When Dreams Come True

Stunning

The moment she captured Dave's heart

 I have rewritten this post over and over on the keyboard and in my head since we helped Maddie cross the bridge on Friday.  

On January 16, 2012, I promised myself and her that when she was gone I would not live in sorrow when she was no longer here because there was no sorrow in Madison. That particular day she turned 12 years old,  we had reached the peak of typical life expectancy for her breed.  So two and a half years later she has gone and I am honoring the commitment I made to her and myself.  This post is about joy and fun and happiness, it is about her.









She grabbed Dave by the heart when she was born and there she rests today.  His heart dog, he will always have a smile on his face when he recounts her birth and growing up.

Listening and working with me

So many of my agility dreams came true through her.  We trialed in 23 states total, more runs that I can recount, but I can hear her feet in the dirt and I can feel her breath on the back of my legs on the start line.  She was always game on,always ahead of me and often off course because I couldn't keep up.  I don't think I will ever have a bigger adrenaline rush at any start line of a road race or triathlon as I would get slipping her lead off and stepping away to run a course in competition with her.  She was driven, she was smart and she was happy.  We had a super working relationship, my only dog that would not work for anyone but me.  Selfishly I love that about her..

Happy!!!

Her health was always excellent, I don't recall a day of her being ill.  However, as she aged and arthritis began to make rising and lying down difficult, Stem Cell Therapy was introduced to us by our Veterinarian, Diane Castle.  Dave and I jumped on the opportunity to give her relief from the one thing that seemed to keep her off her mark.  On her 14th birthday she received the treatment.  It was such a huge success, and for the past 4.5 months we have had a dog whose body would once again go where her heart led her.  She had lost a little fun, but after stem cell, she regained interest in chasing Stetson, playing with toys and all around interaction with us.  This gift is beyond measure and has given us some of our happiest, most interactive times with her.  We will eternally be grateful for the additional memories we have gained in these past months.

We will always hold her in our hearts and cherish the fabulous years that we shared.  This last video is of my silly girl trying to get Stetson to play with her shortly after we brought him home.  It is the essence of her, happy woos.

"...even when I lose I'm winning
'cause I give you all of me
and you give me all of you..."  John Legend, All of Me


Dreams do come true...thank you Madison for making ours reality.

RIP sweet, sweet girl.
January 16, 2000 - May 23, 2014

Madison's Journal

This journal begins with my 2001 agility goals, written by dog and broken down into the steps necessary to achieve the one big goal per dog.

It lapses, and then is picked back up on Christmas Day, 2007 with the beginning of a run log with each of the three girls (Nakeeta, Maddie and Mira).  Included are mileage per dog, weather conditions, how I felt, how each dog handled and the total time spent on the road  I forgot that I left the dogs and all I worked years toward when Magic left in 2007.  Running is how I began to slowly climb out of denial and anger.  The pavement has been my healer and my soul cleanser ever since.

Mira passing suddenly in 2012 forced me back into the depths of sudden loss and all the anger and fear that go alongside.  I knew I could not let another piece of my soul lapse the way it did with Magic's sudden death.  So begins my life with a black and white tri Australian Shepherd.  Stetson has brought me back to whole, to yearning to be the best I and we can be, back to curious dabbles into everything dog.

Today I began a daily entry of Madison's world.  I want to capture all of this that we have with her.  And reading back over the past years I know I will be forever grateful that I did so, come some hopefully distant gray and somber day... Reading our goals from yesterday has helped me melt away the moans and whining of the years that have gathered upon us today.  It has been a good day, and the read has been both amusing and heart lifting.

Trophy Wall from 2004

Sweetness

Saturday Fun Run

This is what I see when we're out for a run:

I love to watch my dogs move. I enjoy seeing structure in action and he is beautiful at a trot.

Part of his cross training has been working core on the balance disc and also by doing some "sit ups".  And of course stretching, we are always stretching. He loves the exercises and in having only worked his core for about two and a half weeks, I can see he is getting stronger.  I hope to add tugging to his routine core work soon also, that is going to be a focus this week.  Keeping fingers crossed core work and the stretching will keep us away from another IlioPsoas strain.

One of our runs this week was focused on hill repeats.  He seemed to like them and kept an eye on me all the way up the hill every time as if he was really focusing on getting it right.  Funny how I hate hill repeats and intervals, but with him it doesn't feel so much like a chore.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield has become an important place for us.  I began running those trails with Mira and I cannot step foot onto the surface without her crossing my heart.  Stetson and I are making our own memories there and taking our fitness to new heights on the trails.

On our way, looking across McCollum Air Field to the mountain

Are we ready to go yet????? Quit taking my picture already

Trail head from Cheatham Hill to Kolb Farm

We did a 20 minute out and 20 minute return run yesterday.  Just enough to get some trail under our feet... I just can't get enough time out with him, it isn't possible to tire of his presence.  So lucky to be his person.  

Regaining Endurance

Saturday morning was muggy but cool so Stetson and I left for a run on the mountain before 8 am.  He was so excited to get loaded into the truck and laid down in his crate facing me and watching all the way to the parking lot.  It seemed he wanted to be sure I didn't somehow slip out of the truck without him.

Illinois Monument, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield

We haven't had very many opportunities to get runs in since his strained IllioPsoas, so I knew his reduced fitness level coupled with the humidity would likely take a toll on him early on.  With that in mind I decided to go 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back and treat this like the recovery run it is.   Because of the rain on Friday, the humidity was intense, even his coat hair developed a wavy pattern like sand on the beach after the tide goes out.

As expected, he sailed on the downhills.  His stride is as smooth as silk and I barely feel the lead move in my hand.  However, he is pretty consistently slowing to a walk on the steep inclines.  I will begin working on hills in the neighborhood with him this week with some hill repeats to get him built back up.  It is training I need as well.  His legs are good, it's the cardio and lung capacity that eludes him.  I'm also working his core at home a couple of times a week on the balance disc plus crunches.  I am trying to get my core and strength done and then work with him right after.  

Looking down the mountain to the trail from the Illinois Monument

None of the hard pack or mud bothered his pads.  The variables can play havoc on pads and feet that are not built for the demands.  His pads feel soft to the touch, but they are surprisingly tough.  I learned from mushers years ago that you check pads every run, every time and I carry that wisdom with me to this day.  Foot health is so important for running dogs.

I know I'm stronger today for having had him by my side.  I can see he is stronger too, in spirit and physical capacity. He gives me the courage to start again when my plans don't work out and I am forced to regroup and start anew.  What a gift I have in him.  I hope he watches me and somehow in his dog brain thinks that I'm the person he'd hoped he have.

Not having anything to do with my attempt at a Selfie - he was more interested in snuggling