Month: March 2010

My last entry

A portrait I took of Maddie last year...such a beauty...

This will be my last post to Maddie’s blog…despite Maddie being a fabulous example of amputation recovery…she died unexpectedly last night…
we went for our usual walk/run with her best bud Lillie and she seemed fine. When we got home I offered her dinner, she wasn’t interested, which wasn’t that unusual. Even though I feed her the best dog food, she isn’t fond of only dry food, so would eat it when she was ready. She went and slept in the family room with my husband and son. A little later he yelled to me that something was wrong with her…I ran in the room and it appeared that she had a seizure or something…my son and I attempted CPR while my husband called our vet (a very close friend). She felt she might have had a clot or something rupture and there was nothing to be done…but she came over anyway, but it was too late. I think she died instantly…
I am having a really hard time accepting it
I hope she didn’t suffer much
I try to be happy with the 4 months I got…but based on how well she was doing, I hoped for years…

I can’t come back to the blog, because it makes me too sad…all the sad stories…and now ours is sad too

I am trying to think of the glass as half full instead of half empty, but I just don’t see it that way right now…she was such a great dog…just too short a time with us.

Good luck to all the rest of you

Squaw Valley USA – 3 months as a tripawd!

I haven’t posted in months, so I thought it was about time. Maddie is doing great, running/walking/hopping up to 3 miles at a time. This is the farthest I have taken her, but she could go farther with a few rest stops! She NEVER refuses to go, sometimes she doesn’t climb the hills as much as Lillie but still covers a lot  of ground. She has been to the vet for a quick follow up in February and Dr. Joni thought she was doing fantastic, her lymph nodes were all normal. She is going in for a chest xray this week to make sure everything is good…
Maddie has really been an embassador for tripawd dogs, most people are simply amazed at how well she get along! The funny thing is that most people don’t ask what happened to her (I think they think it is rude to ask?!), they just look at her and point. When they do come up to her to pet her and find out what happened they think she is so cool! Her boys think she is cool now too…at first they were worried she would be a “freak” but now they realize how amazing she is! So if anyone out there is doubting their decision to amputate…don’t…it is the BEST think I could have done for her and our lives have changed very little so far. I can only hope it will stay that way.
Maddie and Lillie hang out at Squaw Valley while their boys snowboard. Wow do they need haircuts!
Maddie LOVES the snow...running like she has 4 legs...with an occasional tumble!
Squaw Valley is a really dog friendly place...they hung out on the patio of the lodge all day without a single complaint. And got to run in the meadow to boot! Last summer (before amputation) they even got to ride the cable car to the top and run through the meadows on a moonrise hike....talk about dog heaven!

getting in the water in the middle of winter...okay it was about 60 degrees out! Spring skiing in February!
Great way to cool off!
Maddie & Lillie love to play and as you can see in the following photos, Maddie is still the dominant female...three legged or not!
Okay, I need a rest now!