Annabelle Lee Hicks — aka Munchkin 🐶

Annabelle as a puppy 🐶

🐾 The Dog Behind the Story

Meet Annabelle.

aka Munchkin 🐶

Annabelle Lee Hicks is a 10-year-old white Labrador retriever from Orlando, Florida — soft-furred, chill, and deeply loved. Her story began on a rainy day in 2015, when she and her siblings were found abandoned in a cardboard box in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Tampa, huddled among the shopping carts.

She was only 12 weeks old — and she was the last puppy left.

A kind stranger carried Annabelle and her siblings to the Falkenberg Road Animal Shelter, where she was given a paper collar and a new name: Munchkin. One by one, her brothers and sisters were adopted. Annabelle waited … and waited … until a young college student named Kiara walked by. Another family had nearly taken her home, but when Kiara heard her little whimper, everything changed. With no money to spare, Kiara chose her anyway.

Annabelle grew up in a USF college dorm, where she became the beloved mascot — helping her mom type essays, being carried down the stairs during fire drills, and charming every student she met. When her big brother Hershey Hicks passed away from cancer, Annabelle paid his kindness forward and taught her new little sister, Gigi Cannoli, how to be a Hicks dog.

Today, Annabelle loves blueberries, chicken breasts, back rubs, and road trips. She's afraid of thunderstorms, but calming chews — and her mom — always keep her safe. This is the only family she's ever known, and she wouldn't trade them for the world.

🐾 Shop Annabelle's Books