Cold Wet Nose

We adopted Annie from Gold Ribbon Rescue in June 2006. She was really over-weight, but was happy as a dog could be. She quickly fit into our family, and our furniture.

Annie was diagnosed with hemangeosarcoma on 8/3/2006 and spent a night in the emergency room after having her spleen removed. The following day, Annie returned home. She recovered from the surgery very quickly and returned to her daily walks before too long! It was difficult, if not impossible to see any of the symptoms of Annie’s disease. The only evidence of her ailment was her shaved belly.

Several weeks later, Annie and Shelby went for their usual morning walks. We stopped to meet some of the neighborhood pups and pup walkers. Annie always enjoyed chasing the Chihuahuas that showed up (aka “snacks with legs”)… even though we tried to discourage the behavior. Later that afternoon, Drew and I returned home to find Annie lying on the couch.

Although Annie’s smile and wagging tail might have suggested otherwise, we knew that something was wrong with her, because she didn’t meet us at the front door. We tried to offer Annie treats and to get her to walk around, but Annie wouldn’t budge. So, we took her to the emergency room. The vet provided us with the bad news that Annie was bleeding internally and had some fluid around her heart.

Up until the day Annie passed away, she was the happiest, goofiest, and most affectionate member of our family! She provided us with so much joy! Annie managed to brighten our days and provoked lots of laughter, even when we found that our other GRR golden, Shelby, was diagnosed with cancer, too. Annie made everything seem not-so-bad. She managed to keep a silly grin on her face pretty much at all times. And, if she happened to rest her smiling face for a moment or two, then she’d still manage to warm our hearts by sprawling out on the living room couch and propping her right paw on the arm rest. Annie LOVED to rest her arm on the arm rest of the couch…

We’ll really miss Annie. Although the pain of our loss is very great, we can’t help but to feel so fortunate to have had Annie (aka Annie-Banannie) in our lives.

Editor’s Note: Image and link URLs updated on 2008.05.26