Maggie, we will miss you

On Friday September 2nd, we made the decision to have our 11 1/2 year old lab/rottweiler mix Maggie put down.  After a summer of gradual decline and 2 days of what was probably a full blown case of congestive heart failure, we knew it was her time to go.  We will miss her.  She has been our companion for the past 10 years.  Rescued from a foster home, she became part of our lives before Eric and I were married.  She moved with us from Virginia to Saranac Lake, NY and then back again to Virginia.  She was a fun, friendly, energetic dog who loved riding in the car, swimming, hiking, playing with her tug toys and just being near her family. 

Her love of riding in the car was borderline nuts.  Maggie never sat or lied down no matter how hard we tried.  She constantly paced and watched for oncoming traffic, sometimes shaking the whole car in her excitement to get at the cars.  We always joked that she should have been adopted by a UPS driver and then she could have ridden in a vehicle all day!

  When I say she loved to swim, she mostly splashed in the water, pawing at it, biting at the splashes and chasing waves.  She only learned to swim when she was about 8 years old and then she would only swim if she was chasing after a stick or a 12" piece of 2x6 board my dad found at a beach.  She also loved to howl at fire or ambulance sirens whenever she got the chance.  She did this so much that Kaylee and Karissa started to howl with her!

Maggie found her way into the hearts of many.  My parents loved having her stay with them.  They would take her for rides in the car, bring her swimming, and let her eat cheese and crackers!  We always said Maggie was on vacation whenever she stayed with my parents.  She even delighted my grandmother who never was much of a dog person before Maggie and my brother's dog Mollie. 

Dog owners know they will most likely out live their pets.  But somehow time catches you by surprise and all of a sudden your friend and companion is no longer by your side.  Somehow you feel older, yet wiser.  And maybe through Maggie we can learn to love as she did, unconditionally.