great girl

I saw this comic strip one time where a dog was complaining that he or she was always good, never great.  I don't know why "good girl" flows so much better than "great girl" but it does so that's what you tell them.  This morning, though, I told her she was a great girl.  And she was.

We got Maggie about 6 months after we got married.  We knew we wanted a rescue, and I really wanted a Boxer.  I don't know what it was about her little ad that I liked over the others. 

I am so sweet and I just roll with the flow where ever I go. Everyone who meets me says that I am just the sweetest little girl! You see, I was lost...and I got picked up by the county animal control. They put me in a large cage with lots of other dogs...but, that did not bother me...I just waited there because I knew that someone would come and see how sweet I am and get me out. Sure enough, one day a nice lady showed up and got me out of there. She put me in her car and I had a lovely ride to the vet. I am all healthy and now they are feeding me so that I can gain a little weight. However, I must admit that I am on the small side at about 45 pounds.

And then they posted these pictures of this totally emaciated Boxer girl. 


We had to drive way north of town to meet her at her temporary foster location.  They hadn't even had her long enough for a real foster placement.  She was so skinny and seemed kind of scared and timid.  She could walk well on the leash.  I don't know what it was about her but we took her.  It turned out she was crate trained as well.  More than likely she was used for breeding and then who knows.  But I think she had a rough life on the street because she was always uncertain of other dogs.  Never people, though.  She loved them.  (Selfies from this morning.)

 
 
They were calling her Flo but I decided on Maggie.  Maggie Waggie.  Maggie C Boxer.  Maggie-roni.  Maggie Mae.  You apparently can't be a small mammal in this house and get away without many, many nicknames.  We fattened her up (appropriately) and she went on lots of walks.  She looked great.  So much healthier, all muscle.  Our vet guessed she was probably 2-3 years old.  Looking back, I'm betting that they underestimated her age because of her small size.  Our current vet was thinking she's probably older than 8.  That oddly makes me feel a little better. 

Anyway, she was the best dog.  It seemed like she was so well-behaved to begin with but we did teach her a few things.  We never had any trouble with her.  She was calm for a Boxer.  You could leave her in the front yard with no fence and she'd never wander off.  She was super well-mannered and maybe would get a little overbearing with visitors because she wanted ALL THE LOVE

She was with us through a ton of changes.  Unemployment, a new baby, selling a house, buying a house, another new baby, several job changes, three new cars, the infamous house fire and the crazy living situations that followed.  She was a trooper.  We never had to worry about her being a disruption anywhere we stayed.  I mean, seriously?  How many dogs can live in a hotel for a month and you'd probably never even know she was there besides the jingle of her collar...  She occasionally got into trouble because she was a dog afterall--the deer incident.  Um, and the more recent skunk encounter.


Maggie loved people but she loved my husband the most.  By far.  She enjoyed being outside when the weather was nice.  She loved walks and jogs.  She'd even tolerate crazy outfits to protect her against the weather.  She loved being loved on.  She didn't really play with toys, just people.  But she loved Daisy and Tessa, her auntie dogs.  And she loved photobombing.  She was very skeptical when we brought home baby #1 but as they've grown up, they grew on her. 

 


We put her down this morning.  It was the worst decision to have to make but it was all very quick and peaceful.  My husband asked if we could do it outside, which I think was a great idea.  The vet said he agreed that it was time and that we had already tried more than a lot of people would.  He thinks she probably had cancer in her brain and possibly elsewhere.  The other options didn't seem to be very good considering her age and size.  And I just don't think she would have been happy if she couldn't follow us around wherever we went.

We all loved her very much.  She was my coworker for 5 1/2 years.  I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the workdays.  And I'm not sure how my husband will get over losing his best friend.  You were a truly great dog, my dear.  We will miss you terribly.



Comments

Nicole said…
She will be missed!
integir said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
integir said…
As heartbreaking as this news is, I appreciated reading your post. Thank you for composing it. It is a great tribute to Maggie.
Kim Ellis said…
God speed, Maggie. Thanks for the beautiful memories.

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