Adopted Dog Update: Madison

Maddy's mom sent us an update this week:

Maddy continues to be a delight, and a good challenge. We just love having her, and she's such a goofball! We have our routine two walks/runs a day, almost always incorporating off-leash running because she loves it so much. She's so social--makes friends on most every outing (or tries!)--and the highlight of her week is the big airport dog park, where we meet friends and their two Weimaraners most weekends. Maddy's is in love, it seems, with a Bichon down the block, and with her big friend Guinness, who lives at a farm outside Northfield. Last weekend the two of them chased themselves silly across lawn and woods, and she slept the whole next day!

She's gotten much better on leash, but still has a pulling tendency, so we're taking another class on that starting tomorrow. She is great at sit/stay/down/shake indoors (a little more resistant outdoors--unless I have a really good treat in hand!), and she almost always comes when called outdoors. I feel so lucky I can trust her off leash.

One issue lately is that Maddy has been losing some fur on her back--a common malady among blue Dobermans, it turns out. Our vet found that her thyroid is a bit low, so she's on medication to see if that will turn this around. I don't think it's causing her much difficulty, and since her skin is dark she's unlikely to sunburn, though I'm concerned about her staying warm in winter. I'll have find a better coat than the too-snug one she ran away from last year! The hair loss is mostly an aesthetic issue, from what I can tell, and she's STILL beautiful!

Finally, we recently added a cat to our household (!) My son is great with Maddy (he especially loves cuddling with her on the floor, as I do), but he's always been a cat person, so we thought we'd try... We kept Libby (nee "Liberty") upstairs behind a gate for a week, allowing the two of them to meet each other by scent. And when they finally got face-to-face, it was fine! Maddy wants to play more than the cat does, but she's quite patient and only growls when Libby gets too near her food dish. I think they're making their peace, and that Maddy likes having another critter around.

I was Really impressed with Maddy's gentleness toward another creature the other day at a playground, where she interacted beautifully with a very young Golden puppy. I wished I'd had a camera! She still is all for playing rough with bigger dogs, but this puppy encounter was wonderful (and adorable) evidence of her good judgment and instinct.

She's a great dog, and I'm so happy we found her.