Dog park

Just some more pics from the dog park, it was a beautiful day!

The 3 Amingos

We took Annie and Surly for a playdate with Ace the other day! Ace was a former foster of ours last fall, he came from Culpeper. Surly really liked him :) so we try to get them togeather to play whenever we can. Annie adored having anyone new to play with! They were really so cute together, Ace looks like the missing link between Surly's dark blue and Annies all red. Thanks Ace's family for having us over!


Big Smile!




Waiting nice for a treat:

Australian Water Dog

Annie went to the dog park last night! We love this park since there is a big stream in it that the dogs can play in. Annie has a blast! She was a little scared of swimming at first, but got used to it quick enough. She loved fetching sticks in the water. If she couldn't find it right away she'd throw her head in the water and play scuba dog searching for it-thinking it was on the bottom.

Bike Ride

We took Annie for a jog today at Haines point- its a loop on a peninsula in DC- near the monuments etc. It is a paved road where a lot of people ride bikes, few cars - and a big area between the road and gulf course perfect for biking with a dog! Surly (my dog) ran with me- and Annie ran with my boyfriend- although not as long :) She is still young and it was her first time out! She caught on very fast though and had a blast!

To see video of her running check out -


With the warmer weather Annie is really loving laying out side in the sun. But since we only have a front yard on a busy street - and with construction going on next door she sometimes wants to bark too often at people so we have to come in. She definitely has a distinctive warning bark, there is no growl, its just a short 'woof' as if to say 'hey, too close!' to protect the house. I tell her quiet and she will usually put her ears down and sometimes even roll over-- saying 'sorry!!!'

Puppy Annie

Annie is improving my leaps and bounds!

She now pees pretty much every time we let her out-although she does want to just sit next to me and not actually go to the yard to go.

Annie also is eating wet mixed with dry- she really likes Evo venison wet. Evo is a great food, grain free! So just the stuff dogs actually need.

She got her spay stitches out today and her incision looks good- it is a little irritated from the stitches but I think that'll clear up quick, esp as her hair grows in.

And most notably, is her playfulness. Annie's energy level is certianly picking up. She loves to spend hours throwing toys to her self. She usually tossing it straight up and tries to catch it... but if we're say, eating or on the computer its uncanny how good she is at throwing it onto our laps or the table.

Is she housebroken?

On petfinder, there is a little box we can check so under their profile it will say "This pet is already house trained" I always wait a few days to make sure before I check this box. But with Annie, we haven't been able to tell- you see Annie is terribly 'pee shy.' She won't even potty outside for us usually.

We though she may have a urinary tract infection, so we started her on antibiotics and made a vet appointment for Friday. She shows no signs of infection, and when she does pee she empties her entire bladder (it takes forever!) - the vet told us that dogs with UTIs will only potty in short spurts because it hurts, and have a hard time holding it sometimes. Since she pees everything at once, they believe she is just very scared to potty in front of people, likely from being beaten for it. See, when she had an accident in the house, and she was beaten/yelled at- all she (and other dogs) learn is- "when I potty in front of people I get in trouble. Don't potty in front of people" without proper training they don't always get that what people mean is not to potty in the house only- that that potting outside is fine. We're making a lot of progress the past few days, and I think it will just take time. Every time she potties we give her TONS of praise and treats (she looks so confused at first!) and each time is a step forward. If she isn't potting like normal by the end of the week the vet told us to bring her back in.

Annie has another insecurity- eating! I've never met a cattle dog that didn't LOVE their food. But Annie is shy to eat. She won't eat dry food (even soaked), or the raw food my dog gets (its a dehydrated food that when reconstituted looks sort of like oatmeal but smells really yummy)-- nope Annie will only eat canned wet food :) Even then, she doesn't like to eat more than a can at a time (when she should be eating up to 3 cans) Again- just another thing that will take time and coaxing for her.

On the plus side, Annie has become more and more playful by the hour. She now goes to the toy box, shoves her head in to pull out a fun new toy. She tosses them around to herself, and will fetch any toy, ball or stick. Her and my dog, Surly- even started to wrestle and play today. Her cuddling is getting a little too demanding so we're using NILF techniques to limit how bossy she is allowed to be with us. We have to invite her on the couch, or invite her over. This doesn't mean we don't ask her to come over for pets all the time! It just means that when she is looking at us and barks (its sort of a quiet yelpy/bark? just another odd cattle dog noise) we ignore her, if she comes to try to shove her head under my hand while I'm typing (ahhem!), I shove her away--- and in 10-30 seconds later I ask her, in a very happy voice to come over.

Here I am saying it again, Annie is a great dog in there. Cattle dogs are awesome, but they aren't for everyone. For someone wanting to do lots of training and lots of play/exercise time, theya re great buddies who will be there until the end.

how smart is Annie?

How smart is Annie? VERY smart...

We make our dog wait in her crate while we are making her food, or making our own food- as she has the bad habit of standing between us and the counters waiting for dropped food. So we've been making Annie lay down outside of the kitchen while we're in there doing stuff- and she gets it! She is very perceptive. Although she doesn't fully know the command stay- she understands what we're asking her to do and she does it. She shows some really great potential.

Annie also loves to cuddle she ise sneaky about slowly climbing onto the couch to get in our laps.

She is starting to play with toys too- its really cute. She walks over to the toy box, sllloowwwly pulls it out then goes to town tossing it around and chewing. She still loves to fetch. and STILL doesn't pull on leash.. Its amazing. I've never seen a dog heel so well without lots of formal training. In a way, I'm just waiting for her to realize she can pull and go faster :)

Also- Annie meet a cat at Petmac the other day. The little bugger kept running up to her to smack her repeatably in hte face! So we'd have to separate them... but good Annie never show any response.

Annie's injuries and opening up

Last night we let Annie on the couch, and I noticed more scars on her front leg- they look like little holes, all over- they are now healed so just have a bit of scab or nothing- but they can be seen pretty easily since her fur hasn't grown back yet. We realized these were all on her left side- and it really looks like she was shot at with a shotgun... they are so small they probably weren't trying to actually kill her-but probably to scare her away. This makes sense as her owners said they didn't fence her in and it was the neighbors that 'beat' her- but in the area she came from its common for people to shoot a gun to scare off dogs they dont' want on their property.

Annie's personality is definitely starting to show! She loves to be right at your heels and adores attention. Cuddling and getting belly rubs thrill her. She can be demanding about it, so we are ignoring her demands for attention, but still giving her plenty on our terms. She'll whine and make funny cattle dog noises at us or paw at us if we stop giving her attention.

She doesn't mind going in her crate- but will whine sometimes. Other times she just curls up to nap.

Annie still hasn't taken a liking to dry food. She is happy if we mix wet food in though!

Annie Arrives!

Meet Annie!

Annie is the name given to her by her owners- but it really seems to fit. Red head, orphan....little orphan Annie. Except that she isn't that little, she is one of the biggest cattle dogs I've seen! She is a little chubby so that is part of it, but she still dwarfs my blue ACD girl. She is probably around 50 lbs, but has an ideal weight closer to 40-45lbs.

Annie was turned into the shelter in WV by her owners. They said that their neighbors had beaten her for being on their property. Around here not many people keep their dogs fenced in- but most people will just shoot a gun in the area/near the dog to get them off their property, not run after them and beat them. We suspect that it was the owners...and when they saw how bad her eye was they decided to turn her in.

Doesn't matter who did it- Annie is scared. She cowers if you raise your hand or lean over her too quickly. She is quick to flip over and show her belly to us. Within 20 minutes of being home, she started to really perk up with us. She LOVES to play fetch with sticks!! Her tail is docked, so she makes up for it by wagging her whole rear end.

We're going to work slowly to get Annie comfortable around strangers. Most cattle dogs are wary of strangers (and Annie will bark at people walking by the house). We're going to have every new person give her a treat and not pet her for now- just so she gets used to strangers = yummy food. If she is comfortable they can pet her but I don't want her scared by anything too much yet.

Annie is an incredibly smart girl so I think she'll catch on very fast. Maybe in an week she'll be seeking out strangers! She learned right away how to sit, and sits to cross intersections. She has yet to pull on leash too- quite a nice susprsie.

Annie has a LOT of love to give. She is adoring our attention.

We hope Annie can find a home that can take her to obedience classes, maybe agility too. Not just the PetCo basic obedience but a few levels so she can be a very well trained dog. She has the smarts and drive to learn- and it will also build her confidence a lot. Learning with positive reinforcement will help her feel happy that she is doing good, will further her bond with her adopters and is good all around!

Keep checking in for more updates on Annie! She is a great dog just waiting for a home and a chance to fully open up.