My Baby Girl

Today, a precious angel was taken from us.

Macy has been a member of our family for ten+ years. I remember my mom and dad surprising us with her all those years ago. We knew we were getting another puppy, but we thought she was coming in three weeks. Then, one day, we went over to our friends, the Dicksons' house and lo and behold, there she was, the cutest darn fur baby you ever did see!

I also remember debating over what to name her for what seemed like hours. We were all sitting on the floor in a circle as she gradually moved from lap to lap and fell asleep, sometimes she couldn't even muster up the energy to reach the next lap and would just fall asleep on the floor halfway there (she wasn't much of a player). It took us FOREVER to agree on a name, but eventually we decided on Macy.

Not much changed in her personality from that night. Really, all she would do was sleep. I remember taking her into the backyard and she could hardly make it a few feet before collapsing and falling asleep on the grass. She was super shy and you had to work hard to earn her trust. She wasn't an aggressive dog though, just very timid. She didn't like anyone getting in her personal space without a significant amount of trust. She wanted to get to know people, you could always see it in her eyes, but she was just scared to.

I'll tell you, the one person she absolutely LOVED AND ADORED was Chase, our other dog. She followed him everywhere! She was always climbing all over him, cuddling with him, and mimicking his every move (which was unfortunate because he had a couple bad habits like escaping the yard).

Speaking of escaping the yard, there was one time when Macy was still fairly young that the two of them got out during a rainstorm. All of us went out and searched for them forever! Eventually, we found Chase, but there was no sign of Macy. We were all a little panic-y because she was still a puppy and also (like I said) timid. Mom drove the car around while us kids rode our bikes through the rain. There's this huge hill that leads down to a back road which separates our neighborhood from the highway. I thought I could ride down there and check, but then I was concerned about riding back up the hill afterwards and I didn't think there was any way she could've got out that far. However, I decided I might as well check, so I rode all the way out there.

As I was riding along the back road, something caught my eye: some movement in the cow pasture. I stopped and looked. Sure enough, it was baby Macy bounding towards the highway. I stopped and called to her. I couldn't go to her because of the barbed wire fence, so I just kept calling. Eventually, she stopped and came back. She was so happy to see me, shivering under my coat, probably from cold and fear (and maybe some happiness). I called my mom and she came and drove her home.

After Chase died, Macy was heartbroken. And while she had never been the most energetic and playful dog before, she definitely sobered up even more once he was gone. She got stuck with dumbhead Troy, our third Weimaraner; her complete opposite in every way. He always wanted to play, run, and cuddle with people-- everything Macy did not want to do. While she definitely liked him (most of the time), she definitely was not as close to him as she was with Chase.

I have many fond memories of this girl and her funny, subdued personality. I always described her as a cat disguised as a dog who moved like a horse. She liked to be touched, but only in certain spots and at certain times, she slept like 20 hours of the day, she didn't like to cuddle, she slept in strange places and positions, and you had to work for her trust... like a cat. She also galloped just like a horse when she ran; it was the funniest thing to watch. She was the clumsiest thing ever. If she ever actually tried to do dog-like things, it was like watching a horse try to do those things (like cuddle, play, etc.) She just was not good at it.

Troy is a natural at all those things. He is 100% pure dog. Whenever we would play with him, every once in a while, Macy would try to get in on the action, but would only get in the way because she was too slow and/or just didn't know what was going on. We nick-named her the "fun buster." We usually let her join in because it was so rare that she would try unless the sole purpose of this fun was to burn off some of Troy's energy and she was just getting run over.

My favorite memories of Macy is just hanging out with her in my room. She became my buddy when I got older. During the couple years when I came home from college and was just working at Togo's, I hung out in my room a lot, on my computer and what-not. Macy decided she liked hanging out in there with me. She didn't love being on my bed because of personal space, so she'd chill on the floor. Eventually, we put her very own cushion in there for her because she was in there so much. She also liked sleeping under my bed. Sometimes, I would come in and sit on my bed and I would be there for like an hour and then all of a sudden, there would be movement from under the bed. It would totally freak me out because she would be so quiet, I had no idea she was there.

Because I became her buddy, she definitely trusted me a lot. I think we both had very similar personalities at the core. She always let me invade her personal space no matter what. She would let me do whatever-- put my face right in hers, lay on top of her, touch her paws (she hated that), kiss her nose, etc.

Now, for some funny/memorable things about her:

• The Flop: whenever you walked towards her, she would flop on her back, meaning she wanted you to rub her tummy
• Droopy face
• The white spot on her chest
• Getting excited over ice
• Lip smacking
• Whimpering and twitching while she dreamed
• Sleeping in weird/uncomfortable positions
• Her big, fat, lumpy tummy
• Stealing Troy's bone even though she already had her own
• Her groans as she adjusted herself
• The mighty squirrel-catcher
• Her dainty poses
• Her doggy smile
• Us saying "Macy! Macy!" like Nefreteri from The Ten Commandments
• Her terrible hot breath whenever she panted
• Eating Troy's food because he was too distracted
• Not caring at all about Troy (or at least pretending not to)
• Being such a good girl at the vet-- everyone knew and loved her there
• Being the most pathetic creature in the world whenever she got medical work done
• Never complaining about her pain (from her ears, her lumps, her hips, etc.). She just dealt with it like a trooper
• Acting like she's asleep or not caring when really she's calculating and planning to steal food, Troy's bone, or something
• Her deep, manly bark (especially compared to Troy's high-pitched, baby bark)
• Her little trot
• How she was always happy no matter what even if she was sleepy, timid, and droopy

I am going to miss her so much! (I was crying a lot while writing this.) She was such a good girl even if she wasn't your typical dog. But that's what made her special. I love you so much, Macy! Go have fun with Chase and Mika without all your ailments. <3 p="">