Anna

Savannah’s Anna ARPH # 632, FM

Dear Fellow Aussie Lovers;

This is a tribute to Savannah’s Anna ARPH #632. I am taking the opportunity to commemorate this magnificent Aussie while she is in the prime of her golden years. Here is Anna’s life for your enriched knowledge of our Awesome Rescued Aussies.

About nine years ago, there was a huge confiscation of Aussies in California. I called ARPH about taking one of the black tri females that caught my fancy. By the time the phone call was returned, she was re-homed. They referred me to another ARPH representative to see what was available locally.

When I spoke on the phone with the representative, she was an hour and a half away from Houston and she had a young red tri female. My house was filled with red Aussies and I wanted another color. She encouraged me to drive north and meet this dog named Anastasia (Annie for short).

I loaded up part of my Aussie crew to see if they liked Anna. They did. I liked her too, but saw that her conformation in the front was lacking. It was stiff and stilted; yet, she was able to move about quite gracefully and quickly.

The rep explained that Anna and her brother were at the shelter for at least the third time. They had been locally bred and kept getting out of the yard. The owner consequently bailed them out at $65 a dog. After the fourth escape, the owner was clearly out of money. Anna’s brother had been adopted from the shelter, but she was still there, testing positive for heartworms. ARPH sprung Anna during her last hours. They tested two more times for heartworms, each time on a difil test, producing a positive for heartworms. Finally, an occult test was completed after Anna came into rescue, and the test came back negative. Anna just needed a heartworm pill!

“Can I bring her back?” I asked. “Yes, there is a 30 day trial basis for the dogs. If she does not work out, just let me know.” I paid the $125 adoption fee and left with Anna. I was still a bit skeptical that this was the right dog for me.

Never since, in all my 7.5 years of rescue, have I seen a dog move into a house as fast as Anna moved into mine. I swear she smiled as she entered the front door. She didn’t even send for her luggage! Upon my request, Anna came un-bathed to me (not dirty by any means) as bathing is part of our bonding process in this household. Within a few short hours of arriving home, and a fresh bath, Anna was lying on my kitchen floor and the house was hers. It still is. She is the matriarch.

Two years later, I saw an ad in my local newspaper recruiting dogs for a flyball team. I responded. At that time, I had Anna who was almost three years old, and I had another year old pup. We began training. Anna and my younger pup loved flyball, and so did I. We continued to train. Anna had a strong prey drive, so it took nearly a year and a half to prepare. Finally, it was time to race.

As Anna’s flyball career opened and developed, she struggled with several issues. Anna was not reliable at holding the ball over the finish line and would often drop it too soon. This kept her from being on the best teams, although she was fast enough to be considered. Substituting the regular tennis ball with a medium sized ball helped her return the ball more consistently to me. Also, if Anna pulled on the leash with her collar on, she would begin severely hacking. I replaced her collar with a harness to correct this problem. Further, over time, Anna’s front legs swelled from racing on the single hole flyball box. I packed them down with neoprene wraps and liniment used for the sled dogs during the Iditarod upon the advice of my orthopedic veterinarian. Anna loved flyball and I loved running her in flyball, so this could not continue. I looked for a different way of training, a different flyball box, and a way for Anna to continue the sport that she had taught me to love. I found what I was looking for on a different team and have been racing successfully for the past three years.

During our retraining, I took the opportunity to visit a well known animal communicator with several of my dogs. She confirmed what I had suspected! In order to keep Anna in the yard as a pup, she had been tied tightly around her throat, very tightly, and that is what causes her to be extremely sensitive to anything that touches her throat. Her trachea is most likely scarred.

A word about Anna…this Aussie MAKES ME LAUGH! This alone makes her worth her weight in gold. Nearly every day, this girl brings a chuckle to my lips, and always a smile to my face. Anna is one of those Aussies that wiggles everything from her shoulders on back and it never stops wiggling. All it takes is a good word, a smile, a pat, or a treat. Anna chases the dragonflies and mocking birds from the yard, yipping endlessly. People who do not know Aussies believe she is a bit crazy. She is just Anna. She has her own agenda: her own style: her own sense of humor.

As I stated before, Anna is red. There is no other color on the face of the earth Anna could ever be and still be Anna. Her Aussie coat is not something considered acceptable by the breed standard, even AKC’s! It is so thick and wiry that even the best grooming and grooming products on the market, could not control it for even a few hours. It is the worst Aussie coat ever seen; yet, Anna could not have any other coat and be as remarkable. It defines her personality as much as anything else. Even the white strip from her nose to her forehead is off center. It could not be straight because Anna would have had to have been too still when it was painted!

Today, Anna is the reason that I rescue dogs in the greater Houston area. Anna entering my life has resulted in over 200 Aussies being rescued and rehomed. That is quite an impact on Aussie Rescue in Texas. Today, Anna still runs under 5 seconds in flyball with no physical repercussions to her front legs. She earned her Flyball Master’s title (FM) over a year ago in spite of her throat damage and poor conformation in her front legs. She recently won the “Fastest Dog” title for older dogs in a single dog racing match in August of 2004. Anna is the reason I love flyball and have competed for over the past six years. I now have a third dog racing in flyball, another rescue success.

I’ve always loved Aussies. They are my breed and the only breed with which I desire to share my life. Anna has been the epitome of this love and of this breed. She is an ambassador for rescues in the arena of competition sports as well as for all who meet her during constant public outings or during her numerous home visits. While Anna continues her diplomatic travels in Texas and throughout the mid-west, she opens eyes and urges all who meet her to consider adopting a rescued Aussie as either a great family companion or canine competitor. No rescued Aussie could offer more. I am so fortunate that Anna moved into my heart.

Your mother and your friend,
Lucinda