Maggie: February 2004-May 25, 2013

I got Maggie in 2005.  My mom was working at Macey's in Orem and came home one day and handed me a piece of paper while saying, "I'm probably going to regret this."  It was a flyer a lady brought in to put on the bulletin board at Macey's.  It said something like, "Great Dane/Boxer Mix needing a new home. Free"  Of course I jumped all over this.  My friend Erin and I went down to the store that the lady worked at, after calling her and asking about the dog.  I was in love the first moment I saw her. I called my mom right back and said I wanted her.  She told me to call my dad and ask him what he thought.  He worked in Orem at the time so he stopped by the take a look. He was a little reluctant to say yes, but did anyway.

Maggie 2005

The story of her previous owner was something like, the husband bought her as a pup and the wife didn't like her at all and told him to get rid of her.  He was in this lady's shop (that I got her from) telling her about it, and that he was probably just going to have her put down.  The lady told him not too, and she would find her a new home.  

When we got her home, it was hard for awhile. She whined all the time, and would destroy all kinds of things.  She even chewed the legs off one of my porcelain dolls.  She had really bad separation anxiety. We roughed it through this stage gritting our teeth.  

Once she accepted us as her family she was golden.  She used to chase our cat around, and the cat would jump out and scare her too.  It was hilarious to watch.  She had to make friends with my parent's dog Hanna, and that took a long time. In the end they were a tag team.

Maggie 2007

She would always do funny things. She had this growl.  It wasn't a mean growl, but people always thought so when they saw her do it to us.  She was talking to us.  She did this all the way to the end. 

She used to scare Hanna in the backyard.  Hanna started to lose her hearing so all I had to say was "Go get her Maggie"  and Maggie would run over, jump over Hanna bark as she landed on the other side.  Hanna would jump and then attempt to chase Maggie around the yard barking and growling at her. It was hilarious! Maggie would have this funny little smirk on her face as she ran off. 

She used to want to sleep on the bed with me.  I let her at first, but once I got married and would come to dog sit, that wouldn't work out too well anymore.  She learned quick that I had to give her permission to get on the bed.  But once I did, she would bound up and spread herself out at much as possible. Lol! 

The first time she met Houston, he was coming to pick me up.  He was sitting in the front room and Maggie wasn't sure about him.  She actually growled at him for sitting in "Her" chair. Houston was soon accepted and she moved to the play growl with him instead. 

Maggie 2010

When Phynix was born we all knew it would be the big test.... Would she be good with little kids...?  She was, she let Phynix crawl all over her. Play with her ears, her feet, and lay across her back. I don't think Maggie particularly liked it, but she knew she had to be patient.  She learned to just get up and walk away when she was sick of it.  

She only growled mean at someone one time. My nephew was down and he and a friend had walked into the backyard.  When they came back in, they were both wearing baseball caps pulled pretty far over their eyes.  She didn't recognize them and jumped up and put herself between the family sitting the living room and  the two boys.  She was ready to defend and protect if necessary. Once she realized who it was she calmed right down. I never felt afraid with her around.  I knew she would protect me and my family if it came right down to it. My mom never felt afraid being home alone with her there.  

Maggie May 25, 2013

In 2011, Maggie developed a "bump" on her backside and we, of course, were all concerned.  We went to the vet and he wasn't sure if it was a cyst or a tumor, but suggested we have it removed.  It was so close to her rectum and it could cause some serious problems. So, it was removed and we all moved on with life.  Well, in 2012, about a year later, it started to come back.  I was nervous and wanted it gone right away. So it was removed a second time.  

This year it started to come back again.  When I took her to the vet this time, it was a different guy and he said to not worry about it until it started to bother her. So, we didn't have it removed.  I did want to see if we could get it to become smaller, so did some research online.  The vet had said it was probably a fatty tumor. In my mind that means that she could lose some weight and it would help.  So, I started feeding her the really good kind of dog food.  I also found supplements that are supposed to really boost up the immune system and help reduce those fatty tumors.  I really started to work for awhile.  The tumor was getting a bit smaller. 

It worked for a little while but then the tumor started to get bigger. It would get bigger and smaller depending on the day, so we had no idea what was going on.  Just this last week it got really big.  I was stressing out over it and not knowing what to do. The surgery to remove it is around $700, and we had already done it twice.  

I decided to get her into the vet.  I told Houston beforehand that I just couldn't justify putting her down because of one thing.  If she was suffering I would do it, but she didn't seem to be. So, to the vet she went.  He looked at it and said that he didn't think he would be able to remove it because of it's size and how close to the rectum it was. He knew another vet who might.  So Houston took her into the other vet yesterday to see what he thought.

The vet said he could remove it, but that there would be a lot of problems and it would be $1300 instead of $700.  He said that the tumor had started to grow on her hip bone, so he would have to scrape that to get all the tumor removed.  He also said that it was so close to her rectum that it was pretty likely that he could nick a nerve and she would be incontinent for the rest of her life.  because of the type of tumor it is, it would always grow back.  We would have to have it removed again and again and again.  He also said that it's growing so fast that it could rupture at any time and she could possibly bleed to death.  And to top it all off, he said that the cancer had most likely spread, at least to her liver and possibly her lungs. He couldn't perform this surgery until Wednesday next week.

That was the worst thing to hear.  I was at work and had to finish off the day crying and deciding what to do for her.  I love her so much that I didn't want her to suffer.  I went straight to my parent's house after work.  When I got there, she ran to me and was wagging her little nub tale just as fast as she could.  I knelt down on the floor beside her. I was crying.  She gave me this look like, "It's okay, don't cry." She licked my tears off my face.  Then she lied down on my leg and licked my hand.  I think she knew it was time to go back to heaven.  Houston came and we took some pictures.  The last picture in this post is the very last picture we took of her.  Troy and Scheli came over so that Phynix could say goodbye. 

So I made the decision to have her sent back to heaven.  Based on how she was all day yesterday, I knew she wouldn't last until Wednesday, and I wasn't going to force her to. Before we left, Troy and Scheli gave me a great gift.  It was a cement hand print kit.  Troy was crying as he told me I could use it to print Maggie's paws on.  So Troy, Phynix, and I, all prepared it and got Maggie to put her paw prints in it.  I was so touched by this gift. 

Houston and I took her to the vet's office last night.  I held her and talked to her as they gave her a muscle relaxant, so she wouldn't be scared.  We told her how much was loved her and that we would miss her.  I held her as they gave her the shot and felt her spirit leave her body.  It was very peaceful.  She didn't struggle.  The vet tech, let us have lots of time with her, before and after she passed.  Houston and I both cried as we sat there with her. She was so pretty. She just looked like she was sleeping.

I will miss her so much. There will never be another dog like her.  She has such personality.  She was like my own child.   It will be really hard for awhile to put on a happy face.  My dad is very sad as well.  I worry about him.  He didn't take it well either.  She was his buddy when he was home.

I honestly believe that pets find their way to their forever homes through more than just luck.  Maggie was supposed to be mine.  She was such a bright spot in my life and everyone who knew her.  I will miss her everyday. But I know that giving her up was the best thing for her, even though my heart is breaking.