Requiem for a Puppy

We have sad news to share. Our oldest dog Maggie is gone. We have discussed whether or not to post about her death. Being fairly private people we don’t feel the need to share our grief. However a week in, we are starting to realize that we are doing a disservice to her by not saying anything. Her personality made her a perfect participant in the adventure we are on. She was fearless, curious, and outgoing.

We knew that from the day we brought her home she was fearless. As an eight pound bundle of fluff, she adopted our 90 pound shepherd, Jake, as her personal chew toy. She would gnaw and tug on whatever part of him she could reach. He would respond by taking her whole head in his month. She would settle down for a minute. He would let go and she would go back to tormenting him. By the time the play session had ended her head would be dripping wet.

She loved to chase. If a toy happened to go under a piece of furniture, she’d run after it full tilt until the very last minute when she dropped to her belly and whizzed underneath in a full body slide.

She also loved exploring and following her nose. Our walks on the Carp Ridge provided ample opportunity for her to bury her nose in the leaf litter or snow and inhale the essence of whatever had been there before. Her nose could even entice her off course at an agility trial. Once when I was trying to recall her from the scents along the fence line, the trail judge said, “If Maggie had fingers, I know which one she would be using right now.”

She was always the first to the door greeting family and friends. And, she never hesitated to introduce herself to strangers. Long after the kids left for university she would run to a window with a view down the driveway when she heard the school bus coming around the corner.

All of these characteristics meant she was having the time of her life on the great loop. A new place almost every day. New smells. New people. Perfect! Even her last few days when we had to carry her to shore, she could hardly wait to get there to explore. But was time.

Fellow boaters helped us out once again. Peter and Ann on Irish Hurricane lent us their car to take Maggie to the vet and then transport her body to a crematorium.

Another boater made arrangements for us to borrow his slip in Hilton Head. We vacationed there with the kids and it was the first place Maggie got to run off-leash. It seemed an appropriate place to scatter her ashes. So if you are walking on the beach south of Coligny Circle and catch a glimpse of a wagging white tail, it is likely her following from in front, as John says, off on her own adventure.