Backstory wrote:
This sweet girl was brought in while suffering in immense pain from a horrible state of health. She's presumably an escaped puppy from a backyard breeder due to her messy lineage yet beautiful coat, and was seen down a back road dragging her back leg behind her. She was finally caught after about two weeks by cornering her against a fence, and she was immediately brought into the vet. Both her tail and back leg were broken beyond repair - we assume she was hit by a car and simple left to suffer. Despite her injuries and rocky start into this world, she's the sweetest little girl we've ever seen! Even with one less leg, she's fast and loves to play fetch - especially with Frisbees. This young one has a high intelligence level and listens amazingly well! Her energy level is fairly average to low, other than fetching and daily walks this girl loves to lay on the couch and snuggle up. Give this little angel the home she so desperately deserves!
-watchdog.
First Introduction from my view:
When I first walked into the shelter my heart was racing. The backstory on my paired pup was just my specialty, for I have worked with physically disabled animals before. My new baby had never had the love I was about to give her and I was so grateful to give her the life she deserved. I slowly opened the door to the room and our eyes immediately met. Her little nubby tail began to wiggle followed by her whole body. The shelter volunteer released her from her leash and she leaped into my arms, kissing my face all over. She was absolutely beautiful. It made me so upset to know someone just left her hurt. Trying to ignore that thought, I immediately try some basic tricks on her. She picks them up quickly and knows the basic sit, stay, lay down, and shake within minutes. I give her lots of treats reassuring her that there will be plenty more. After I fill out all the paper work I finally give her a name, Anika. The name means grace and brilliance. She seems to like the name because she follows me to my car as I sing it. She gets a little timid approaching the car but I hand her a treat and pick her up so she can reach the seats. She seems to enjoy it after that.
Meeting Another Pet:
Anika and I get to my home and I grab her from the car. She sniffs around my yard smelling my other pups trail. My other dog is super friendly and she is even smaller than Anika. Bean, my otherdog, runs to the door more than excited to meet a new friend. I let Anika sit outside while I grab Bean. Anika looks super curious and I can see her little nub wiggle. I come out and place bean infornt of Anika. Bean downward dogs and gives the initiation of play time. Anika does the same and they are off! They begin to chase each other around the yard and I grab the plushy football. This is Bean's favorite toy. The endless game of seek and fetch begins and they both seem to love playing with each other. An hour passes ad Anika poops out, laying frog legged on the grassy floor. We head inside and they both cuddle up on the couch. They seem to love each others attention and the snuggles. Bean and Anika seem to have very similar personalities. Both very playful yet know when it is time to chill. I think that they will be best of friends. Anika seems to react very well to changes and new people/animals and I feel she will not have a problem adapting.
New Toy:
I bring Anika to the pet store to pick out her very own toy. She does not seem to know where she is and goes ahead and gives the store a sniff down. She greets the cashier by licking his shoes then continues her store investigation. She stops by the bins of "indestructible" plushies and pulls out a green and blue dinosaur. She bits down and the toy gives a loud squeak. She drops it confused by its cry. She pounces and the toy lets out another squeak. She cocks her head wondering why this plushy made such a noise. I drop to my knees next to her and press the toy playfully. Anika's body gives the happy wiggle and she gives me a nice slobbery kiss on the cheeck. She grabs her squeaky dinosaur and heads for the exit door. I quickly pay and we walk towards my car. "Squeak, squeaky, squeak squeak" Anika loves that squeaker that is for sure. I put her in the front seat and she almost immediately falls asleep. Sh hugs her toy close to her and the snoring begins. She loves her new toy.
Picky Eater?:
Anika is far from a picky eater. She is the ultimate trash can and will eat anything you drop on the floor. I have never been a person to let my dogs eat human food but every once in a while I will give a apple slice or some carrots. Today was peanut butter toast for breakfast day and Bean and Anika both got a slice. Bean gobbles it up quickly and licks the bowl clean. Anika is having trouble with the sticky contraption and makes a funny tongue out look. She loves it regardless and gobbles it down. Other than peanut butter toast Anika's favorite food has to be red apples. She likes the crunch and the sweet taste!
Training:
Like I said before Anika is a quick learner. She is determined to get the treat at the end of the lesson and will do almost anything to get them. After mastering the basics I started teaching her agility. It sounds silly because she is missing a limb but she is actually quite quick and the disability does not bother her at all. The poles where the easiest thing to teach her because I have already taught her to weave threw my legs. She catches onto that real quick and we move onto jumps. This smarty has a hard time grasping the concept of jumping over the hurdles instead of walking around and it takes some extra work to get her to jump. After a few times of me picking her up and plopping her over she gets the hang of the idea. Now that she has gotten better at the jumps we try the next harder step the tube. Anika refuses to even look at the tube because its is scary and makes a weird noise when touched. She pins her ears back and sticks her nose in the air. Nope, she is not doing it, we must have to work harder at that one!
Dealing with special needs:
Anika honestly does not even notice her leg missing. I think she lost it at such a young age that it never really affected her mobility. She runs just as fast, jumps just as long, and has just as much fun as any other dog. There will be a slip of the couch or the miss of the side of the bed every once in a while but for the most part when that happens she gets up and tries again. One thing that I do have to do for her is place her in the car. The car still freaks her out and will almost always refuse to get in the car. If Bean comes with us in the car Anika is more willing to go in the car and will have no problem walking to the car. Once inside the car however she loves it!! Other than that her leg causes her no problem and she can function just as well or even better than any other dog.
Bonding:
Anika and I bonded almost immediately. She has a very optimistic attitude and we coexist together almost perfectly. She bonded very well with Bean as well and are the best of friends. Anika is a very friendly dog and is kind to everyone. She just wants to play and cuddle up by your side. I spent a lot of time with her in the beginning when I first adopted her and I think that is why we have such a strong bond. Plus we did an enormous amount of training which requires a lot of trust between me and Anika. Honestly I believe if she ever needed to be rehomed she could bond with anyone very quickly for she is a very trusting pup but that will never happen ;)
Overcoming A Fear:
Anika only has one fear, cars. She will get extremely scared around moving vehicles and Ill have to hold her one the side walk if one passes. We have almost conquered getting her in the car and Bean helps a lot with this. Bean is a big help with overcoming Anika's fear with cars because Bean loves car rides. Anika likes to be very much like Bean so I feel that Anika tries to imitate her a lot. Once in the car she is fine with seeing moving cars and what not but I think she is just going to always have a little timidness when it comes to being loose near a car. This is totally understandable and I am hoping one day she will completely overcome that fear.
Favorite Sleeping Spot:
Anika's favorite sleeping spot is under all my pillows on my bed. My bed is super low to the ground and she can get up very easily. The pillows are soft and plushy. She loves them a lot and when the spot of sunlight comes through she will stretch her body out to feel the heat radiate from the window. At night Bean and Anika both cuddle up next to me one on each side. Bean prefers to be under the blanket while Anika puts her head on top of the pillows like a human. Anika will sleep with her tongue out if she is in a deep sleep. Her snore is as loud as my grandpa's and she is a heavy sleeper. I could basically move her from one side of the bed to the other without waking her up!
Theme Song:
Anika most definitely has multiple theme songs but her overall theme song would have to be "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves. It is just an old soul happy vibe song and that is what Anika acts like. Always super happy and just lovable. She see's the happiness in the day and will prance around happy rain or shine. She does not allow any sadness in her life and even when she stumbles and falls she gets right back up and is back to normal happy self. She can make anyone just as happy as she is by trotting into the room and flashing her pearly white panting smile.
Happiness: Done by FeelGood2D
Favorite place:
Anika's favorite place is a little cafe on the beach. The cafe is very eclectic and artsy. The "backyard" of the cafe is filled with antiques and is super dog friendly! They have multiple water dishes and people who come over and give Anika lots of attention. Not only do they have great smells but Anika can eat there too! They serve pup friendly dishes, serving her favorite food.... PEANUT BUTTER TOAST. Anika almost always goes for her favorite food but sometimes I order her chicken breasts. The great thing about the dog friendly cafe is that they even have a play area that Bean and Anika can meet other pups in! Since they are both very social-able they have lots of fun playing with the other pups. I try not to bring them too often because there are lots of other places to enjoy just as much!!