Madison is in Doggy Heaven.

Madison

Age 15, ~1995 - July 14, 2010

It was a joy and an adventure to be her human.

Nickname: Maddy, Mad, Mad-A-Loomy, Mad-A-Licious, etc. etc.

Where to begin with our Sweet Maddy? She was my 22nd B-Day present from my Mom and was a total adventure from the very beginning! I probably had no business even taking care of myself much less another little creature, but she was up for the challenge and trained me more than I trained her! As a puppy she got into EVERYTHING - partly because that was just her way and partly because her Mommy didn't really watch her carefully enough! I recall her eating every single one of her HeartGuard "treats", wrapping an entire roll of stamps around her little slobbery head and literally shredding an entire phonebook in a ridiculously successful attempt to transform our dining room into her very own little "hamster cage"! But I also remember her cheerfully tolerating my room mates and our friends, wagging her little nubby tail furiously when I returned home from class or work and letting me wipe lots of tears on her big fluffy ears.

She flexed with me as I moved from one place to the next after college. She completely approved of her future "Daddy" when my now-husband and I were dating and has always been his girl as much as mine. She was always a "drama llama like her momma" and on more than one occassion faked being sick to get extra attention - we have the emergency vet bills to prove it! She would wait by the front window in our first home until we pulled out of the driveway before she immediately ran up the off-limits stairs and would pretend she was stuck until she saw that you were headed her way at which point she would miraculously become "unstuck". We think she pretended to be much less intelligent than she really was so that our expectations would remain low and have always maintained that her cuteness was her best defense mechanism! Before she lost her hearing, she would always come running at the sound of a crinkling chip bag (her Uncle Jason taught her that!) and could absolutely be fooled into coming out of any hiding place with a whisper of the word "treat"!

When we brought our son home from the hospital, like any new Mom, I was concerned with how Maddy would react to this new Little Brother. She, in turn, rose to the occasion: she sat at my feet through every feeding - no matter the time of day or night - with her face toward the door, protecting HER new little one. And if Caleb cried and I did not move quickly enough for Maddy's liking, she would pace between me and his crib as if to say, "Are you hearing this Mommy? Are you going to do something?" She willingly shared her attention with our first human baby and when #2 came along, she even willingly shared the title of "Baby Girl" and learned that sometimes when Daddy said it, he was talking to someone besides her. She tolerated hugs and kisses and ear pulls and unsteady hands and feet as her little brother and sister learned to walk and play. And then when they started on table food, was overjoyed at their willingness to "give back" to her!

Madison was a fun and loving, precious part of our famiy who taught me an awful lot about being a better person and prepared me at least in some ways to be a Mommy. It was a joy and an adventure to be her human. We will always love her and she will be greatly missed.