I wave hello to Meghan Healey as I log onto our call. “It’s good to see you!” I say happily.
“Hello!” replies Meghan as she sits down, a fluffy black-and-white dog on her lap. I smile at the pair of them, glancing down quickly at my list of questions.
“Let’s get started, then. First off, what types of pets do you have? And their names, of course.”
“We have a lot of dogs,” Meghan says, laughing. “There’s Cody, he’s a standard poodle, and there’s Shaggy, the Havanese. And then all the Shih Tzu.” She pauses to take a deep breath, and I prepare myself for the list. “Rosey, Posey, Tonka, Morris, Lucky, Skye, Deedee, Zoey, Bailey, Bandit, Winnie, Everest, Loki, and Lexie.”
“Wow!” I exclaim. “That’s a lot of dogs for sure. Whose presence do we have the pleasure of today?”
“This one’s Lucky,” Meghan tells me, stroking the dog. “He’s my own dog, and Lexie belongs to my brother and Bailey belongs to my sister. Oh, and there are the cats, too. Their names are Dart, Scar, and Naomi.”
“That’s so cool,” I tell her. “What do interactions look like between them? Do they normally all get along?”
“Actually, yes,” Meghan replies. “Several of the dogs will curl up on the couch together at a time. They’ll play with each other, just friendly roughhousing. During feeding time we do have to separate them, at least a few feet in between each one.”
“That sounds about right,” I say. “Speaking of food, what sorts of things do they like to eat?”
“My mom makes these special dog muffins; they’ve got peanut butter and pumpkin in them and they’re a nice treat. Also, Lucky adores hot dogs. He’s not usually aggressive, but he would attack you to get a hot dog!”
I shake my head playfully at Lucky. “You silly thing.” I direct another question at Meghan. “Where do they typically like to rest or sleep?”
She answers promptly. “Anywhere– they’re not picky. Sometimes they like to sleep on the table, and Winnie will climb into the dog stroller to nap. Lucky sleeps on my bed usually.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” I reply. “So, what does a typical day look like with the pets in your house?”
“Well,” Meghan responds. “In the morning we wake them up and take them all outside. Then we feed them, making sure they’re separated enough. They rest while my siblings and I do school, and once I’m done, I’ll play with them. We feed them dinner, and they get some more rest, and then they go to bed. They love sleeping,” she says. “They mostly sleep with my mom at night, but Lexie goes with my brother and Bailey goes with my sister and of course, Lucky goes with me.”
“That’s great,” I answer with a smile. “What do you like to do for fun with them, as a special outing or something?”
“Oh, they like long hikes,” Meghan tells me. “We don’t get to do them often at all because of school, but when we do, it’s one of their favorites. Some of the dogs like to swim, too. They’ll just go and sit in the water, relaxing.”
“Sounds like a lot of fun,” I agree. “How long have you had the dogs for?”
“I’ve grown up alongside some of them,” Meghan tells me. “We got our oldest one about twelve years ago. And it’s been two years now that we’ve had Lucky. We started rescuing dogs maybe four years ago, which is how we got so many of them.”
“That’s a long time.” I am surprised and impressed. “What do you think is the hardest part about having them?”
“They take a lot of effort and energy and time,” says Meghan without needing to think. “I have to take them out several times during the day and make sure they come back. It’s hard to find time to do that in between all the schoolwork, so I have to abandon some interests or hobbies to have time for the dogs. Lucky likes to mark, too, so I have to be super careful to not leave stuff on the floor, or it’ll get ruined.”
“Ah yeah, nothing’s safe on the floor,” I confirm sadly.
“They don’t get along very well with dogs outside this family either, so we can’t take them on many walks.”
“That’s so annoying,” I say. “There are struggles for sure. What would you say your favorite thing about them is, though?”
“I like that pets are there for you when nobody else is. They won’t abandon you for other friends, they never make you feel unimportant, they’re your silent support.” Meghan smiles at Lucky. “And having responsibility over a living creature– that teaches you a lot.”
“I agree.” I nod. “Well, thank you so much for talking with me, Meghan! I hope you and Lucky have a great day.
“Thank you for the opportunity,” says Meghan as she grins and logs off.
