Last summer, Annie’s family walked her into a Texas shelter and surrendered her. The 19-year-old Lab lost the only life she’d ever known that day — but her journey was just beginning.
Stephanie Rodriguez and Duke Hemstreet from The PAWerful Rescue heard about Annie’s situation and decided to make the most of her golden years.
So they grabbed a cart and loaded Annie into their car, stopping at a burger joint on the way. “There was no doubt in our mind that we were going to help this girl,” Hemstreet told The Dodo. “Sweet girl definitely needed a treat.”
Embracing Love and Joy
Soon after being picked up from the shelter, Annie was placed in the care of Lauren Siler, a foster parent who specializes in senior hospice dogs.
“I saw Annie’s sweet face on social media,” Siler told the story. “They told me that the vet said we’d be lucky if she has a month. We were just happy bringing her somewhere where she can be comfortable and feel an hour of love, days of love, weeks of love, whatever it might be.”
Showered in love, it didn’t take long before Annie was acting half her age and smiling more than ever at her new foster home.
“We have this big collection of dog toys sitting in the living room,” Siler said. “She walked over there and got herself a toy, and we were like, ‘Oh my goodness! She’s acting like a puppy with a toy.’”
Upon realizing that Annie had a lot of life and energy left in her, Siler said that she began to come up with a bucket list. “How many things can we cram in to give her the best spoiled time that she could possibly have?” Siler asked herself — and the answer was a lot.
Celebrating Life to the Fullest
The first item on the list? A huge 20th birthday bash.
And that was just the first holiday Annie celebrated. Next came Christmas, when Annie got heaps of new toys and treats.
Then Valentine’s Day came, and Annie received hundreds of valentines from people all over the world. “It’s really really awesome to see all of the love that Annie is being showered with,” Siler said.
Holidays were just one of the things Annie enjoyed in her golden years. She also took mini road trips, fell in love with Siler’s baby niece, “chased” Siler’s cats, taste-tested every food possible, and spent tons of time in the yard being the nosiest of neighbors.
As Annie’s 1-year anniversary approached, she’d crossed off everything on her bucket list — and then some.
She’d transformed her foster moms’ lives, and the lives of those who followed her adventures on social media. She inspired people to open their hearts to senior dogs and outlived all the vets’ predictions.
Annie spent June 24th celebrating with all the people who loved her; she greeted each dog at her party and enjoyed snacks and pets.
Later that night, while at home, her body gave out. Her moms rushed her to the vet and had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye.
“So much of who I am today is because of Annie,” Siler wrote on Instagram. I learned so much from her: That life is worth living! Adventure and good days can come when you least expect it! Being brave and saying ‘yes’ is almost always worth it! But maybe most importantly … that we live in a world with GOOD people!