My Maddie

Nearly six months ago, I fell completely, totally, irreversibly, forever in love. With her tiny white paws. Her floppy black ears. The big brown eyes. And the white tip on her tail.

Nearly six months ago, I took home my first puppy.

My boyfriend, Rob, and I had been talking about adopting a dog for a long time. Then all of a sudden, we had one.

One of his co-workers had a litter of seven puppies and in mid-August, she still had four puppies who needed homes. Rob and I went to see the little ones — I thought just to see them and decide what we were going to do.

They were all so adorable — four sisters as different as four human sisters. A completely black puppy. A brown one with the look of a German shepherd. A white and grey mottled one showing her blue heeler heritage. And a black pup with white paws, white markings on her belly, and a white tip on her tail.

Which one belonged with us?

As we were standing there trying to answer that question, the black and white puppy made our decision for us — she came over and sat on my feet.

Before I knew it, we were driving home with our dog.

(A side note: We actually took home two puppies, the black and white one along with the brown one. Two 10-week-old puppies were too much for me and we made the heart-wrenching decision to find another home for the brown puppy. We cried when we lost her, but it was the best for both the puppy and me in the long run. The puppy is now living happily on a farm with two cats.)

I named our new addition Madison, after the town in which I attended college. She inherited Audrey as a middle name. Rob had named our second puppy Audrey and we wanted to remember our short time with her.

It has been a crazy six months.

Growing up, the only pets we had were fish and hamsters so I had little experience with dogs, and absolutely none with puppies.

We have gone through four weeks of obedience training. Periods of intense biting — ah yes, I forgot to mention she is a mix of lab retriever, Australian shepherd and blue heeler. Totally insane, full-speed running back and forth across the living room. House training, which went surprisingly well. Our first long car trip — she came with me and a Hawk Eye photographer to South Bend, Ind., for the Burlington Bees’ Midwest League championship. Her first grooming experience. Chewing through an extension cord and shocking herself. And now puberty into the teenage years.

I have spent days in frustrated tears. I have felt like a complete failure when I cannot get her to listen to anything I say but she will do whatever Rob tells her. 

But then there are the other 23 hours each day. The hours she curls up on my chest and we nap on the couch, sometimes with her head laid on my cheek. The times she successfully does a trick and we both get excited. Coming in the door to Maddie racing over to meet me with a toy in her mouth and tail wagging a million miles an hour. And falling asleep at night feeling her body relaxed at my feet, her head on my leg.

I cannot imagine life without my Maddie.

I know I am not the only pet owner who feels this way. That is why I wanted to start this blog. I want to give owners a place to show off their pets. A place to talk about issues that impact our animals. A forum for sharing ideas and experiences.

This blog will not be exclusively about dogs. It will focus on canines as that is my area of ‘expertise,’ but Maddie and I welcome any species to join us.

Please come in, and share our love affair.

Note: The title of this blog is ironic. Maddie is not allowed to be freed from her leash; she would run until she could not run any more. I have read blue heelers should be kept on leashes, and she definitely has dominant blue heeler tendencies.