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Maggie May of Shropshire
We came to share our lives with May by accident one day in November 2000. I
was taking my latest rescue to my vets to be spayed and she had just been given
her sedative. ‘Just walk her back to the kennels for me’ said Helen, the
nurse. Little did we know but I think we were being set up! By chance(?), the
empty cage had a neighbour – a skinny but very cute dog with the saddest face
you ever did see. ‘Ah, we could just take you home’ we said. ‘Well,
actually you can’ was the reply ‘ she’s here to be put down’. The dog
warden had no luck in finding a place for her in any kennels or rescue homes and
this was our first sight of ‘Stray’ later to be known as Maggie May.
We arranged to call back the next day so that Kia could recover a little from
her operation and from there we went to the back garden at the vet’s surgery.
Kia had been a very disturbed rescue dog and was still very fear aggressive and
could be very nasty with other dogs. Helen’s words were: ‘If they rip each
other to shreds, you’re in the right place to stitch them up’! So we let
them both off the lead and within seconds, soulmates had been united. May came
home with us and started the long process of settling down. She had been a stray
for quite some time but she was little more than 9 months old. For 2 days she
didn’t come near us but Kia showed her the ropes and soon she started to gain
confidence…. And lots of weight! 11 pounds in the first 3 weeks! She stayed
very quiet at first but when she eventually opened her mouth we, and the
neighbours, certainly knew about it! If one of us is out with the girls, you can
hear May barking half a mile away at home! She is now a healthy 26kg and, as the
local rabbits can verify, she can certainly move!
She is 4 now and the most gentle dog I have ever known. A year or so ago I
had been roped into helping out at the village hall bingo sessions (who said my
life was boring!) and this meant a walk up the village in the dark so I decided
to take May with me. This is where I discovered her talent. This once shy dog
seemed to win over everyone at bingo. Without knowing it, people were marking
their bingo cards and stroking a dozing dog’s head that had crept onto their
laps like a ninja! Maggie was a hit and it got me thinking. A bit of web
surfing, a lot of forms and a few tests and now Maggie May is a therapy dog for
PAT (Pets As Therapy), visiting a local nursing home every week. Her biggest fan
at the home has just turned 100 years old! And at Christmas she made her rounds
wearing antlers! (which she wore without any fuss – daft creature).
It is only recently that we discovered her true, Huntaway, identity when a
lady saw her being walked on the showground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire and asked
us if she was one. We’d never heard of a Huntaway before and, with a little
more surfing and an e mail and photo’s to Ray, I think we have a positive ID.
She certainly has the bark, the features and the stamina – I think we can
count on one hand the number of times May has panted, even after the longest
walk or day at the seaside.
All in all, she is a long way from the skinny, frightened girl we took in and
happily lives with us, Kia and Holly (the annoying Springer Spaniel that insists
on walking under her) and is spreading a little joy to those who can no longer
have a dog of their own – and all that from ‘an unwanted mongrel stray’
that was on death row.
Wendy, Stephen, Maggie May, Kia and Holly.
Just click on the image for an enlargement.
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