Maggie is my special dog. She was adopted from the Warrenton, Oregon animal shelter when she was eight months old. She had been abandoned in the woods. For her first Christmas with us, our son and daughter-in-law’s two yellow labs gave her a doggie DNA test. It came back that she’s an AKC registered lab. Assuming that there was a reason why she was dumped in the woods, we had her hips checked. The left one is not perfect but not too awful either. After being left once, she doesn’t much care to be left anywhere again and pouts. She can lay a good guilt trip on me!
When my husband was diagnosed with leukemia, he spent 3.5 years in treatment centers and hospitals, both in Oregon and Washington. Maggie was bounced around and lived in four different houses, two apartments and one motel while this was happening. She accepted everything and her good nature was a constant source of comfort for both of us. Our son refers to her as a “lightly toasted marshmallow” due to both her color and her disposition. She loves everyone, will play with any dog ranging from a miniature Chihuahua to a Great Dane. Kids are her favorite people because they will wrestle and roll around on the floor with her. Now that there are just the two of us, she’s been my “other heartbeat in the house” and I don’t know how I would have gotten through these last four years without her.