Family made a mini mountain of snow in their yard so their beloved dog could play in it one last time

When Maggie, a Saint Bernard/Newfounldand mix, was a small pup, she had always swatched for the coldest place in the house — the tub or the concrete in the basement.

And when Maggie first saw snow, it made a difference.

Being a 120-pound dog, she rolled over on her back and just slid in the snow.

When Maggie received a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis in July, her parents started planning how to make the most of the time she had left.

When it was time to say final goodbye, the family planned one last outing with Maggie. But something was missing — snow.

We wanted her to be as comfortable and easy as possible, and I thought, «Boy, those snowplows. I wonder how much snow they could unload if we rented one?» said Salzgaber. «So I just put a little message on the Internet, and that’s when it went like clockwork.»

Salzgaber didn’t anticipate much from the message he posted in the Utah Classifieds Facebook group, but within a couple of hours the cute request had moved thousands of people.

As he prepared for his latest weekend hike with Maggie, Salzgaber was trying to coordinate with all the people who made suggestions in his post when he noticed that some of the comments mentioned getting quality snow from the Zamboni rink.

He left messages for two local rinks, and the next day Tiffany King of the Salt Lake County Ice Center responded. «She met us Monday morning as we were coming out of the woods and had already set everything up,» Salzgaber said. «She and Zamboni driver Jimmy did two laps around the rink — that’s one more than they usually do. And they poured a huge pile of snow outside.»

Salzgaber drove to the rink in his big van and was only able to fit a third of the snow in the car. When he got home, Maggie and Wilson couldn’t believe their eyes.

«When he pulled into the house Monday morning and we opened the van doors, it was just — I can’t even express how overwhelming and emotional it was,» Wilson said. «I just burst into tears, he was crying, my mom was crying, and Maggie was asking, ‘What’s going on, guys?

But Maggie didn’t immediately realize that this snow was just for her.

«She didn’t know what to make of it, so I took some and showed her, and she took to eating it,» Wilson said. «We dragged everything in the van to the corner of the backyard where we set up a tarp for shade, but Maggie still wasn’t cold from what was going on, so we spread it out a little bit and threw her squeaky ball in there, and from that point on the game was over. She pounced on it, buried her ball as usual, and then laid down to rest on top of the snow pile, and she was perfectly calm and comfortable.»

When Maggie awoke from her snowy slumber, a woman from Love’s Paw arrived. Maggie’s parents didn’t expect her to stay on the snow pile for so long, but apparently that’s where she was most comfortable and comfortable.

Maggie’s last moments of life were spent surrounded by love, family, and soft white snow. The big dog closed her eyes one last time, knowing that she was being cared for.