Madison

As the anniversary of Sammy’s death approached, I wondered if I could find another dog just like him. Silly, I know. I turned to the Humane Society of Huron Valley web page and began looking at the dogs up for adoption. One pit bull after another appeared on the page and then much to my surprise was a picture of Sammy Kurtz!  No, it wasn’t Sammy- but it could have been. She was Madison, a seven-year old chow mix. Maddie had been picked up in Ypsilanti in March 2015 along with Brooklyn, her mother, after they wandered off from a home where they had been left by their owners, who mysteriously left town. We know this because the dogs had rabies tags affixed to chain collars on their necks with a veterinarian’s name. His records showed the owner’s names, the dog’s names, and their ages. Maddie weighed 70 pounds at the time, even though she is a fairly small dog.

Madison had lots of hair, a broken tail, and a bad case of depression.  I took her home. As she walked in the door of our house, her mood began to lift right away. She didn’t eat much at first, but by the third day, her appetite grew. She began to look happy.  As soon as we could get in to see the groomer, Maddie had a new buzz cut and looked even more like Sammy.  Shortly after that we began invisible fence training. The fence is working well. Maddie now walks twice a day. She gets very excited when she sees a dog she doesn’t know yet and is so hard to manage, I have to walk her with a Gentle Leader. Once she meets the dog, she loses interest, but she is friendly to all. The only dog she really loves is Reid, a handsome Dalmatian. By early July, she has lost ten pounds and looks quite attractive. Maddie’s DNA results show that she is a Chow, Lab, Golden Retriever, Basenji mix.

Lacey and Maddie with her gentle leader on.