Annabelle

Yesterday was a very sad day. Our family dog, Annabelle past away at age 15 after having a stroke. She was a [very] stubborn Airedale who entered my family as a puppy when I was 16: this means that I knew her for half of my life.

I have many stories about her, but my favorite memory also illustrates how smart she was: She could play hide and seek! The game went like this:

We'd be sitting in the TV room & she would playfully run up to us and give one bark and then run away. She'd repeat this a few times which meant she wanted to play.

We'd say to her "Ok Annie: Wait!" and she'd wait for someone to go and hide.

When the hiding person was well hidden, they'd have to give a little whistle and she'd start searching. She'd focus on all the main hiding places: my parents bathroom shower... behind bedroom doors... under beds.. and when she found us, she'd bark twice with excitement and go and wait in the TV room for us to hide again!
Cool hey?!

The following picture was taken of the two of us in 1993:


Other quirky things:

• Annie was a little obsessed with toilet paper, tissues and my dad's hankeys (she could remove these items from pockets with incredible ease)...
  
  
• She also loved stealing socks & other laundry basket items ~ even when she got old!
  
  
• One of her best treats was ice cream (my parents would take her out for her own R1 ice cream from McDonalds if she'd been left alone all day!). My dad also always saved restaurant mints for her as a treat for when they got home :)
  
  
• I'll add more as I think of them! :)