When we look at the dogs around us, we often think about the wonderful creatures they are and we don’t often consider the difficulties they may have faced in life. Sometimes, they were able to overcome extreme abuse and still become a wonderful companion.
Maggie the Wunderdog is an excellent example of how a dog can overcome difficulties. Even though she experienced abuse that is too difficult to even describe here, she came out of it with a strong spirit and is now a certified therapy dog.
Kasey Carlin took Maggie in in 2018 from a shelter in Lebanon. The dog was not able to find a home because she was blind and missing an ear and it would’ve been difficult to raise her. At first, Kasey was only going to foster her but she fell in love within a very short amount of time.
“There’s this little blonde dog kicking her feet up high,” Kasey told TODAY. “The first thing she does when she meets anybody is she runs into them and rubs her body on them like a cat does. My brain couldn’t even process it. She’s just so friendly.”
There could have been some serious behavioral problems because of the abuse that Maggie went through. For some reason or another, however, she didn’t develop any aggressive tendencies. One of the only problems she’s had is nightmares.
“She’d be in dreams, and she’d wake me up screaming,” Kasey recalled. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a dog scream, but it is horrific.”
“I used to have to go, ‘Maggie, it’s OK. It’s OK.’ But now there’s (a) difference between her dreams,” she continued. “She’ll run in her dreams. These horrible nightmares that she used to have don’t happen often now — she had one maybe six months ago. She’s happy now.”
She taught Maggie how to get around, even though she is blind. When she found out she was good with people, she train her to be a therapy dog and she passed her exam with flying colors.
Although Maggie can work well with people of any age, she does well with senior citizens. When she couldn’t make her rounds because of COVID to see one woman named Anne, she never forgot her.
“Even after a year of lockdown — she hasn’t seen Anne — when we went to go see her, she knew exactly where she was going,” she gushed. “She’s completely blind, but she’ll lead you straight to Anne’s room first and then she can go see other residents. She just wants to love everyone.”
It’s amazing what this dog is able to do. Nobody wanted her, but now she has half a million people who watch her online and would take her in an instant.