Maggie the 13 Year Old Puppy

by Holly Monahan, May 2008

An SOS e-mail came to me on May 2nd from Tracey Fulmer asking if I could travel to Toledo,OH to pick up and foster Maggie who was spotted in a shelter. My husband was out of the country at the time so I sent him an e-mail asking him if we had room for "Maggie, the 13 year old puppy". His reply, he would support my decision. That settled, I next had to figure out how I was going to get her here, as it was four hours one way. Much planning, many calls to the shelter, (husband back in town) and getting hubby to divert his next business trip to pick her up. During this time I talked to the vet at the Ohio shelter many times and found out that Maggie had cataracts, hard of hearing, eye and ear infections, two teeth removed, a lump removed from her neck and they had to amputate part of her right front paw as there was another large lump there. The most important pie ce of information I received was how sweet she was to everyone.

Maggie's story started with a call by someone who had heard a dog barking in the house for quite some time. They knew the house had been foreclosed and the owners were an elderly couple. They had been coming to back to the house when they could to give her food but that was it. When they arrived at the house, they found a dog that was overgrown in hair,dirty, hungry and living in conditions with feces and urine. The details at this point are unclear to me, but there was some contact with the previous owners and they identified her as a Kerry Blue with specific information given to the shelter. When trying to clean her up, the groomer had to get the doctor as they could not find her eyes, her facial hair was so overgrown and matted. I told the vet we were on our way to get her, but it would not be until the end of the next week. She was kind and answered my phone calls daily with updates on her condition.

Fast forward three weeks later and Maggie has settled into our house as if she has always been here. I was concerned about my two, Guinness and Miss Annie, but they have accepted the older, set in her ways, Maggie. She has been to our vet and it is determined that yes, she does have cancer (we had the tissue they had saved from the biopsy sent out) and we need to keep an eye on two other lumps. She does have cataracts, is hard of hearing (except she does hear the food at breakfast/dinner time), her heart is enlarged and has fluid in her lungs (medication started), has a thyroid problem, and we have her eye and ear problems clearing up. We go back tomorrow for a check-up.

We truly were only going to foster her and try to find a forever home, but Maggie has come home. She is part of the family and I can't imagine it any other way. Her tail is up and is wagging during the day. She is getting spoiled, being fed and cared for and will be loved. Maggie is getting into the routine of the household. She has a special boy in her life, my twenty year old son Sean, they truly are enjoying one another and it is something to see. Maggie just loves to be held and cuddled.

Miss Annie, (rescued in 2005) tries to get her to play and Maggie has none of it and firmly tells her. What is so interesting is that Annie listens to her. This is the three year old that used to run this house, but she has met her match. Guinness (rescued in 2004) is a little bent out of shape as Maggie is taking away some of his cuddle time with Mom but he is learning to live with it. As I write this, they are all sleeping within inches of each other. One happy rescue family.

We look forward to loving Maggie for the time she has, we are blessed, as she is very special. We will send a photo of Maggie, the 13 Year Old Puppy, for John to post. The program to scan the shelters works, another Kerry has had her life spared.

Holly & Pat Monahan
Guinness, Miss Annie, and Maggie