Aunt Disney and our dear tripod friend Sierra are going to be almost as excited as I am heartbroken — my long-distance romance and female version of myself, Anna, has just packed up her bags and moved up to doggie heaven.
After 14 years of being the sweetest, softest, most beautiful, charming lady I have ever loved, Anna decided it was time to step off the stage. She lived a great life up to the very last day.
Anna wasn’t just all the wonderful things I mentioned above — she was also a classy broad with a great story. You see, her dad — a fireman — found her tied to his truck 13 years ago with some dumb note about her being a present to the department. Can you imagine it? Beautiful little adolescent Anna, abandoned at the fire station, dirty and scared as can be?
Well luckily Anna’s daddyman — our good friend Dan — didn’t think twice about what to do. He snapped Anna right up and made her his co-pilot and his best friend. And boy did they have some adventures together. She used to even get to ride around in the fire truck with him, pretending to be a dalmatian . . . until the time that she accidentally locked the humans out of the truck while they were off saving lives and putting out flames. It kinda sounds like something my aunt Disney would have done to me, huh? Oops!
Mama first met Anna and her family when she was taking photos of pit bull families for the Stubby Dog Project. As soon as mama told me about Anna’s special story, I started jumping around and doing my little Chicken-dance and saying “mama, I have GOT to meet this female Chick!” and also, “mama, you have GOT to take her photo at the fire station!”
Well I am full of good ideas, aren’t I? So Anna and I began our years-long romance, and mama met Anna, her canine siblings Roscoe and Gigi, and her humans at Dan’s fire station. Just look what a beautiful scene I dreamt up for their portraits!
It’s not just Anna’s rescue story and how madly we were in love that make her so special. She had a way of making others fall in love, too. Her mama Kelly says that seeing the bond that Anna and her daddy shared was one of the big things that made her fall in love with him years and years ago.
Anna also helped her mama and dad fall in love with pit bull dogs, and eventually convinced them to adopt her sister Gigi, too.
There were other things that made Anna so much my soulmate — like the time dad and I were both out of town during a hurricane and mama went over to Anna’s house so she didn’t have to be all by her lonesome, and Anna snuggled with her all night long to make her feel safe just like I would have done. What a gal.
Yes, we all loved Anna. Everybody did. That’s why it was so hard to say goodbye to her last week, when she packed her bags for doggie heaven. She cited “complications” and “old age.” But it didn’t make us any less sad.
We’ll miss you, Anna. And we know that everybody will hold their dogs a little closer tonight in honor of all the love you shared in your grand 14 years.
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
awwww. thanks so much for sharing… 🙂
So glad I haven’t put my face on yet this morning! What a beautiful tribute to your friend and soulmate. Bentley sends his regards!
Awww nice to have such a nice dog share my name. Hoping her family can remember all the good times with her, she lived a nice long life despite her slightly rocky start. Great tribute as always.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
What a wonderful dog, such a beautiful story…a life so loved….run free and happy in heaven Anna ♥
Sounds like she was an awesome dog, Chicklet!
As someone with a 12 year old dog that has been sick this week, this hits close to home. Stop making me cry so early in the morning! Hoping Anna is having a great time over the bridge!
hello, great blog! I have a website of my own and I was wondering if I could post your blogs in my page with full credit to you of course. thank you for your time. Rick.
my page http://buckleupbitch.com/
Sent from my iPhone
Absolutely beautiful…
What a gorgeous girl and a lovely tribute to her.
What a beautiful post.
Sam
Beautiful story, thanks for sharing :))
They say this in a movie that mama may have seen…”beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most.” Be glad for the great middle with Anna, Chick. Hugs…
Thank you so much Chick for sharing our big sisters story with the world. We loved her so much and she taught us how to get along and be a loving pack and breed ambassadors. We miss her terribly and mommy and daddy are really sad, but we are so glad we have each other and our wonderful home. Please give mama licks for us and tell her to come visit and give us hugs and kisses.
Xxoo,
Rosco and Gigi
Chick that was a wonderful post! What a wonderful lady love of yours!
Made me cry. How wondful to hear of the love in this story. My Tori (a tortoiseshell calico) went to kitty heaven two weeks ago today. So I will keep the family in my thoughts. Thank you, Chick!
Now that I’ve stopped crying, I can express how terribly saddened I am by Anna’s passing. She was so sweet and loving. She brought so much love to her family and friends. I hope she befriended Blue in doggie heaven. Grandma Donna
Maybe they are together in the black and white area….
Funnily enough, our pit bull was dumped off at the fire station my husband works at. Never thought I’d hear of another with the same story. RIP Anna.
Hi Chick! Thank you for telling Anna’s story so well. As you know I knew Anna very well too…I was even known as “Uncle Dave” to her and the rest of the pack. She was one of those dogs that you can never forget, and I’d never want to if I could. Working at the animal shelter I see so many wonderful amazing dogs but Anna was really something special. A beautiful gentle girl that I feel blessed to have gotten to spend so much time with. Even the last time Kristina and I dog sat for her and Roscoe and Gigi, when Anna was clearly not doing well, Anna still made it a point to make sure that WE knew how much SHE loved US! She would go out of her way to make sure that in spite of the extra care she needed that we were comfortable and OK. I miss her terribly. I’ll just tell one last story before I go wipe my face off and get back to work. One of the last days of that last sitting session Kristina and I were in bed with Gigi laying between us and Anna mustered up the energy to jump up on the bed with us which was a great sign and Gigi let out one of her jealous “growls” (not really but I don’t know the right word for that sound) and Anna just slapped her across the face with her front paw and told her to shut up. K, Gigi and I just sat there stunned and then the humans broke out laughing. I will miss your sassy wonderful self so much. I know someday we will see each other again and you will lay down with me and give me those one of a kind gentle Anna kisses again. And it will be worth the wait.
We love you Uncle Dave. Thanks for loving us so much!
Oh Alek, you know how much I love your dogs and your stories, and I love how you made this event into an adventure instead of a sob story, cause even tho we are so sad, Anna is running and playing and waiting at the Rainbow Bridge, along with my girls, Maggie, Mollie and Maddie. I can’t wait to see them all!
Heaven is indeed richer today…
RIP Anna, your beautiful soul is never gone. x
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Be at peace, sweet Anna. Who would have thought that being tied to a fire truck could lead to such a wonderful life? All good superheroes have troublesome beginnings…Anna is proof that our actions, not our origins, define us. What a tremendous friend!
That is such a beautiful story, it made me cry. RIP Anna. I love reading stories about amazing pups and their wonderful humans. thanks for sharing it.