From commentor Folkbum:
Margaret Jane — Maggie — was our snow dog, our solid-white Great Pyrenees, whom we rescued from the Great Pyrenees rescue of Greater Chicago. (http://www.gpcgc.org/rescue.htm) She was a stray, found with another Pyr and a Pyr-golden mix that summer running loose in southern Illinois. She was skinny and shy and sweet as could be; when we sat with her at the rescue kennel, she just plopped her head in our laps and hunkered down. She came to live with us in September of 2003.
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She quickly got her coat and her weight back — 75 lbs but she looked much bigger with her puffy white fur. And it also didn’t take long to realize she’d be a handful. That fall, we found that Maggie wanted to go with us whenever we left the house. At first it was kind of cute. But then she started clawing and chewing at the doors and windows. In February of 2004, she jumped through a window trying to follow my wife to work. Luckily, she couldn’t get out of the fenced back yard.
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She was finally diagnosed with a pretty severe case of separation anxiety. She was an absolute sweetheart otherwise–calm, friendly, willing to sit and be petted for hours by anyone at all with the time. Until we tried to leave her alone in the house. We knew that we couldn’t send her back to the rescue, because she was unadoptable in that condition. We persevered, because she was young and vibrant and had a lot of life yet to live.
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Years of behavioral and drug therapy finally led us to a reasonable, but difficult, routine. Anti-depression meds twice a day, plus a dose of tranquilizer every time she needed to be crated when we left the house, made her life and ours mostly bearable.
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And Maggie was still a sweetheart. The neighbor girls begged us to let them take her on walks. She was the darling of the farmer’s market for being so white, so big, so calm. The vet was always grateful to have a dog who didn’t complain about any of the prodding, poking, pushing, and pinching required at her annual checkups. The workers at the kennel where we boarded her loved her, loved playing with her, petting her, having her around.
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And so it stayed, generally at equilibrium, until last winter, when Maggie started drinking and drinking way too much. Something started going wrong with her eye. She was losing bladder control. She would lie there like a lump even moreso than her usual couch potato self. Months of testing finally led to a diagnosis of Cushings disease, with Horner’s syndrome affecting her eye, and maybe hypothyroidism on top of that. We started preparing to let her go then, but we tried an ambitious treatment–and it worked! She was better for a while. She seemed happier and livelier, and, importantly, her intake and output returned to normal.
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But then the bladder control started going again in August, and she was drinking a ton but barely eating. She wasn’t happy to be doing anything, and even the farmer’s market, which had been the highlight of her social calendar before, held no interest for her. We treated for a bladder infection, but it was pretty clearly more serious than that.
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Rather than do more tests and expensive treatments, knowing that it would buy her very little good time, we decided to let her go. Almost exactly seven years to the day after we got her–we went over by a couple of weeks–we sent her on her way earlier tonight.
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We still have Stewart, a rescue cat, who is big and healthy and a bundle of catness. We have Peter, a rescue house bunny (our third) who may outlive us all, since he is nearly 14 years old now. Who knows what will be next for us.
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Farewell, Maggie.
TuiMel
You know it was the right decision, but that doesn’t make the hole any smaller or easier to fill. Good for you for loving Maggie. My heart goes out to you.
RIP, good girl.
Amy
I’m so sorry. Thanks for giving Maggie a good life.
Lojasmo
So sorry, folkbum.
stuckinred
This was Mr Big. He was more of a Maremma than a Pyrenees, 130 lobs at his peak. He was smart, calm and relentless in the pursuit of a ball. Like your Maggie people were blown away by this gentle giant. When I would take him downtown people would literally line up to ask about him. When he began to go downhill it was very difficult. His head was so big that he couldn’t lie down without crashing it on the floor so I’d try to figure out where he was going to sleep and put a pillow there for him. Caring for an aging dog is hard but caring for these big breeds has special challenges, most of all getting them around when they lose mobility. It hurts so much to lose a dog but some of us keep doing it over and over. It’s a strange time in life when you start to think of how many dogs you have left in you.
Keith G
Sniff, sniff.
Gregory
I’m sorry for your loss.
folkbum
Thanks for posting this, Anne, and thanks everyone for their kind words. I’m all blubbery-crying again, but I am glad she gets this tribute here.
@stuckinred: There were a few really hard months with Maggie when the Cushing’s was bad and she couldn’t get up into the car to go the park, could barely make it up the stairs to the bedroom to sleep, couldn’t even climb up onto “her” couch for lounging … Yeah, the big breeds can be hard to care for at the end.
Ash Can
Condolences to Folkbum and family on their loss, and hats off to them for going the extra mile(s) to give Maggie such a good life.
brat
I’m so sorry for your loss. And yes, we need to hang in there with our rescued pets. They give back to us so much love.
Phyllis
Bless y’all, and bless Maggie.
JD Rhoades
I’m sorry, folkbum. I know how you feel. It’s been a year and a half since we lost our sweet and beautiful Golden Retriever Clifford, and it still hurts.
debit
I am so sorry for your loss. I read her story then went back and looked at her picture and can see in her eyes what a sweet, loving dog she was. Again, I am so sorry.
abo gato
Man, they fill your heart and then leave such a hole that you think you can never fill it again.
So, so sorry for your loss, Folkbum.
But it was clear that she had a wonderful life with you. Remember that, and her lovely eyes.
Zuzu's Petals
@folkbum:
So very sorry to hear about Maggie. She sounded like a wonderful pooch.
Having had to say goodbye to my 19-yr-old kitty yesterday, I know how sad you must feel right now. Knowing you’ve done the right thing helps.
debit
@Zuzu’s Petals: I remember you posting about him over the weekend. I am so sorry.
Mir
Anne, my heart goes out to you. I have a 100 pound Bernese Mountain Dog (once 140!) who’s been diagnosed with Lymphoma and is definitely on his last legs. We have to help him up from our tile floors and he can no longer make it up the stairs to sleep with us at night. We’re waiting for the day where we no longer see any happiness in him and then we’ll let him go.
bookcat
What a beautiful dog! And you are such kind and good people. We are made better by our care of our animals, aren’t we? I am so sorry she’s gone, I know what you are feeling having been there myself (I’m tearing up on your behalf). The pain never really goes away, but it does become bearable.
Annie
What a beautiful story. Sorry for your loss. Big huges and kisses to Stewart and Peter.
WereBear
I’m so sorry, folkbum. For a dog that size 7 is not unreasonable, it’s just heartbreaking. As a big dog lover myself, I know how tough it is when the end, as always, comes waaaaaaaaaaay too soon. I love Pyrs.
Sorry, Zuzu’s Petals. A 19 year old cat is a huge chunk of one’s life, spent with them.
Kristine
Such lovely animals–my condolences to you all.
Every time I lose one, I swear No More. But they fill your heart. What are you going to do?
Trinity
My deepest sympathies. She’s beautiful.
debbie
One of my brothers rescued a German Shepard (thrown out of the car ahead of him on I-71) who was much like Maggie: sweet and endlessly grateful. Our whole family loved Rex. He lived a long life, but began to decline, then recover, and then decline even more alarmingly. It was really difficult for my brother to make that difficult decision, but 15 years later, when I see a picture or hear Rex’s name, I still get a pang of sadness mixed with fond remembrances.
Kristine
@debbie:
There has to be a special circle of Hell for people who abuse animals. Has to be.
burnspbesq
Pyrs are the awesomest dogs. We’ve rescued three over the years. When they start to go downhill it’s heartbreaking.
The woman who runs the Pyr rescue in SoCal is a saint.
Zuzu's Petals
@debit: @WereBear:
Thank you.
Mir
@Mir: Sorry for the mistake on my earlier post – just realizing now that it’s folkblum that needs the sympathy! I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how hard it must be and my heart breaks every time I think about it.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Maggie has a forever home in your heart.
And what burnspbesq said in #24. We’ve had friends with the big, loveable monsters and watched them go downhill waay too fast.
Thanks for sharing!
hilzoy
She looks lovely; I’m so sorry.
Tattoosydney
Heavens, your beautiful Maggie was even more messed up than our Pedro is. It’s a special gift to keep the unadoptable and get the best friend you ever had. I’m so sorry for your loss.
Earl Butz
The symptoms are clear; kidney failure. There’s nothing you could have done about it. I’ve lost a cat to the same thing, exact same symptoms.
You did the right thing at the right time. You were a great and compassionate dog owner. And soon enough, there’s going to be another Maggie who needs your help just as much as the last one did.
elmo
From a fellow Pyr rescuer, thank you for the life you gave her and the love she had from you. My partner and I are the local coordinators for a few Pyr rescues, including National, and we’ve now had about a dozen pass through our house in the last year, not counting the two litters of puppies that we also briefly fostered. They are amazing, amazing dogs.
wonkie
Sorry for your loss. And grateful to you for being one of those rare people who takes the life of an animal seriously. I am so glad that Maggie found you and had all those good years with you. Every dog deserves someone like you.
Dog is My Co-Pilot
That is about the sweetest face I have ever seen. We have two goldens and the look is very similar. I’m sorry for the loss of Maggie. Letting a beloved friend go is one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s really difficult to see a once vibrant dog go downhill so fast. It is one of the more heartbreaking things I can imagine. In Maggie’s memory, maybe you can welcome another dog in need. RIP, Maggie.
Jacquie
What a beautiful girl. She was so lucky to have a compassionate and loving “pack.”
Jane2
Maggie sounds like she was amazing and how lucky for all of you that you chose each other.
MaskedBandit
You gave Maggie something that few could afford: a good long life. Severe separation anxiety is difficult to deal with. That you did so gave Maggie a family to love and live with. It stinks that big dogs have such short times to put their paw-prints on our lives.
Wow, the source code sure is dusty today. Lots of dust in the eyes….
debbie
@ Kristine:
An unintended consequence of this was that my brother, a high school senior at the time, was a nice enough kid, but a little self-centered. This rescue, plus the relationship he had with Rex and feeling a sense of responsibility for him, turned my brother into a much better person than he might have otherwise been. He’s certainly got more compassion than my other brothers.
ruemara
Ah geez, Folkbum, you got me weepy at the keyboard here. Maggie sounds like a big walking love carpet and I’m sorry to hear that she’s passed. I love big dogs like Pyrs and she was a beauty.
Also, I am sorry, Zuzu’s Petals. 19 years was a long life for a kitty, but it doesn’t feel any better. My sympathies to both of you.
debg
So sorry for your loss. What a wonderful doggie, and what great parents you were.
asiangrrlMN
@folkbum: My deepest sympathies on your loss. Your Maggie is a beautiful dog with a gentle soul. I am sending a white light to guide her on her journey to the other side. Thank you for taking her in and giving her such a great home.
@Zuzu’s Petals: My sympathies, again.
Man, these threads are gut-wrenching but also beautiful at the same time.
cckids
My sympathies, what a lovely girl, with a soul to match. Sounds like she repaid all the work & worry you went to with her by being such a love.
I know it’s corny, but here goes “Try not to cry because she’s gone; smile because you knew her.”
brantl
@Kristine: There should be, if there isn’t. Maybe we can get the scientists to invent one?
Triassic Sands
Every time a Great Pyrenees is born, the world is a little bit better place. Every time one dies, it is a little poorer.
They are among the best of all dogs.
Medicine Man
My condolences Folkbum. That is a hard thing to deal with. And to you also, Zuzu’s Petals.