy to read (walking around in circles, etc.) otherwise she just goes in and out with our resident dog, Maggie into the fenced back yard.
She has free roam of the house now. We did crate her the first few days of course not knowing her history and she was ok with it. As we have learned now, she is totally fine on her own and is not destructive or anything. She does enjoy 1 of 2 large doggie beds we have in our bedroom at night and sleeps like the little baby girl she is quietly all night. She is fine with our cats also (3 of them). She does great with our grandchildren inside and out in the backyard. (they are ages 5 & 7). Annie is a very gentle girl. She takes treats very nice. We have seldom heard her bark. Once she and Maggie have been outside and want back in, she (and Maggie) will let me know. Again, Annie’s little bark is not much and she perks those darling ears up and wagging that cute tail, and wants back inside again where it is warm and safe. Annie is, with the above treatments, walking great. I use a harness and she seems to really enjoy her walks and we have done about a mile with no problem. She perks her cute little ears up at a squirrel or some of the turkey which are around. A face to make you melt! She cocks her head and looks in fun.
A yet another adorable thing she does here inside is toss up her stuffed toy(s), flip them around in the air, watch them land, and go get them and do it again. I wish I could get a video of this, it is so entertaining and cute to watch. However, she cannot just ‘keep’ the stuffed soft toy and then we will progress to de-stuff it! It is amazing just how very far this little, frail, scared girl has come and she is feeling so good and all set for Christmas holiday this weekend!
What a wonderful gift indeed.
Last night my other foster dog Lucky (05-064) decided that Annie looked especially cute so started licking her ears and the back of her head. He just kept at it until her fur was spiked and wet. Anne was a little puzzled by it all, but didn't seem to mind it. I took this picture of Lucky's affectionate attention.
This weekend was so beautiful that the dogs and I spent lots of time outdoors. I was doing yard work which included filling in some of the holes that the dogs had dug last summer and fall.
Annie LOVES to curl up in holes under my bridal wreath bushes. I don't mind a couple of holes, but want to make sure that the bushes survive the dogs' landscaping work. As I was filling some of them in, Annie made it very clear that she was not going to let me undo all of her good work. She laid down in one of the holes and was not phased by the dirt flying around her.
I have a second foster named Lucky, and Annie appreciates his calm presence. She is no longer the new kid, and Lucky is another friendly white face in the house.
Annie went to the vet for her heartworm test and she is clear. I weighed her, and she is up to 55 pounds. She was so skinny when she came to me. I think that she is finally at a good weight.
While Annie does not like it when it is super cold, she did enjoy the fluffy snow last week. After she eats she likes to go out and rub her face in the snow. I could not get a picture of her doing that, so had to settle for this one. I am sure that she will love it when Spring arrives and she can once more spend time under the bushes in her little Annie craters. Knowing how she likes to dig in the dirt, I expect that Spring will be a time when she is less white and more mud colored. I love the Spring, but am not too happy about the twelve muddy paws that keep coming in and going out and coming in and going out.......
Merry Christmas to the Golden Seniors! From Anonymous
Merry Christmas to a very special senior girl! From Kathy G
What a sweet girl! From Patch 10-223
Annie has been with RAGOM for more than a year. She has made so much progress in that time. She is much less anxious than she was when she came to me. She has gained a few pounds (but is still too skinny). I am attaching a photo to show that Annie is NOT AFRAID of vacuum cleaners. She is the only dog that I have known who will not budge at all for the vacuum cleaner. I have had Annie shaped furry spots on my carpet when I was forced to work around her. I have been able to turn this to my advantage as I am able to use an attachment and vacuum her to remove her always shedding fur. She is fine with that.
Annie and I wish you a happy new year and hope that 2013 will be the lucky time that she finds her forever home!
Oh dear, it has been more than a month since I updated Annie’s page. I am trying to make up for it by including a photo. Annie shuts her eyes and looks totally blissed out when I scratch her on the head. I tried to capture that moment in the photo.
There is not much new to report except she spent a week with another RAGOM foster when I was out of town. They said that she was a good girl, no accidents! There was one storm while I was gone and that made her anxious. The foster family said that she panted a lot at night. I guess that I have gotten used to that behavior. Eventually she lays down and sleeps. I have not figured out exactly what triggers the panting. Sometimes it means that she wants to go outside, but not always. She was invited back by the other foster family, so I figure that is a good sign.
Annie will be at Goldzilla on 9/22. She does not like riding in the car, but I think she will enjoy being at the picnic. If you want to meet her, look for us around the foster tent. She is a very sweet and gentle girl.
I finally have a few pictures of Annie to update her page. One shows her on my porch in her favorite spot. She is now brave enough to walk out to the porch on her own. She used to sneak through a couple of adjoining rooms to avoid walking out in the open, and she no longer does that either. The other pictures show her in one of her favorite outdoor spots. It is a hole under a bush by my back door. Annie didn’t dig it on her own, but had some help from the rest of my dogs.
When I am in the kitchen and call her she will come to me. Before now, she would only leave the carpeted area if she could see me. This weekend she followed my dogs outside with no prompting by me at all. This is a big step for her. She has been on her current medication for almost a month and I think that it is working well. If you have been following Annie’s story I am sure that you are giving her a big cheer too. Now we just have to find her a nice forever home!
"May you no longer feel anxious" from Kathleen Guinn
For the last week I have tried two calming techniques with Annie. I have been giving her a few drops of “Rescue Remedy” on her tongue once a day. I have also used the T-Touch technique called half body wrap. This is where an ace bandage is wrapped around the dog’s body to give them a greater feeling of security. She has done very little nervous panting this week. Even last night during the thunder storm she was calm. Here is a picture of her in the wrap, but it is hard to see since her fur is close to the same color as the wrap. I took the picture this morning when she was eating breakfast.
This weekend when I was working in the yard she did some of her nervous barking when I was on the other side of the fence from her. I brushed a huge volume of fur from her coat on Sunday. It is amazing how much fur she has on such a skinny little body. The more bonded she gets with me, the calmer she is. It would be best for her to be bonding to her forever family, so if you are interested in this sweet lady please contact placement.
Annie went to her first RAGOM event on Sunday at Chuck & Don’s in Bloomington. It was the first time I had taken her for a car ride. I had heard that she did not like to ride in the car, so did not know what to expect. She surprised me by jumping eagerly into the front seat. I wanted her in the back seat, so I coaxed her back there. She was happy in the car. I think she thought it was a very small room with a big couch and she was fine with that, until it started moving. Small rooms with big couches are not supposed to MOVE! She started shaking and panting which she did the whole ride to Bloomington. Happily, she did not have any breathing problems. The operation did its work well.
When we got to Chuck & Don’s she was pretty nervous from the car. She was a bit overwhelmed by all of the people and dogs. I brought a mat for her to stand on since she does not like slippery floors. She surprised me there too. She is braver when she is on leash, so she had no trouble walking around most of the time. She got to wear the donation vest, but it was tricky to get a picture of her in it. When I tried to get her in position, she cowered and tensed up. Later when she was more relaxed I got a side shot of her wearing the vest. She did get lots of petting and one very kind couple bought her a big bag of liver treats which she has already been enjoying.
I think that she enjoyed herself most of the time. I hope that as I take her to more events she will get more relaxed. There were times when she wanted to be right in the middle of the action, sniffing and getting sniffed. She enjoyed the attention and the treats. At one point Annie was between to other fosters as treats were being given out. The other two fosters were not shy. You could tell by their girth that they were masters of treat collecting. Skinny little Annie was not getting her share. We had to give her treats separately so she could get some.
As her confidence gets greater, I think she will do well at events. Time will tell.
 Getting hugs from C! |
 Really enjoying the hugs! |
 Checking things outside |
 Trotting around outside |
 Waiting… |
 Talking… can I come in? |
 Annie and buddy Maggie |
 Got my ears perked up! |
Happy Holidays from anonymous
Here is a photo right after Annie came to our home; so incredibly thin and uncomfortable.
Amazing what a couple weeks can do! What a difference RESCUE makes!
Merry Christmas!
