The Story of a Throwaway Dog, Lost and Alone - The Final Chapter, The Rainbow Bridge

Hi, my name is now Annie. I'm a mixed breed (a mutt) and weigh 35 pounds. At least that is what I weighed when I was thrown away by the people that I lived with for about eight years.

Let me tell you my story, or at least as much of it as I can remember.

I lived with a family for a long time. They took good care of me and fed be really good food. I'm totally trained, house broken, leash trained, both on and off leash. I didn't bark a lot and I always looked after my humans.

One day they took me for a ride, I always loved going for rides in the car, I'm very good in the car. We drove for a very long time and then we came to a campground. They opened the door and I jumped out and got to run around in the grass, I love doing that. Then they shut the car door and drove off. I thought that they went to get something but I waited and waited and they didn't come back. I kept walking around the campground looking for them but they were no where to be found. It got late and they still didn't come back. I didn't understand what was happening, they had to be hurt not to come back for me. I waited out the night under a tree but I was getting thirsty and hungry. I found some scraps of food that people had left out and I ate them and drank some water from the lake that was there.

The next morning I walked all over the campground looking for them, but they weren't there. People would chase me from their camping area and I was getting really worried that my humans were hurt and there was no one to take care of them. I spent the day waiting in the campground for them to come back and tried to get some food from other people camping there but they chased me off. Nobody wanted me in their camping area.

I don't know how long I stayed at the campground, but it was a long time and I was hungry most of the time. Finally I started to walk up the road to see if I could find them. There were heavy woods all around us and lot's of wild animals, I was worried about the coyotes, they run in packs and will hunt down a dog  and kill it. I'm a pretty good fighter but I stayed hidden as much as I could. I spend the next days trying to find food, I was hungry all the time.

Then I came to an area where houses were being built. Just a couple so I went into one and slept on cement in the garage. I pulled some plastic over to sleep on. In the morning the workers came and did a lot of hammering on the house, that was ok because I like being around humans. They didn't chase me off and one of them got some water for me.

I spent night after night in the garage sleeping on plastic. I was getting really skinny, I was eating anything that I could find, some of it wasn't very good, a lot of garbage. There were humans there almost everyday working on the house, then one day a guy walked by with a dog, it was a funny looking dog, long and short. I watched them walk by, he saw me and so did the funny looking dog but they didn't come over.

The next day I saw them again, it was hard to forget that funny looking dog. That night I was really hungry, I knew that I was getting real skinny, my ribs were showing and my coat was matted and dirty but I had to go out and find food. I went down to an area that there might be food and found a bone, it was better then nothing when I heard a growl behind me  and the next thing I knew there was a big animal on top of me biting me, I fought back with all my strength and made it back away from me and took off running back to the house. There wasn't any protection in the house because there were no doors on it yet, but at least I could try to fight them off. They were chasing me and there was a lot of yapping and howling, then I knew it was coyotes and I was in big trouble.

I got to the house and ran inside and I could hear them howling behind me. I ran to the corner of the garage, that way they couldn't get behind me and I could try to fight them off. They came at me and one leaped at me, I got in a good bite to it's front leg. Then the other were on me, and I was fighting for my life and it didn't look good. Then a light came on in a house down below us, I didn't know anyone lived there. Then a big light came on and the coyotes took off. I got in a  good bite on the last one, but I didn't chase it into the woods, they would get me for sure if I did hat. I stayed in the garage, I was bleeding from my head and snout and had a bite on my back leg.

The next morning the guy came back with a towel, bed, food and water. I was so hungry that I ate it in a couple of bites. He stayed for awhile and fixed up the bed for me.

I laid in the garage all day, nursing my bites, they were hurting me but the soft bed and food that the guy brought me was really helping. I didn't know if I would get any more food from him but I was hoping that he would come by again.

That afternoon the guy walked by with that funny looking dog again. He didn't stop but he looked in and the funny dog barked at me. I slept most of the day, hoping that I would get some strength back so I could go look for food again. That evening he came by again with  food and water. This time he picked up my bed and I thought that he was going to take it away from me, but he didn't, he put some wood under the bed. I think that he put it there to stop the cold from seeping through the bed. He stayed awhile and petted me, that felt so good.

Every day for the next two weeks the guy or a woman would show up with food and water. I stayed in the garage most of the time and my wounds were healing. They both put something on the bite marks that made them sting but they started feeling better. Sometime the funny looking dog would be with them, but they would not let it come in the garage or get near me.

One day I walked down the hill and up on to their porch and looked in the window and there they were, the funny looking dog was lying in a bed that looked like the one that I had. Soon they saw me and came over to the window. I could see them talking to each other and the funny looking dog was at the window barking at me. I didn't know what was going on so I ran back to the garage.

A little while later they drove up in a car that looked like the one my humans dumped me from. The guy got out and opened the back door and picked me up and put me inside. Then we started driving somewhere, I knew that they were going to take me somewhere and drop me off. I was really scared. Soon we pulled up in front of a building and they took me out of the car and into the building. I didn't know where I was but a lady took me in the back. I knew that they were leaving me and I would have to start hunting for food and water again.

Then another guy came in and started looking in my ears, eyes, and mouth and then they gave me a couple of shots, they stung but I was OK. Then he made me swallow something. I didn't know what was happening to me and I tried to run away but I couldn't get out of the room. Soon another lady came in and put me in water and started to scrub me. They she dried me off and put me in a cage. The guy came in again and put more stuff on my wounds.

Awhile later the guy and lady came back and petted me and put me back in their car. Wow, maybe they didn't dump me. We drove back to their house down the hill from the garage I was living in and they put me in their garage with a nice bed with food and water. The funny looking dog would come to the garage door and bark at me. She was too funny looking to worry about.

I spent the next couple of nights in their garage, it was warmer then the one I was in and I didn't have to guard myself. Then they came and took my bed and towel away, oh no they were going to get rid me. Maybe I scared the funny looking dog.

A while later the garage door opened and they called me into the house. I didn't want to come in at first because I didn't know what they were going to do. The guy kept calling me in and calling me a funny name, Annie. Soon I went into the house and there was my bed and towel, food and water. I was so happy but the funny looking dog came over and tried to eat my food. I growled at her and she barked at me. The lady took the funny looking dog away and I ate my food.

I didn't move the rest of the day, I was scared and didn't know what to do. Soon the guy came and put a collar around me and then a leash and opened the front door. I didn't want to go cos I thought that he was going to dump me, but he kept calling me that funny name and I finally followed him out, I was really scared. If he dumped me, I didn't know if I had the strength to keep fighting. We went for a walk and walked by the   garage that I had been living in, we just kept on walking and when we got to some grass I did my duty. See I was house broken from the family that dumped me. We turned around and headed back to his house, I was so happy, maybe I had a place to live now.

It's been a couple of months and now I live in the house with the funny looking dog and we've become friends but I still have to growl at her cos she keeps eating my food, but then wants to play. I took over one of her beds with an afghan but she didn't like that so now we share it. She  burrows under the afghan and I lay on top of it. I'm having so  much fun now, we go for walks together. They call her Wiki and they call me Annie, I don't know why they call us those funny names but I don't care cos I think that I have a forever home again.

I walk a lot faster then Wiki  because her legs are really short and for awhile she couldn't walk, but the humans fixed her, and she's always running after me to keep up, but I'm starting to like her and I think that she likes me.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I love my new home and my new humans. I look after Wiki, cos she's small, and I don't want anything bad to happen to her.

UPDATE

This was five years ago. The vet thought that Annie was around 8 years old at the time. For the first couple of years we had to be careful with her, if a large dog was around and got a little pushy Annie would go into full attack mode. During this time she rarely barked, didn't smile nor did she know how to play or what toys were.

That has all changed, she is around other dogs, large and small with no problem, she smiles and barks now. When it's time for her Greenie or a treat she does a dance on her hind legs. She is a very happy dog and she and Wiki are the best of friends and she is Wiki protector (although Wiki would tell you different)

At around 13/14 years old Annie has gone deaf and she makes up for it by watching for hand signals. Her eyesight and smell are fine and overall she is in excellent physical condition. 

Then the bad news started. A couple of months ago they discovered a mass cell tumor and it was cancer. They operated on her and got the tumor (it was on her side just behind her front leg.) All was well until last week when I was checking her I found another lump very close to the first one. 

We had it checked and it was cancer as well. In the past 5 days I've made 4 trips to the vet medical school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. (450 miles round trip each time) They have done all the test on her again and the surgeons have decided that they can get this mass cell tumor. 

We are waiting for a opening for the surgery. After she'll be in the vet hospital for 3 to 4 days. The tentative date is the second week of August. 

I'm not looking forward to this at all. It's going to be a rough surgery for my sweet girl. 

She stayed at the hospital for three days to complete all the tests. Wiki was lost without her and when I drove back to pick Annie up, she and Wiki were so happy to see each other. Annie would not leave my side for a second. 

The memories of being dumped are probably still there, and leaving her alone and vets poking and testing her, she probably though it was the end of her happy home. 

The next surgery is going to be difficult. I'm hoping for the best result. 

Well I've had my second surgery and it went well. I'm kinda of sore but I'm being well taken care of. 

I had a wonderful Christmas with Wiki and my humans. Lot's of fun and food. In January I started getting bumps on me again and one below my eye. My humans were upset and they took me back to the big dog hospital and my doctor checked out all the bumps and did tests. 

Wiki was there with me when my doctor talked to my humans. I knew that something was wrong when Red burst out crying and my man human face just froze..

The vet told us that the cancer was back with a vengeance and they tested six of the tumors and all were malignant and the cancer had spread to her spleen and other organs. The verdict was that she was terminal with six weeks at the outside. Talk about a body punch. 

We drove the four hours home with medicine to help her through...

It's me, Annie again. I've been taking my medicine four times a day and I feel OK...Well it's been twelve weeks and now I'm getting weaker and sleep most of the time. It feels so good when my humans lay on the floor with me and pet me..I know that helps me feel better, but I'm starting to have trouble breathing and my hind legs are getting weaker, I wobble sometime when I get up. 

The time has come, I called the vet and she will be coming to the house to gently put her to sleep. 

The vet arrived at noon. 

It's me Annie again. I'm laying in my favorite bed with the afghan that Red made just for me. The last six years of my life have been great. I know that I'm loved and have been taken care of really well. I repaid my humans with all the protection and loyalty that I have. 

My humans are laying on the floor next to my bed and petting and hugging me. The lady doctor gave me a shot and I'm getting really tired now, it's hard to keep my head up or my eyes open. But I feel their touch and I really like that. Wiki is laying next to me now, I like that, she is funny and fun but looks sad today.

Maybe I can take one last walk with them, I love my walks. I can hear my humans talking to me now. I haven't heard them in a long time, I'm deaf you know but I can hear them saying, Annie, my sweet girl. 

With that, Annie my sweet girl walked on, headed for the Rainbow Bridge.

I will always remember her running up and down her beloved mountain. Barking and rolling in the grass with Wiki chasing her. Always the fighter, my Sweet Girl lasted twelve weeks, twice what the vet said she would. The heart of a lion.

Now she will always be on her beloved mountain, free and happy. She leaves behind a couple of humans with broken hearts but with wonderful memories of a lost dog that was rescued from the mountain. Wiki is confused and sad now. She knows that she doesn't have her Annie to play with. 

The pain will pass and the good memories will take over. I'm hoping that happens quickly.