An Ode to Megan

Our family lost a great friend today and she will go down in history as the worst behaved, but most adored pet in the Moore household.

Megan came to us as a puppy when I became a teenager. My sister, Emily, had been begging and pleading with my parents to get this puppy for a long time. She would go and sit at the pet store in my parent's shopping complex and just desperately wish to take her home. Guess who finally won? I'll never forget the evening that my parents came home with the surprise bundle in their arms. Oh, she was so cute! We played with her mercilessly as a puppy and would sneak her onto the furniture whenever Mom and Dad were not around to scold us. She was the best little cuddle buddy.

As Megan grew, so did we. I remember that I had a pet parakeet and Megan soon became tall enough to stand on her hind legs and ogle over my feathery roommate. She would drive my bird wild with fear of being eaten up.

My parents were pretty busy with their business so a lot of Megan's training was left to us. However, we had no idea how hard training a rambunctious puppy could be. I think we mastered "sit" and "lay down", but her house training was a huge failure. She never seemed to understand that doing her dirty business indoors was against everyone's wishes.

She also had a terrible habit of sneaking around when her guardians were oblivious and finding the most unusual things to snack on. Her favorite snack being my Dad's stinky, dirty socks. She would eat the entire sock, no joke. My Dad had to actually help her to pass the sock when it came time to come out the other end. He would have to stand on a part of it to help it make it's exit. (Gross, but true.) Also on the list of favorite snacks- cat poop, anything in the trash, an entire bag of apples, my parent's complete tray of christmas cookies, a crab shell, and a whole thing of butter. I'm sure the list could go on and on. She was a champion of munching on obscure delights. She would eat anything and everything.. just about.

Since the house training failed we were left with an unbearable amount of carpet cleaning and paper towel wiping. Somewhere along the line, Megan became so untrustworthy with her indoor bowel incidents that she was booted to the outdoor kennel. Eventually, my Mom became soft and decided to give it another go around and because my Mom was able to work a little more closely and personally with Megan, she eventually broke her bad habit of "business indoors" and began to dutifully perform outside.

The older Megan got, the more we all began to notice a strange thing about her. She was scared of everything! She would run for the hills whenever someone ran the vacuum cleaner and anytime a plastic bag was ruffled in her presence we thought she would have a heart attack. My brother and his wife brought over a little puppy to the house a few years ago and Megan just shook in fear as the frolicking puppy came near her.

I eventually left for college and Megan became a highlight of my trips home, because there were never any pets on campus, I desperately needed a little Megan time. When Emily went to college, Mom started to inform Megan of our plans to come home and she would greet the news with an excited barking fit. She would be the first thing to greet us at the door whenever we would walk into the house.

Megan loved running free outside and adored when someone would take some time to scratch her butt. She would scoot her butt in your face in order to get a few scratches. If you were sitting on the sofa she would sit right under you and lay her head on the sofa cushion so that you would know she wanted some love. She hated being brushed, until Mom got her to understand how great it felt to have all of that ticklish hair removed from her body.

At some point we noticed an unusual lump on her leg and it slowly grew over the years. This past year, the lump grew at an unusual rate and we all knew her life was coming to a slow end.

Today, my parents decided was the time to put her down. The lump on her leg had become seriously worse. She had been seen by a vet and she said that now was the time to do it, when she was still happy and not in terrible pain. I have been crying off and on all day for the past three days, but I can't imagine how terrible this whole decision has been for my parents. Megan had become a part of our family in a way that no other pet ever had.

I got to see her for the last time over the weekend. Toby and I were up visiting our families and my Mom told me it was time to say my goodbyes. It is hard to say goodbye to an animal that is still so jolly, with a tail wagging mercilessly with glee in your company.

Megan- you were a great dog and you will be missed terribly by us all! We know you are at peace now and that brings us all comfort. Hopefully you can find something disgusting to munch on, wherever you are now. We will never forget you and we will love you forever!