http://www.care2.com/greenliving/annie-and-her-hero.html
Annie and Her Hero
Our friend and agent Annie Brody never had a dog as a child, but always loved them. New York City was not the perfect place to begin life as a dog person, but at age forty-five, Annie felt it was time. She adopted the dream dog of her childhood, a golden retriever, who had been found in a parking lot in the Bronx without any identification. She named him Hero. He would come to change her life in ways both unexpected and unanticipated.
Annie cherished Hero’s companionship, and could hardly wait to get home after work so she could go outside with her new buddy. Morning and evening walks and forays to the fenced-in dog park were not enough. She began to take Hero out of the city on weekends to places where he could hike off-leash in the woods. Soon the weekends weren’t enough either. The turning point came one night in the city after a glorious weekend in the country.
It was raining and they were in a taxi driving down Park Avenue. Annie noticed that Hero’s perpetual grin was gone, and that he seemed to have become depressed. She wondered what the problem was, so she crouched down and put her head right next to Hero’s to see from his vantage point. All she saw were sharp angles and glass and metal squares of gray and black. They had just been in the countryside with lush fields and rolling hills and trees - lots of round edges and wonderful smells of nature. No wonder he was depressed.
Next: Annie’s Move
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4 comments
add your comment »What a wonderful story!
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Such a heart warming story! It brought tears to my eyes and made me think about my dog Gracie. She came to me after i had a heart attack. I am a recluse and had my 3 cats. no need to go out. But Gracie came to me after she had been run over by her previous owner twice and left for dead. She was to have been put down, but the vet who worked for the humane society decided that since Gracie was so trusting and calm, even with half of her face torn off, and most of her bones broken, that she deserved a second chance. i was asked by one of the vet techs to watch her during the day, and on the first day, my son showed up with his wife and my 6mo. old grandson, wanting to have their first alone time since his birth. I took both of them in. In my mind, it was truth time. I had made Gracie some beef ribs, and as my grandson and i watched, she chewed on one end of that bone with gusto. She was covered in road rash, and had a front leg amputated. My grandson began the crawl to her, and i watched as he gently took the bone from her. She looked at me sadly but never uttered a word. He crawled back to my lap and Gracie crawled out of her bed to us, and proceeded to chew the bone as he held it for her. She has been a great joy to me and all who meet her. Because of her i get out of the house and my health has improved as has hers. My grandson is now 4 and they have a mutual admiration society of their own going on. Dogs, you have to love them and they will love you so much more.
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What a beautiful story. I am known by my friends and family as Annie, and my beautiful companion is a red coated Golden Retriever, very similar in looks to Hero. Gracie is my girl and we are fortunate to live in a rural township not far from the outer suburban areas. Unfortunately we don't have large acreage so could not do anything as wonderful as Annie has done with her Camp Unleashed. But we are the resident 'dog sitters' for all of our family when they go away - and all of them have dogs ... so we have ' visitors' for Gracie a lot during the year. It is true - how remarkable a change in life, a loving pet can make and just how much they can teach us. Thank you for such a wonderful story. Annie B.
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That is true love of her dog. What a wonderful thing to do. Life is so much better with pets, as long as their needs are realised and it's not all for the human's benefit. Beautiful story.
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