Maddie’s favorite pictures

Abby and Maddie

Abby and Nancy look down on the streets of Chicago

So happy after our dog park outing, and being scratched under her chin by Aunt Nancy

My favorite picture

Maddie and Mommy

The best day ever photos

Maddie and Abby stick close to Nancy

Ike and Maddie

Ike, before his muddy excursion

Abby

Look mommy, I'm running free!

Abby and Maddie

Maddie

Maddie in motion

Ike and Maddie

A very happy Abby

A very wet Ike

Look ma, I'm dirty.

A muddy Maddie

Abby gives up and lays down so she can be wiped off.

The best day ever

Maddie had so much fun yesterday, and got so much exercise, she’s still tired today.

The Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Area was awesome. Muddy, and wet, and cold, and windy. But awesome.

You would never know you were in anything but a forest preserve. It is so big, you can’t see most of the fences surrounding it. The dogs, I’m sure, had no idea they were actually enclosed.

Maddie was incredibly well behaved. We had no issues with her at all. She stayed in sight, listened when I called her, and for the most part stayed out of the really deep mud and water. I can’t say the same thing about her cousin Ike.

Ike went off on his own from the time we let the dogs into the park. He was wearing a cow bell so we could hear him, and he stayed in sight most of the time, but he just wandered off into the brush while Maddie and Abby sniffed around the fence and meandered near the path. They all played in an open meadow for a few minutes then we walked up another path. That’s when Ike decided to take a muddy swim. He plowed into a low-lying swampy area. My sister went after him but by the time she got to him, he was soaked and dirty. We were concerned because he has several health problems — he was a rescue dog who was in bad shape when they got him — but he was fine other than the wet and mud. The excursion cost him his freedom; he spent the remainder of the outing on a long leash.

We spent a little while longer playing in the meadow and meeting several other dogs, then we walked along another path until we hit another extremely muddy mess that would be difficult to get through. By then, poor Ike was shivering, so we went back to the car and began the task of cleaning three filthy dogs. We managed to dry them a bit, but all three got showers when we got back to my sister’s place.

I had never been to a dog park, but I don’t think any will ever be able to live up to this one. I loved being able to have Maddie run free and not have to worry about her. There was so much to explore, and other dogs with which to interact. They didn’t meet in a small confined area on leashes, so they felt more comfortable with each other. I would like to go back whenever we visit and have time. Why can’t we have something like this in our area?

Will we survive?

Maddie and I have a new challenge ahead of us today.

Along with my mom and my sister, we are taking Maddie and her cousins, Ike and Abby, to a dog park. This is no ordinary dog park, this dog park was named the best dog park in Chicago in 2008.  The Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Area is part of the Lake County Forest Preserve in Lake Forest, Ill.

It is a 44-acre off-leash park with mowed paths, a meadow, a clean-up station and a lake.

I am very excited to take Maddie, but at the same time I’m freaked out.

Maddie has not been able to run free since she was a tiny pup; we can’t trust her not to run off. While this dog park is obviously fenced in, it is a large area and I have no idea how she is going to react. She’s an OK listener when we call her, but not the best all the time.

We shall see what happens.

Maddie and Ripley

Whenever Maddie and I visit my parents, she loves playing with their neighbor dog, Ripley, who has a fenced-in yard. She has gone over there twice in the last two days. The first time, they actually played and wrestled, which is funny to watch since Ripley is so much bigger than Maddie is. Yesterday, though, they didn’t want to play much. They just squabbled over pieces of deer bone in the yard (Ripley’s dad is a hunter, so Ripley gets venison). I am hoping before we leave early next week Maddie and Ripley can play with Maddie’s bubble machine and chase the bacon and chicken-flavored bubbles. It’s been too windy for that lately.

Maddie and Ripley vie for a piece of bone

Maddie wants the piece Ripley has. Just like a child.

My dog looks pretty vicious, doesn't she?

A less expensive mess

Instead of spending money on more toys for Maddie to rip apart in minutes, I made a couple of my own from a pattern in Eco Dog.

My mom has some T-shirt material I wove into braids and made into a bone. It really looked neat and Maddie liked playing tug-of-war with it. Alas, it lasted just as long as the other toys she has destroyed. But at least this time, I can make another without spending another dime.

Braided T-shirt rope

Maddie plays tug of war with my dad.

At least this toy lasted a whole day.

Social networking and high school

Maddie had her second monthly play date this afternoon and had a great time. In addition to Boji — who played with us last month — Maddie met two new dogs, Doc and Gracie. They all got along great and wore each other out quickly.

As we were driving home, a question popped into my head.

Do dogs form cliques?

What if Maddie and Boji played in one area, and Doc and Gracie — who live together — played on their own? That was kind of the case, yet they did mix and play in one group at times, especially when they were gathered around me for treats. I wonder if it is difficult to be the new dog introduced to several who already know each other. Will it be on the outside looking in, or will it fit right in? Probably, like people, that depends on the dog’s personality. I’ll have to watch the next time a new dog joins the group and see how it blends in to the established group.

Doc

Gracie

Boji checks out Gracie

Gracie

Gracie and Doc

Gracie and Maddie

Doc and Gracie

I didn't even use a flash and Maddie still closed her eyes when I took the picture!

My crazy puppy

Maddie, Doc, Gracie and Boji

Doc, Gracie, Maddie and Boji

Boji

Chicken bone scare

Maddie gave us her biggest scare yet Monday afternoon.

I was drying my hair when I heard Rob bellow, ‘Sue!’ He frantically told me to grab the water bottle and spray Maddie (we use it when she bites. It has been successful when we use it consistently). She had gone into the garbage and retrieved an eaten chicken breast. She growled at Rob as he tried to pry open her mouth and dig it out. He got part of it out, but she swallowed the rest.

Neither one of us knew what to do, so he got on-line and then called the vet. Both told us the same thing — feed her bread, rice and oatmeal for fiber. We needed to watch her carefully for listlessness, change in appetite, vomiting, blood in her stool and straining with a bowel movement.

I was terrified, with thoughts of having to take her to the vet running through my head. The vet always came back out and told us there was nothing they could do for her, and I had lost my puppy before she even reached her 10-month birthday. Rob finally convinced me that wasn’t going to happen.

Maddie came through it the best of the three of us. She has been as crazy as ever, not slowing down for an instant. I think she’s probably enjoyed the rice/oatmeal/bread diet as she seems to adore everything but her regular food. We have found nothing in her bowel movements.

Hopefully, this scare has passed, but it really shows how vigilant you have to be with a precocious puppy. We had eaten the chicken Sunday, and after I was finished, I fed her pieces of the meat while I brushed her. After we threw away the bones, I took the garbage from the kitchen and was going to put the full bag outside. I set it in the spare bedroom — which either has a gate in the doorway, or in the doorway from the kitchen into the hallway so she cannot get into that room — intending to take it outside on my next trip. At some point, Rob or I moved the gate aside to get into the room. She took advantage and grabbed the chicken remnants. From now on, that garbage is going right outside with no detours.

I’m just thankful this puppy seems to have insides of steel.

Mount Maddie

Mount Maddie

I am not sure how this puppy isn’t bald after the amount of hair we brushed off of her this afternoon. I know we don’t brush her as often as we should, but she really doesn’t shed too badly, contrary to what the picture may indicate. 

Maddie likes to bite at the brush and fight us, so I use a tip from Victoria Stilwell from ‘It’s Me or the Dog’ and give her treats as we brush her so she associates brushing with good things.  So today Rob and I had some leftover chicken at lunch and I knew she needed to be groomed. After some squirming, and some attempts to get the treats by pulling out her best tricks — she begged and then rolled over several times — she finally calmed down and let me brush her, as long as she got regular chicken feedings. Rob took over the brushing part after a bit while I continued to ply the puppy with fowl.

Next time, instead of creating Mount Maddie, maybe we can make a puppy wig, or a Maddie clone. We certainly have enough fur to make at least two more Maddies.

Fabric search update

I have been a bit tardy updating my search for organic cotton canvas, but as Maddie has been an angel tonight and is currently snoozing somewhere (I’m guessing on the bed, but I don’t want to go searching and disturb her), I have time to myself and I thought I should post an update.

I found reasonably priced fabric on-line after an extensive search. I ordered my five yards (enough for three bags and some mistakes) and received it a couple of weeks ago. It has remained in its box since I got it. I decided it will be a project I do when I go home to my parents’ house the last week of March. My mom can help me with the sewing machine and the rest of the project.

I read the rest of Eco Dog this afternoon as Maddie and I sat outside and enjoyed the sunny, warm weather. I’ll have lots of projects coming up — putting together a first-aid kit and finding Maddie’s heart and respiration rates, making lavender sachets to keep the house smelling good and keep the fleas away, making several different toys from old T-shirts and jeans, and making my own household cleaning products to keep harmful chemicals away from Maddie. That’s actually something I’ve thought about doing for some time now, but never got around to it. I also want to try the massage. I don’t know how Maddie will like that, but we’ll try.