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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Nia Dalton

Woman creates bucket list for dying dog with dementia - including steak, zoo and pub

A woman is on a mission to fill her elderly dog 's last few moments on earth with the most incredible memories and happy times.

From tucking into a steak dinner to coming face-to-face with zebras and visiting a royal palace, 15-year-old Sasha is living senior life in style.

Owner Megan Marshall, 31, from Reading, is working her way through a bucket list before Sasha's dementia takes over, and forces her to say goodbye to her sidekick.

She told The Mirror : "It's always been me and Sasha against the world. I just felt like I wanted to give back the life I felt she's given me. She totally deserves it."

Sasha went to the zoo and met zebras (Megan Marshall)
She tucked into steak and pawsecco (Megan Marshall)

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Since the pair began their bucket list in October, Sasha has had a puppuccino in a dog café, been to the zoo and visited a care home.

She's had a professional photo shoot, taken a trip to Windsor and dug into a Valentine's steak dinner.

Megan's treated her to an ice cream from a van, entered her in a dog show and let her sleepover with pals.

More recently, she's celebrated her 15th birthday, met an Instagram friend and sat on a fire engine.

"The police and fire services were amazing with her," Megan said.

Megan first welcomed Sasha home as a puppy when she was just 12 weeks old.

Sasha has always been there (Megan Marshall)
15 years of life together (Megan Marshall)

"She is very kind, gentle and loving, and she absolutely adores people," Megan said.

"I can literally take her everywhere with me. The perfect companion who never leaves my side."

Last summer, Megan began to worry when Sasha kept falling over and struggled to walk more than 10 minutes without collapsing.

"We thought we were going to lose her by Christmas," she said.

"I suffered with mental health issues and decided to close my business back in October, so I made the decision to put my all into making the most of our time together."

Sasha has battled numerous health problems, including arthritis, benign tumours, pancreatitis and now degenerative myelopathy - which will eventually stop her from walking.

She saw Blenheim Palace (Megan Marshall)
And became a firefighter for a day (Megan Marshall)

"It varies day to day. We have good days and bad days," Megan said. "Some days she struggles to walk, other days she will happily walk 45 minutes.

"I never know what type of day I will get. I've learnt to take the good days and make the most of them."

Megan's favourite bucket list memory so far is Sasha's trip to the beach.

"She had been having a rough few months but when she got there, she completely lit up," she said.

"I took her buggy in case she needed it but she didn't want to stop.

"It's like she ran on adrenaline all day. That day I really felt her happiness."

Sasha still needs to go camping (Megan Marshall)
Her health will finally deteriorate (Megan Marshall)

"I have no idea how much time I've got left with Sasha," Megan said. "I really can't imagine my life without her. She's my reason for being."

Megan continues to add memorable activities to Sasha's bucket list as they get more time together.

At the moment, she hopes they'll get to see a waterfall, attend a dog festival and eat a pub roast dinner.

She'd love Sasha to meet a celebrity, go on a boat, take a dog-friendly holiday, go camping and see the Tower Bridge in London.

If you'd like to keep up-to-date with Sasha's beautiful final moments, follow her Instagram account @sashasbucketlist.

Do you have a dog story to tell? Contact nia.dalton@reachplc.com.

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