Maggie, the sweetest dog ever!!

My favorite for today is my dog, Maggie, a German Shepherd and Black Labrador mix.  She will be 6 years old in January of 2016.  She joined our family in March of 2006 when she was about 3 months old.  My husband saw someone literally push her and her two siblings out of a car door at the convenience store about 4 miles from our house in rural central Oklahoma and then take off and leave.  Two other good souls took the two remaining puppies.  I hope they are enjoying as good of a life as Maggie does every day.

Maggie has grown from the little 15 pound black bundle of fur to a beautiful 107 pound dog that still think she is a little puppy that can sit in my lap.  She is a beautiful soul and absolutely dedicated to me.  Anytime I step out of the front door and she happens to be nearby, she goes on alert and quickly scans the front yard for any hazards and will run the perimeter to make sure there are no intruders or dangers lurking close by.  Even though she stays indoors overnight, she enjoys staying outside during the day and spends her afternoons lying on the front porch or in the yard keeping a watch on everything.

Today Maggie went to the vet for her annual checkup and immunizations.  She never likes going to the vet and does not handle it very well.  I scheduled the appointment for today because the lady vet was supposed to be working.  Well, for some reason the guy vet was there.  Maggie is intimidated by him and was terrified.  I had to put a muzzle on her in order for the vet to get close enough to give her the immunizations.  Fortunately, no one was injured, everyone left as friends, and we will be invited back next week to take three of our cats for their annual checkups.

Tonight as I was sitting on the loveseat in the living room getting ready to start this post, I smelled the acrid scent of a skunk.  Immediately I looked around for Maggie.  She was nowhere to be found.  I ran to the back door and called her -- no Maggie.  The smell of skunk permeated the air so thick, it was as though I was literally swimming through the odor.  I quickly came back inside and went into the garage and out through the garage door calling her.  The smell was not as strong on this side of the house.  Hopefully she was over here and had not just had an encounter with the skunk -- please, oh please!!  I called her name a few times.  It is hard to see a black dog in the dark.  Finally I heard a rustle and here she comes, running up the drive into the garage and along with her the scent of a skunk -- crap!!  I take a look at her face.  Her eyes are not weepy and she is not drooling which is a good sign.  Hopefully she did not take a direct hit from the skunk and just walked through the spray.  But man, does she stink!!  She came inside the house and I checked her over real good to be sure she was okay and had not been in a tussle with the skunk.  Fortunately, she was okay just stinky.