In Loving Memory of Madison

Today the world lost an amazing dog.  My first dog actually.  Arguably the most personality filled dog you could ever meet.  

She was fine last night, somewhat off this morning, and had passed away peacefully at the vets by 2pm today.  She went quickly, and we are thankful that we did not have to make any decisions and watch her quality of life deteriorate.  

This post isn't to talk about her death and the one day she spent in pain.  She is free of that pain now.  

This post is to celebrate her life, and to share LOTS AND LOTS of pictures and stories of such a beautiful girl.  

A warning - this is long - I found about 80 good pictures on my computer and I'm posting every damn one of them.  Enjoy.

Here is Madison welcoming home a baby Bailey.  You can see the mischief in Bailey's eyes, and Madison could too.  Madison was NEVER too old to play with Bailey.  They were such good buddies.

Madison was a cool dog, and she knew it.

Here she is just lounging with Bailey.

...and again.

"Is it time to play again yet??"

Madison always had a smile on her face.  She loved everyone, and everyone loved her.  Her sister Echo is in this picture with her.

She sometimes smiled so big that her eyes couldn't even stay open ;)

I have quite a few pictures of Madison begging in this post.  You'll see.  Begging for food was one of the things that she excelled at.  In fact, she taught Bailey everything she knows.  I remember in high school, Madison's favourite time was at the end of the night when a bunch of drunken teenagers would stumble back to the house with an assortment of fast food.  She knew that drunken teenagers were very likely to drop food for her - or better yet, willingly give her slices of pizza.  The drunker you were, the more Madison loved you.  

Madison spent every summer positioned right beside this pool.  She stayed in the shade mostly, and just watched the world.  

Here is a rare picture of Madison and CU together.  I never in a million years thought that CU would outlive Madison.  CU was never really too fond of Madison - she much preferred Echo.  

The ever-increasing whiteness on her face gave her somewhat of a harsh look.  But don't be fooled, she was all smiles under that grey :)

In her spot.

The progression of white on her face is truly amazing.  The order of these pictures is kinda wonky.  The older pictures are actually still to come.  When we got her, she had NO white on her face.  She was all black, with a bit of white on her belly and paws.  It spread like wildfire throughout the years!

Oh yes Maddie, we know you are beautiful.

Even though she looked more like a lab, the husky in her came out when it was time for a bath.  She HATED to get wet!  I took the following pictures one summer afternoon while my mom was attempting to clean her up a bit.  She promptly ran into the flower bed and rolled in the dirt.  That'll teach mom to try to give her a bath, now won't it?

Madison lying with her famous "froggy legs".  

This picture would have been about 58 times more precious if my mirror wasn't so freaking filthy. 

Baby Bailey trying to steal some crumbs.

Madison is showing Baby Bailey the art of begging.  

"If you cock you head to the side just like this, they can't resist."

"Like this??"

"No Bailey, you need to work the eyes a little more...like this..."

She didn't even mind when Baby Bailey got a height advantage in their begging.  She knew the baby had a lot to learn.

...Again with the begging.  She has taught Bailey some excellent technique by this point.  Notice the head tilt?

Almost perfection.

Sharing their hard earned bounty.

Pretty girl out in the sun.

She was always happy.

And she always made us happy too.

And we're going to miss her SO MUCH. xoxo

Think I'm done?  Think again... We're about halfway through folks.

Madison was just too photogenic, I can't help it that I have a lot of pictures that I need to share.

She sometimes had a very serious look about her.

Here she is watching Kevin play ball hockey at Eastview.  She just sat in the shade happily and watched their game.

She was allowed to not be on leash, I knew she wouldn't go anywhere.  Bailey was a whole other story.

Here she is doing her favourite thing - CAMPING!

She was such a good camper dog.  My mom has so many stories about their camping adventures.

This is my campsite, yo.

My step-dad Mike, with Madison and Echo.

Checking out the smells on the site.

Here are some videos my mom took last summer of Madison being the crazy puppy that she was.  It's hard to believe that she was 10 years old in these videos!

Here the girls are on the car ride home from camping - two very tired - but happy - puppers.

A great shot of Madison and Echo.

She always looked so darn comfortable.  

She had very interesting ways of lying on her bed.

Miss froggy legs makes an appearance again...

I think she clearly got the better spot this time.

Once winter came, and there was snow on the ground, Maddie wanted to be outside.  That must have been the husky in her, but she could just sit out in the snow watching the world for hours.

BUT, she didn't complain too much when the weather was beautiful either... She pretty much loved being outside no matter what the weather.

Here is a shot that is about 4 years old.  You can see how much darker her face was!

In her garden...

...being tortured... (are you starting to see where I get it from??)

...but always loved...

Wow...even less white in this picture...

Here she is right before she zoomed around the yard.  I don't remember this day in particular, but I can tell by that look on her face that she wanted me to chase her.  She always loved when I would chase her around and around the pool...she never got sick of it.  I will miss that.

Sad face.  Just for show though, she probably was being left out of a yummy snack.  Poor girl :(

This set of pictures are actually the last pictures I took of Madison :(  This was back in February, when Maddie wasn't feeling too well.  Totally unrelated to the final infection that took her life, but she wasn't a happy camper in these pictures!

These ones are older...she was happy here :)

On a walk at the park with my dogs and a few randoms.

She ran with the best of 'em.

Christmas 2009.

Kisses from Cousin Blaire.

Madison and Echo both begging different people.

Rest in Peace sweet girl, we will miss you so much.  The house will be so much quieter without you in it.  Here is a lovely picture made for me by a friend.