Happy Together: Stay Golden

Our sweet Maggie was born January 24, 2007 and died November 6, 2007. She was truly the best dog and companion, and we miss her greatly! She was our first baby! We got 7 month old Maggie on August 10, 2007 (which happened to be our anniversary!). She brought lots of love and smiles into our lives. She was a true Golden: desiring to be near us, obedient to us, and loyal to us above all else. She spoiled us with her easy going nature and sweet, docile demeanor. Maggie was the dog we always wanted, and we are so thankful she was ours! Below are some memories of our sweet girl (our Mags, Magalicious, Mag Pie, Magnavox).

So wise...or is that sleepy?

Our first baby was a bit spoiled....ummm, how did she get up there?

This is her in full fluff mode-she had crinkled hair behind her ears when it got wet.

Maggie went with us everywhere if the weather was good. She loved to ride and would just sit patiently in the car for us while we ran errands, etc. Before we got this vehicle, she would ride in the backseat of the Camry, and when she was still puppy-like, we left her and came back to chewed up seat belt buckles!!

She was a TRUE water dog...loved to swim so much....and we have great memories of taking her to our family cabin in Gadsden.

This was one of her favorite spots in the old house-on the landing of the stairs. I think she felt safe and yet like a watchdog at the same time. Maggie was not a barker. It was RARE to hear that low woof, and when we did, we knew it was a scared sound rather than anything else.

To be a retrieving breed, Maggie wasn't too much of a retriever. She would play in the safety of our home or backyard, but wasn't really interested if we were any place unfamiliar. She did love to tug; that was more her game of choice.

This is often how she would position herself while we ate dinner at the old house. And there are no pictures of this, but when Steven and I would hug, she would literally wedge herself between us just to get in on some of the love.

Maggie was awesome at balancing stuff on her nose and head. She would always hold really still for us! We got the biggest kick out of this!

This is an early picture-new collar!

Snuggles on the sofa were rare indeed, but we let her up occasionally. She always waited for the invitation, then was quick on the draw when we patted the sofa to invite her.

She would stay up with us as long as she could, but would always get so hot and start to pant. Her panting would literally shake the entire sofa or bed, so we had to get her down!

She knew quite a few tricks: shake, wait/come, sit, lay down, roll over, crawl, treat on the nose/then flip in the air. We did several obedience and agility classes with her at HOTC.

Always looking for a cozy/safe spot. I think this was 4th of July actually. Never loved those firework noises.

The nose flip trick in action! She was really good at it.

She was in her crate while we were away from the house for the first year or so we had her til she could be trusted. This was one of her preferred sleep positions. Ha!

A jolly old elf!

Our Christmas card pic one year! I mean-doesn't she look good??!!

First Christmas with her.

Diana made her this bed and she loved it.

Helping with the Christmas tree her first year-she was so nosy and into it!

We took her camping quite a bit-she loved it and especially the water! She was a filthy, stinky mess by the time it was all over, but it was worth it.

Umm... we had a little more time on our hands to do things like dress up our dog before we had kids! Ha!

More first Christmas pics!

She always did this-when we would pour new dog food into her holder, she would chow down on the fresh stuff!

In her element-waterfall at the cabin.

Jumping off the dock at the cabin. We loved watching her do this! She would soar in the air and looked like a pro going after a stick. It was like it was what she was made to do.

When we first got Maggie we still had Fern, our Holland Lop. Maggie was always VERY interested in Fern. She would paw at his cage and when we got him out she would nuzzle him and lick him. Not like she wanted to attack him, but just that she wanted to play with him....in a very frisky way!! Fern was not interested.

More tricks!

Oh, how many times we had to to this! She would loose a toy under this TV cabinet or the sofa, and would paw and paw at it. Finally she would give up and would just stare at us with longing eyes until we would get up to help her.

Getting some air on a drive! She loved to sniff out the window, and her nose would run the whole time!

These few are of our first baby getting to know our actual baby...Maggie was awesome with the kids and never showed jealousy or aggression toward them. She would just move if they ever bothered her. By the time kids came along, she was 5 and very lazy! We gave her so much attention the first half of her life that I think she was secure enough, sweet enough, and tired enough not to care that she was not longer the baby of the family!