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.