Owner drives dying Malamute up mountain so she can play in snow one last time

Ashley Mackie recently made the very difficult decision to put her 9-year-old arthritic Alaskan Malamute out of her misery.

Doggie's day out

But she wanted to make sure that her beloved pooch went out with a bang. What Maggie May loved most in the world, like many primitive breeds, was snow.

“Every so often over the last few months, I would whisper to her the snow will be coming and today I had to keep my promise and let her see it one last time,” Ashley wrote on Facebook.

But Maggie's arthritis just kept getting worse, and snow was not falling in Aberdeenshire.

“I realised if the snow didn’t come to us, then I would need to bring her to the snow.”

The young woman therefore drove her pooch all the way up the mountains in the Cairngorms, a 4-hour round trip, just so Maggie May's paws could touch the icy ground once again.

“We sat there for two hours enjoying the scenery with Maggie throwing the snow around and it was lovely.”

For a moment, it was just Ashley and Maggie, enjoying the scenery and each other's company. Just for a moment, Maggie was a puppy again, happy, and devoid of pain.

Gone but never forgotten

Letting go of a beloved pooch is one of the hardest things a dog owner can go through. But sometimes it is the best decision to make, with our pet's best interest at heart. In the best of cases, we are able, like Ashley, to provide our beloved dog with the best and happiest of experiences before they go.

Rest in peace, sweet Maggie, we hope there's lots of snow to play with wherever you are now!