Annabelle was found running near a very busy street in Miami and was rescued by a good Samaritan. All attempts to contact her owner failed. She was put up for adoption by Friends Forever and I fell in love at first sight. It was a few months after her adoption that someone recognized her. The person said, "Your dog belongs to my next door neighbor." Neither of us understood what was going on because when she was rescued she was sporting a dog tag with her telephone number on it. Long story short, a couple of months later, the neighbor and I realized that two numbers of the telephone number on Annabelle's dog tag were reversed. I was thrilled to be able to bring closure to her family. Upon calling her owner I found out that Annabelle had been replaced with a lab, her brother had been given to a relative, and her previous owner said that everyone seemed to be happy.
She turned out to be six and a half. At that age, she went through beginner training, intermediate training twice, advanced training twice, click a trick, and many hours of obedience work at home. She was a true diamond in the rough. She has become a therapy dog and works at a nursing home, at my school where she has a reading club, and also at the public library.
One day I looked at her and said, "You're mamma is going to make you a Carmen Miranda outfit," and I did.
I'm a music teacher so all day on Halloween Annabelle will be helping me teach about Brazilian music, Carmen Miranda's impact on the receptivity of Latin American music by American culture and the very delicate subject of being labeled and pigeon-holed, and the difficulties that people suffer who take that first step against the status quo of a culture.
She has been a treasure to share.
