Mack: A Big Dog in a Small Package (Part 3)
The fiercest, funniest pets often come in an unexpectedly small package!
This is the third of a three-part Plants & Animals series. Read Episode 1 and Episode 2!
The dog was an absolute mess. We were looking for a small dog, and so we visited the Lynn dog pound. They had a small white dog that had been picked up wandering the streets of Lynn. We claimed him and waited the required 10-day period for an owner to show up. No one did, so he was ours. We brought him right to a pet store to get a crate and supplies, but he was so filthy, the owner demanded that we take him outside.
We soon learned this dog was afraid of nothing. If you touched his food while he was eating, he sounded like he would take your arm off. He once chased after two Rottweilers, yelling at them ferociously the whole time. Fortunately I was able to catch him before he reached his target.
I wanted to give him a name to match his demeanor, and the bulldog hood ornament on large trucks came to mind. So, we named him Big Mack.
Big Mack weighed 9 pounds.
And he had 9 lives:
Life #7: A Hit and Run
Mack never looked at himself as a small dog. If I went out to play fetch with the big dogs, he wanted to join in. Lewis and Otis were aggressive ball chasers, running full speed ahead while pushing and shoving each other. Mack would get right in the mix. I was always afraid he would get hurt. One day, he did get run over by the big boys. He went tumbling over and over. The front half of him jumped up ready for more, but the rear half did not move.
I went running to where he lay, terrified he had permanent damage. He quietly lay there for a few minutes as the feeling slowly came back. After about five minutes, he was on his feet ready for more. “Ball game’s over” I said, and we went on back home. Scary as it was, that injury never seemed to bother him again until later in life - five years later, in fact.
Life #8: Being Paralyzed at an Old Age
Our local vet was old-fashioned, calm and confident. I brought Mack to him one day with a big weeping lump on his back.
Vet: It’s not cancer. Is it bothering him?
Me: No
Vet: Then don’t worry about it.
Me: But it’s bothering me!
Vet: Then let’s take it off. You hold him.
The vet injected anesthetic around the lump and scooped it off. He sewed it up and put antibiotic ointment on it. He charged me $50.
That’s the vet I went to when Big Mack’s back eventually did give out around 11 years of age. He woke up one day with the rear half totally immovable. The vet said, “Put him on the floor so I can see how he’s moving.” The second Mack’s feet hit the floor, he bolted for the front door, dragging his limp rear half behind him. I chased after him and carried him back to the exam table. The vet gave me three choices: put Mack down, take him to Angel Memorial for MRIs and back surgery for thousands of dollars, or something in between.
“I can try injecting cortisone around the first paralyzed vertebra,” he offered. “Perhaps there is swelling there pressing on the spinal column.” This is the option I selected. The vet gave Mack a couple of shots in the middle of his back, and home we went. Mack was back on his feet the next day and totally recovered within a week. He lived two more years with no back problems. That pup was tough, tough, tough.
Life #9: Mack’s Final Stand
Mack had reached his ninth and final life. While we did not know his true age, a quick calculation says he was 12 or 13, if not more. Now he was old, and his paralysis had started to come back. He was limping badly. He was an incontinent, grumpy old man. It was time. On the vet’s table he made one last stand. If you’ve seen the meme entitled “The Last Great Act of Defiance” with a mouse giving the finger to a hawk swooping in, you won’t be surprised at what the crazy pup did next.
As the vet went to insert the needle, Mack bit him.
I still smile every time I see Mack's picture. A friend once told me “His name shouldn’t have been Big Mack, it should have been Quarter Pounder.” He was wrong. The soul that lived inside that tiny frame was big indeed. "Wacky Macky" was the funniest and feistiest pet we ever had, and will always feel lucky to have had him.
Bill Boivin is a scientist, retired from 30 years of active duty with the United States Public Health Service. He is a Burlington Town Meeting Member and Conservation Commissioner. He and his wife, Jane, grew up in Lynn and now live in Burlington with their 2 mini dachshunds, 7 chickens, and Maya, a ball python. Bill and Jane have shared a love of nature, gardening, and wildlife for over 50 years. They have fostered, healed, raised, and loved a remarkable variety of animals in their time together. Learn more about Bill.
