I will never forget the first few minutes I spent with Maisy. My girlfriend (she’s my wife now) and I had been looking for a home, and Chris and Beth Linn had their home on the market. I was sitting at the kitchen table talking to Chris and Beth about their house, and Maisy came over to me, sat down right next to me, and put her head on my leg. I’d had dogs when I was young, but I had never experienced that unconditional acceptance from an animal before.
I’d never heard of Boxer Rescue, and didn’t know that Boxer Rescue enlisted the help of people like Chris and Beth to act as foster “parents”.
Well needless to say, we fell in love with the house, and although the sale would have been completed regardless, it didn’t seem complete to us unless we adopted Maisy as well. So we did.
It’s hard to describe how comfortable we all felt together. Perhaps it’s like a new softball glove that doesn’t need to be broken in or that new pair of shoes that you can wear all day without your feet hurting.
My 11 year old son, Nick, bonded immediately with Maisy. She instantly became a member of the family, and it seemed like we’d had her for years. We enjoyed walks to the park, and drives in the car. If we ever left her in the car, when we came back, she’d be sitting in the driver’s seat, and you’d think she was waiting for you to give her the keys to the car.
Every day when we’d come in the door, Maisy would greet us at the door with her favorite toy, and her little butt wiggle. (She would have been wagging her tail, but Boxers just have a little stump). Kim often referred to her as the “little Kidney Bean” because she’d turn her body and look back at you.
Maisy was such a lovable dog. At times I think that some Boxers look “scary” when they have their ears clipped. When you first look at them you have some fear, but Maisy was the total opposite. Some of our family members who weren’t pet lovers quickly became very fond of Maisy. Everyone that knew Maisy loved her.
Even my ex-wife fell in love with Maisy - and the unconditional love of that beautiful dog helped soften her heart and brought a torn family closer together.
Christmas was a joy. We had stockings hung for each of the family members, pets included. Our Christmas card had Kim, Nick and I all wearing Steelers Jerseys, and Maisy sat at our feet wearing a “Steelers Terrible Towel” around her neck.
As spring came we noticed Maisy beginning to limp. She no longer had the “spring” in her step. She was still our “shadow”; she followed us everywhere in the house we went. She’d follow us upstairs, and then have difficulty coming back down. She seemed content to just lie on the couch, but sometimes took a few seconds to get up.
We spent several months in and out of the vets trying to help her. In May we had her to the vets, where they diagnosed her with severe arthritis. She no longer came upstairs, and had trouble coming up the steps in the back yard. She also wasn’t eating very much. When we adopted her in October, she weighed about 60 lbs. The last time she was at the vets she only weighed 46 lbs. We had tried numerous prescriptions, but nothing seemed to be helping her mobility.
On June 4th, we had to take her to the emergency vet hospital at around 10p.m. Kim thought she was having a reaction to the recent medication she was given. Maisy was lying on her blanket yelping, in obvious pain. The vet took some x-rays and found some growths, and also told us they thought she had some issues with her spleen. They suggested exploratory surgery, but as it turns out, the vet told us in her opinion, she felt that Maisy wouldn’t have survived through the procedure. Not knowing what to do and not yet ready to let her go, we brought her home and tried to make her as comfortable as possible for the night.
However, we realized on Sunday that there wasn’t anything we could do for Maisy, and that we’d have to do the only thing we could do; end her suffering. I’ve never been through this, and I can’t begin to tell you the agony that that decision brought. I hope I never have to deal with that again.
We know that Maisy is in a better place now, free of pain. I told the neighbor’s 3 and 5 year old kids that there’s a child in Heaven that needed a dog more than we did, so God took Maisy. It might not be the case, but that’s what I keep telling myself. I find myself realizing that the little accidents she’d have in the house weren’t such a big deal anyway, and I wish I was still getting up at the crack of dawn from that deep sleep to let her out.
Well our house is quiet. We no longer have our “shadow”. I find myself looking around from time to time to see if Maisy is at my feet. We all miss Maisy.
My family and I would like to thank Boxer Rescue, especially Dawn Karam, for everything she did and offered to do at the end, and Chris and Beth Linn, for being great friends, as well as a great source of advice when we needed someone to talk to.
We will always miss our “Crazy Maisy”. She will forever be in our hearts.
Each Boxer leaves paw prints on your heart. Maisy will be missed.