Last Wednesday was Magic’s 3 year “adoptiversary,” if you will. I can’t believe it’s been that long (probably because of the lost year of 2020). She keeps life interesting, that’s for sure.
It took us a few month after losing Flint to consider getting a new canine friend. We were in the middle of renovating our kitchen when he passed, and we wanted to get that squared away before bringing anyone new into our home for our sanity and the ease of adjusting a new dog to our lives. We had our new countertops installed in mid-July of 2018, which we decided was close enough to being done, since the kitchen was fully functional with that piece in place. (Side note: we- and by “we” I really mean Justin- have yet to install a backsplash, so technically, the kitchen remains unfinished three years later.) While on vacation in Denver, CO, we started talking about what characteristics we might want in our new friend and casually perusing Petfinder.
We really liked the experience we had with All 4 Paws rescue when we adopted Rook in 2014, so I reached out to them. They recommended updating our application and then checking their website and Facebook pages daily. One of my receptionists sent me Magic’s photos and description before I even saw them. She was officially part of All 4 Paws, but she was still down in North Carolina at that point. I forget what exactly her backstory was, but in my mind, I feel like she was found hanging out underneath someone’s porch (which would explain her love of spending time under our bed) down there. She was about 5 months old and on all her own.
I assume, because of her markings, she generated a lot of interest once her photos went up. Her being in North Carolina might be the only reason that she ended up ours in the end. When I contacted All 4 Paws about her, they gave me the option of putting down a non-refundable $100 deposit to be the first to meet her, as long as we could meet her the day she arrived in PA. Because I think the rescue does such a good job, I didn’t have a problem with that. I viewed it as just supporting a rescue I like if, for some reason, our meet-and-greet didn’t work out.
We scheduled my brother to meet us at the adoption center so that he could wait with Rook while Justin and I met Magic. They brought in this cute little squirmy critter who just sidled right up to us and pressed herself into our legs. (That’s how she suckered us in really. We later learned that personal space is actually a big deal to her.) We took her outside to walk around the parking lot with Rookie, and although they weren’t instantly best friends, neither seemed at all concerned about the other. We filled out the paperwork, paid the rest of her adoption fee and loaded her into the crate in the back of my car.
Rookie was ecstatic to have a new friend at home. Until he saw her playing with his toys. They had a couple of minor issues there in the first couple of months, but for the most part, Magic is pretty agreeable to just let Rook do whatever he wants with their toys. They get along well, but they don’t snuggle like Rook used to with Flint. Magic won’t tolerate it. Sometimes, she gets up and leaves if any one of us sits on the opposite end of the couch that she’s resting on. They also, as you’ve read before, enjoy being idiots together and feeding off of one another’s bad behavior when out in public. Magic knows exactly which buttons of Rookie’s to push to get him all riled up and does so with regularity, I’m pretty certain she does this just because she enjoys it.
About 3 weeks after bringing her home, Magic started leaking urine. We couldn’t figure out a pattern to it. The behavior began fairly sporadic, but the frequency quickly increased. I checked her urine and cultured it and had an ultrasound done of her urinary tract. I hated the idea of starting such a young dog on long-term daily medication. I tried acupuncture. (She hated it. She hates needles.) I tried a diaper. (She ate it.) I tried one medication that sort of improved the situation, but it wasn’t perfect.
During the same time, she had intermittent diarrhea. She did initially test positive for giardia and was treated. She tried probiotics and antibiotics without a resolution to the problem. She was constantly ripping off pieces of her chew toys and pooping them out. (I literally spent hundreds of dollars on chew toys in the first 2-3 months with Magic; she destroyed everything within days.) Thankfully, she never had a foreign body that she didn’t pass. (Hopefully, she never does.) She also managed to ingest a grape and a mushroom from someone’s yard. She would (and still does) pick up and eat all kinds of things that she finds on the sidewalk or in the woods. She’s fast about it, and to her, “Leave it!” means hulk it down as quickly as you possibly can.
From day one, she’s been an itchy dog. You would scratch her belly or sides, and immediately, her back legs would come up to scratch. She generally gets bathed every other week. I tried calming shampoos and medicated shampoos with no real improvement. For months, she wasn’t damaging her skin at all, so when combined with her urinary and stool problems, it was the least concerning problem she had during her first few months with us.
Although she was a sweet puppy and got along just fine with Rook, I have to admit that Magic and I didn’t bond immediately. I was too busy being her doctor and trying to get her sorted out medically. I don’t know if that’s why she loves Justin the most, despite her spending more time with me since she almost always comes to work with me, even now. We were supposed to be adopting a puppy that would be healthy for years. We wanted easy after going through Flint’s cancer treatments and fighting with him to eat at the end of his life. Instead, I had an itchy puppy that leaked urine and strained to produce stool resembling spaghetti at least once a week.
The low point in my relationship with Magic occurred during that first fall. I don’t remember what event immediately preceded it, but I do remember sitting on my kitchen floor crying into Magic’s scruff and saying to her, “I’m so sorry that you aren’t Flint, and I’m so sorry that I wish you were.” I do love her for her. I have all along, and I would do anything to keep her happy and healthy. I never expected her to be Flint. She can’t be, just as any dog I have after her couldn’t be her.
Eventually, I got her straightened out. Her diarrhea cleared up with a prescription GI diet, and at a year old, I transitioned her to regular adult dog food. Eventually, I tried a different medication for her urinary incontinence that works well for her at a pretty low daily dose. It may be in my head, but it seems she is more prone to leak when exciting things are happening around her. If there’s anything on the calendar that seems like it might trigger her, she gets an extra dose of her medication for a few days and does fine. Her itching is well controlled with cytopoint injections every 2-3 months. (It’s an event to get the injection into her with her alligator rolling and growling, but she does feel a lot better within 2 days.)
Magic is a goofy dog who loves her fruits and veggies, her Bearded Dragon friend and laying on the front porch whenever we’re out there. She’s a sweetheart that wants to be nearby and keep everyone in the household in her sight at all times, if possible. Sometimes, she will briefly snuggle on the couch or in bed, but get too close or touch her for too long, and she’s out of there. She often sits just at the end of your arm’s reach for pets and gets upset if you stop, but she won’t come any closer to you. I love that she often wags her tail in her sleep. When you come home, she tries to throw open the front door as you’re attempting to open it and grabs her toys to parade around with once you make it inside.
While we’re gone from the house, we have to gate off our dining room, or she’s just as likely to poop in there as not, even if she’s already defecated three times that day, and our plants in the front window are often rearranged when we get home. (These are the reasons she still comes to work almost every day at 3.5 years old. She isn’t ready to be an adult, and I’m too cheap to pay a daily dog walker to get her out of her crate midday for a bit when I can leave her in the doctors’ office, where she (knock on wood) hasn’t pooped in several months). We’re working on a solution for the window because we don’t want her rehearsing jumping into the window. Like I said, Magic keeps us on our toes. I’m glad she’s part of the family, even with all of her quirks and early troubles.
Here’s to many more “Gotcha Day”s and birthday cakes and cookies and toys and celebrations with our biggest, stinkiest girl.
“Dogs are great. Bad dogs, if you can really call them that, are perhaps the greatest of them all.” ~ John Grogan
