Annie the Rescue Leonberger

Annie's story is written by her owner-mom Linda Gagnon

Shortly after I discovered Leonbergers, I also discovered LeoRescue. I asked that an application be sent to me because I've always believed in providing homes for animals in need and, surely, I thought, I would have room for a rescue Leo, a male preferably and a puppy. I filled out the paperwork and sent it in and waited, and waited, and waited. I finally had just about decided that my home wasn't ideal for a rescue. Maybe I was too old, maybe I didn't have enough room. So I thought I'd just have to wait for a puppy.

Two years passed and about a week after Christmas 1998, I got a call from Linda Spirio. Would I be interested in a female Leo who had hip dysplasia that needed to be rehomed. Hmmm, HD. Something that had broken my heart with my last dog. I told her that I needed time to think about it as I was really not sure if I could deal with another dysplastic dog. Linda told me that was exactly why they had asked me to take the girl. I had experience with HD. I asked for 24 hours and got it.

I talked with my husband and thought and thought about it. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that I should take the Leo, even though she had HD, even though she was a female and I had thought I wanted a male so I called Linda back and said I'd take her.

Because of weather conditions and a few other glitches, it was late in January that Linda called me and gave me the flight number that Annie, yes, now I knew her name, would be on. I was very nervous. We went shopping for Annie that day. I picked up an brush, some toys, a raised feeding station, got out the lovely butter soft leather lead that I had kept from my lab mix, looked at collars and decided to wait till we met her to get a collar, picked up dog food, and, of course, dog treats and waited some more.

When the time came to go to the airport to get her, you would have thought that I was picking up a long lost relative, I was that nervous. When we got to the airport, we went down to the baggage area where we were told Annie would come in. One final glitch happened that just about sent me into orbit. We had been told that Annie would be the first thing off the plane. Well, she wasn't and she didn't appear in the baggage area at all. I went about ballistic, and the result of that was that they really started looking for Annie. She was found in short order. It was about 20 minutes from beginning to end but I swear it seemed like 20 hours. They had taken her to the cargo terminal!! The airline rep that was helping me went and got her and brought her crate into the baggage area. Needles to say by that time we had an audience because when I get borderline hysterical, I draw a crowd.

Annie's crate was set down on the floor. Before I even got to the crate, I could hear her tail wagging against the sides of the crate. I sat down at the front of the crate and introduced myself. "Hello Annie, I'm your new Mom and this is your new Dad. Would you like to come out and meet us? THUMP, THUMP, THUMP went her tail. I opened the door, and blocked it with my body in case she should want to run, and put her leash on her. She came out very willingly, tail wagging and giving kisses. Imagine that!! 7 hours in a crate and the first thing she does is give kisses!!

I was told that Annie might have issues with small dogs. She did, she was afraid of them!! I was told that, because of her HD, she would probably not be able to do lots of things that Leos do, like jump and run. WRONG! Annie bounces up and down to this day and Annie can run with the best of them.

However, a rescue is not a cheap dog. Annie has cost me a bundle because she is a trash dog. She will eat anything that is left within reach. The most expensive trip to the vet was when she swallowed a small wad of crochet thread. That cost right around 1100 dollars.

I am so glad that I decided to take Annie HD and all. She is a very special and gentle dog. She loves puppies, thinks she is a universal puppy mom, she and I have a very special bond. One that doesn't happen often between pets and their owners and I am eternally grateful to LeoRescue for providing me with my beautiful Annie.

Epilogue:

On December 10th, 2003, Annie succumbed to Osteosarcoma. We chose not to battle the cancer as it was in her right front shoulder and, with her HD, surgery was not an option. At the last, she was as gentle and loving as she was at the first. She runs free now, enjoying the green grass, the just right sun and the daily snow fall at the northern end of the Rainbow Bridge. Annie taught me a lot about Leos but the one thing she taught me that was most important is that once you get one, you will always want another. On December 10, 2004, we added a Leo puppy to our household. Sometimes, I swear I can see Annie's mischieveous glint in Shermy's eyes. I know she would approve.