“Maggie the Wunderdog” experienced a lifetime of unimaginable abuse—but it didn’t kill her spirit—and now she’s a certified therapy dog with a massive internet following.
A British dog behaviorist named Kasey Carlin took Maggie in 2018 after a shelter in Lebanon was unable to find her a home. Because she was completely blind and missing an ear, no one wanted to take a chance on her. Originally, Kasey only intended to foster the dog, but she quickly realized how special she was, and it wasn’t long before she fell in love.
“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.”
Maggie’s abuse, which is too graphic for most readers, normally would have created hard-to-manage behavioral issues. But for unknown reasons, she never became aggressive or shy. She also managed to bond with another dog that Kasey adopted, who did have aggression issues towards both humans and animals.
Oddly, nightmares were Maggie’s only psychological symptoms.
“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.”
Therapy Dog Has A Special Bond With Dementia Patient
Kasey easily taught Maggie how to navigate without sight, and after realizing how good she was with people, she decided to train her to be a therapy dog, as well. She easily passed her exam, and now she spends her spare time cuddling with dementia patients and visiting schools.
The dog bonded particularly well with senior citizens and some of them left a lasting imprint on her, especially one woman named Anne. When COVID hit, Maggie wasn’t able to make her rounds and see Anne, but after all that time passed, she never forgot her friend.
“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.”
Kasey wants Maggie’s story to help others realize that special needs dogs aren’t lost causes, and she hopes it will make them consider adopting animals with similar backstories.
“Nobody wanted Maggie,” she said. “And now she’s got half a million people that would take her in an instant if I offered her up because she’s a good dog. Every dog is a good dog. You just have to work with them, understand their limits, respect those limits, and build that bond.”
