Annie, the adorable canine who’s 19 years old, is still full of life and energy!
Unfortunately, things were not always easy for the Labrador retriever mix named Annie. Her previous owner left her at a Dallas Animal Services facility during the summer, and when she arrived there, vets estimated that she only had a month left to live. However, the shelter staff didn’t want Annie’s remaining time to be spent alone, so they shared her story on social media, hoping to find someone who would foster her. When Lauren Siler, a business analyst, saw the post, she felt compelled to take action and find a way to bring Annie into her home. “We have to get her,” exclaimed Siler’s roommate and best friend, Lisa, when she saw Annie’s photo. Siler had shared the post with Lisa, and they both knew that they had to help Annie in any way they could.
Grandsure GoldDallas Animal Services received a call from Siler and her pal Lisa Flores, who wished to foster the senior dog. The shelter advised them to contact The Pawerful Rescue, which was in charge of Annie’s care until she found a foster. Siler stated that when she and Flores applied to become foster parents, Pawerful Rescue informed them of Annie’s health condition and predicted that they would only have a month with her.
Siler and Flores were not intimidated by Annie’s short-term stay, as they had agreed to foster the Lab mix and provide her with “the best month of her life” after meeting five years ago while teaching at the same elementary school. To make sure that Annie’s time with them was filled with joy, love, and contentment, they crafted a bucket list for her.
When Lisa and I adopted her in June, we only expected her to stay with us for a month. However, during that short period, Siler had the idea of creating a bucket list. To begin with, we included simple activities like a car trip, swimming, a birthday celebration, and Christmas in July. But as we continued brainstorming, the list just kept growing.
As July drew to a close, Flores and Siler noticed that Annie wasn’t ready to leave just yet. So, they decided to add more activities to their Instagram page (@dallasanimalfoster) that documented all the fun adventures they had been having with Annie. The list included things like painting, cooking homemade dog treats, attending baby showers, going on a hamburger tour, and much more. With over 19,000 fans, Annie had received over 500 Valentines for Valentine’s Day in August alone. Despite her veterinarian predicting that she only had a month left to live in June, Annie has surpassed all expectations and is still having a blast with her foster family today. She must have realized early on that she was living the good life with us. We vowed to spoil her, give her everything she wanted, take her on exciting adventures, and provide her with a luxurious lifestyle, and that’s exactly what we did.
Annie finds joy in the simple things in life such as sleeping, taking breaks, and receiving fan mail. She beams with happiness whenever packages filled with letters from her supporters arrive. According to Siler, they even captured Annie’s “smile” on video when she reads messages on Instagram. Annie also has a funny quirk where she does a little happy dance when she’s hungry.
Her owners, Siler and Flores, hope that Annie’s fans will be inspired to adopt older rescue animals after seeing her playful and youthful energy despite her age. They stress the importance of fostering and caring for senior dogs who often end up getting euthanized due to overcrowding in shelters. Siler explains that while Annie is undoubtedly special, there are many other dogs like her waiting for someone to take them in.
Siler adds that these senior dogs deserve to live their remaining years with love and care after giving so much of themselves to their previous owners. As long as Annie continues to enjoy life to the fullest, her bucket list will remain a priority. Follow Annie’s adventures on Instagram @dallasanimalfoster.
