Hi!
It feels like forever (almost a year) since I've updated on Angel, and I'm not even sure who is still following. I left Facebook 3 years ago during Covid, so I lost touch with two of the puppy moms. I hope Angel's "babies" are still doing well.
Angel is still enjoying a healthy, happy, and full life at 12 years old! She has no health issues, except for some stiffness we believe is most likely arthritis due to old age, but she still runs and jumps and you'd never guess she's not a puppy. She still has a fun and energetic, playful personality, though she's not much for playing with her toys anymore. She does sleep more than she used to, but all I have to say is "run, run run?" and she jumps up and heads for the door!
She loves her daily golf cart rides with me, and still tries to catch that elusive chipmunk that she will most likely never get! The other night she stalked a rabbit, and I happened to catch it on snapchat video. She was pretty cute. I'm not sure what she would have done if she actually got close to it. She's afraid of so many things!
She is still afraid of dryer buzzers (ours is on silent, but TV commercials have them), buzzers during basketball games on TV (we watch them on mute), thunder (a fairly new fear), fireworks (also fairly new as of a couple years), and the weirdest one is bells or a phone ringing. I'm not sure if her ears are sensitive to these things, or what it could be. We have tried all natural remedies and soothing activities with her. Thunderstorms are the absolute worst, and even with the "Thunder Wunder" calming chews and holding her or wrapping her tightly, she's not having any of it!
She never got over her social anxiety, even with people who frequent our house. She still barks at everyone, and goes ballistic when anyone rings the front door. Delivery people must think she's an absolute nightmare, and that's okay, but it does become a problem when we want to have new people here. She warms up faster than she used to, but she's definitely not easy to have around a lot of people or other pets.
It's okay. When you have a pet that has been in shelters or had other owners, it is expected that they may have some behavior issues or quirky things about them. We've adjusted our life to make hers better, and she deserves it. She has brought us so much joy and love and companionship. Through all of my illnesses and all of the girls' breakups and everything our family has endured-deaths of family members-Angel has been our little snuggle buddy. We could not imagine not trying to make her life the best it could ever be!
I hope this update finds you well. It may be harder to adopt a shelter pet, but I hope you consider doing that if you are looking to add a furry member to your family. They really are worth the extra time, effort, and love!
