Poor Ol' Mag-Pie

Can't see you, McCaleb....

We have 8 dogs.

It's crazy, I know.. but I tell you, we'd give anything to have 9 and have our sweet JD back again. He was truly just the BEST DOG EVER. However... we do have some other pretty special dogs. (Some are more special "needs"... some are just special... but that's another story.)



OK... now Maggie isn't looking at the camera....

Then there's Maggie. She is just a fun dog. We bought her to breed to JD... but it turns out that she is also our medically challenged dog. As a puppy, she began to hold her back leg up whenever she would stand still. She had a joint disorder that needed to have corrective surgery... and naturally it had to be a specialist in Louisville. Once we knew that she had this problem (and would most likely need shoulder surgery at some point in the future...) we also had her fixed. Shortly after her second surgery... we also found out she was epileptic. So Maggie has not only prescription dog food to keep her weight down (so that there is less strain on her joints...we keep her on the thin side) but she has daily medications and constantly has to have her blood monitored to determine her Phenobarbital levels.



Great... now Maggie is looking... and McCaleb is being silly....

A lot of people would have just put her down after the first "set" of problems. But she is just a blast to have around. The kids LOVE Maggie. She will fetch a ball almost until she can no longer walk. She is OCD about her tennis balls or her mini football. Her canine teeth have actually been worn down from catching so many balls over the years. She also LOVES the water. She will run and jump off the dock at our pond and chase every stick or ball that you throw for her! She loves the water so much... she circles the kids the entire time they are in their swimming pool. One of these days she is going to figure out a way to get in their with them!!



AH! Finally... everyone say "CHEESE!"

The one thing that Maggie doesn't like... is anyone that gets near her "bad" leg. Suffice it to say - I never like to leave her around the kids. I have always thought that she would be the one dog that would snap at the kids. She might not "like" all the attention that she gets from them... but she is a pretty good sport about it. She knows that they love her... and she also knows that they feed her table scraps even when they aren't supposed to. She really does love the kids... even if you can't tell from these pictures. If you look closely... I think she might be rolling her eyes as if to say... "Could you please just take the picture, already????"