Megan the Church Dog

Pam and Megan

Megan’s Story

By Pam Parshall

Back in May of 2020, at the beginning of Covid, I took my younger German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) to a kennel in Las Cruces New Mexico for field trial training and competition. I knew he would be gone for probably 2 years, but was counting on my 12 year old female GSP to keep me company while he was gone. Unfortunately her heart gave out on April Fool’s Day, the month before our planned trip to New Mexico 

As it turned out, Megan was ownerless and living at the same New Mexico kennel because she had been field trained there. Her owner had died and his wife had no interest in keeping her, so she was just hanging out with all the other dogs in for training and trialing. She was 8 at the time that I brought her home.

She needed a lot of socialization and adjustment to her new environment. At first we were Zooming church services so I would take her to my sister and brother-in-law’s home on Sundays. When we were finally able to meet for services outside during the summer I brought her with me. She was so sweet with the children, and seemed to enjoy herself, so when we were finally able to move back inside the church Father Bob said to bring her in too. 

She seems to know when it is Sunday (probably from my slightly different morning routine) and is ready to head off to church with me, leaving my younger GSP home doing “guard duty.” She greets our parishioners when they arrive, checks in with everyone during the service, gets a mini biscuit when we have Communion, and snacks at our extensive coffee hour after the service. 

Megan will turn 14 in April but still acts like a 10 year old. The average life span of a GSP is 12 – 15 years. When her time comes, there will be a lot of us mourning her passing, but for now her presence and pious attitude is a lesson for all of us about God’s love for all his creatures.