WE MISS MEGAN
You’ve heard of a one-trick pony. Well, we used to know a one-trick dog….
We’ve lived in Keene 16 years, and we walk a lot. We moved into our current home about three years ago, so we acquired a new walking route—and a new friend—at that time.
Megan is a Golden Retriever. She lived on the same street we do, which is also one of the main roads leading to downtown. Since we walk almost every day, we would see Megan lying in her front lawn almost every day, sometimes twice—on our way out and on our way back.
Megan loves people. She is also extremely old, with stiff hips and a white muzzle. But when anyone walked by, Megan would lurch to her feet and come up to say hello.
We thought at first she was just glad to see US. We eventually found out that Megan has hundreds of special friends she greets every day.
We soon found out that Megan loves to play and perform tricks. But because of her age, she only had enough energy to play for a minute. Or perform one trick. She’d bring a stick to play tug-of-war and we’d play for about 30 seconds. Then she’d go lie down. She’d bring a ball for us to throw and she’d fetch it once. Then she’d go lie down. She would present her paw to “shake hands”. Then she’d go lie down.
She would also give the illusion of running and romping, but we noticed only her front half was running and romping. The rear half was sort of lumping along. Happy, happy dog.
We only saw her energetic and excited once. A woman pulled up in a car in the driveway next door. Megan lurched to her feet and actually romped over to the woman, her entire body wagging in joy. Who was this mysterious woman? How did she elicit such an overwhelming response from Megan?
She pulled out two doggie biscuits from her purse. Aha!
Megan’s tiny front yard was always scattered with her current favorite toys, ranging from small branches, sticky tennis balls, and an assortment of “lovies”, stuffed toys (Teletubbies seems to reign recently) that Megan loved to carry around with her. Part of the excitement of meeting her was watching her decide which treasure she would select and present for play that day.
We met Megan’s “mom” a few times, a very nice woman with small children. We could see the pile of children’s play stuff in the back yard. She’d had Megan “all her life”.
Last year, Megan was tied up. She was losing her hearing and also her sense of direction. She would wander off and then couldn’t find her way home. Worse, she couldn’t hear her owner calling her. After a few scares, she was tethered to the front porch.
But it soon became apparent that being tied cut down on her physical activity. She couldn’t meet and greet her public (which numbered in the hundreds near as we could figure) so easily. She began to decline.
Every time we saw her, we’d think, “This may be the last time we see her.” But there she was the next day. Finally, her owner decided Megan had more to gain from being loose. She was allowed off her tether, though out for shorter periods of time.
A few months ago, our worst fears came to pass. Megan was gone. We’re pretty sure the entire family moved, as the pile of children’s play toys in back are gone, too. So we can dream that Megan has simply found another yard to greet her friends.
We hope it’s a busy street, full of people walking by who have a few minutes to play with an elderly muffin of a dog. We hope they are all kind to her. We hope they get as much enjoyment from her as we did these last three years.
We miss you, Megan.
