Lady Madison of Kingswood

Lady Madison of Kingswood

Today was a tough day. Today was the day we had to put this beautiful animal down. Madison was 10 years 4 months and the most gentle friend you could ask for. How many of us wish we had these qualities; great listener, always happy, never too tired for a run or a walk, did not offer opinions or talk back, loyal, and loving.

This picture is of her around 2 1/2 years old. Up until that point we wondered what the heck we got when we picked this dog. She was always getting in trouble, then a funny thing happened, she changed! The next 9 years were filled with the joy of owning this incredibly intelligent, well behaved and wonderful pet.

Madison was my dog (Bill), she rarely left my side. Always in my office right beside my chair, the only time she would move was when she had to make a trip and this big head would plunk down on my leg. That was her subtle way of saying "for the love of God let me out!".

We only heard Maddy bark maybe a total of 10 times in her life. Never a growl, yelp, or really any kind of noise, but she spoke volumes with her eyes, and more so with her eyebrows. She could lift those eyebrows up and around as if speaking to us.

The past couple of weeks we had seen a marked drop in her ability to walk and a swelling of her front right leg. Then there was a mass growing around her heart and she was out of breath easily. This morning she could not get up by herself and it was time. We have a great caring vet who had been monitoring her over the past few weeks and he agreed it was time.

As I sit here and write this I keep expecting her to walk into the room, but that will not happen anymore. I have lost a great friend and this hurt will be a long time leaving.

If you have a pet, be sure to give it an extra hug tonight, I know I wish I could....