We got Maggie in December of 2007 when she was 12 weeks old. Our kids had been bugging us for a dog for awhile now and we finally caved! My husband had been at a local pet store (where he was selling advertising) and saw a flyer on the bulletin board, advertising puppies. The sign read "Free to A Good Home" so, he tore off the phone number and the next thing you know, we had a puppy!
Maggie is a lab mix...her mama is a chocolate lab and her daddy is well, ...we aren't really sure since he didn't stick around long enough to meet us! But, we are pretty sure he was a pit bull, as Maggie's face definitely has some pit bull-ness in it.
Since bringing her home, she has been everything BUT free!! She immediately chewed everything in sight....hot tub cover, garden hose, cords, many pairs of shoes, swim trunks, undergarments, etc....We finally built her a kennel outside to stay in when we weren't home because she couldn't be trusted to roam the backyard at will.
The next thing we bought her was an expensive, re-chargeable bark collar because the neighbors complained that she barked when we were not home. Who knew? We thought she was content as could be in her little 4-walled cozy kennel outside!
Throughout the first few years, my husband and I would joke that, although she was "free to a good home", she had cost us an arm and leg...but, we always agreed that at the end of the day, she was well worth it. Each night as she would snuggle into her position at the bottom of our queen-sized bed, and give out a little sigh once she got comfortable, we would both look at each other and say, "She's a good dog...and we wouldn't trade her for the world."
Last summer, Maggie got into a little trouble with the law. She was out front, off-leash with my husband while he puttered around in the garage...Suddenly a guy went flying down the street on a skateboard at about 50 miles an hour, holding onto 2 leashes with dogs attached. Maggie, of course, went running after them..."Heck, she'd never seen such a thing like this and wanted to see up-close what the heck this was!!" Unfortunately, the 3 dogs started going at it, the guy, trying to do the right thing, and trying to get Maggie away from his dogs, started kicking and hitting our dog ... and Maggie bit the guy on the hand. After several minutes, the ruckus was over...but, my poor husband who witnessed the whole scene, was distraught and upset to say the least. I still remember him coming in and telling me about it, shaking and close to tears.
The next morning, as I was getting out of the shower, my 9yr. old daughter came in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, there's a policeman at the door who needs to talk to you." Now we all know, nothing good has ever come for those words, so I quickly got dressed and brushed my hair and went to the front door. Sure enough, the guy had pressed charges and we had been summoned to court to deal with the whole mess. In the mean time, the dog had to be quarantined and could only go on walks around the neighborhood and MUST be on leash at all times.
One night, when my husband was taking Maggie for a walk, he came face to face with the bitten skateboarder...He lived 3 doors down from us!!! Talk about awkward!!
Well, the day came and we went to Doggie Court. We told the judge our story, we groveled, we apologized...and in the end, they dropped 2 of the 3 charges...but, the biggest one, being "Dog At Large" set us back a few hundred dollars. We were also told that Maggie had to have a chip put in her (expensive!), that she would be labeled a "dangerous dog" and we had to put up signs on our fence, warning people about our dangerous dog. She also was sentenced to a "life of doggie probation" where in which she can never be off-leash again, except at the dog park (since the incident didn't happen at the park).We left the courtroom, tail between our legs, paid our fine, and just looked at each other, saying..."Free to a good home, Really?"
Since that incident, Maggie has been a model citizen. She never leaves the house without a leash. She hasn't bit another living creature since, and she still continues to charm and win us over every chance she gets!! She no longer gets to run free along the river and chase squirrels or chase the waves at the beach, but she still seems pretty happy and we'd like to think she has a pretty good life! We love you, Maggie...you can be a total pain in the ass at times, but we wouldn't have it any other way..."Happy Birthday, Sweetie!! Woof! Woof!"
No comments:
Post a Comment