Maddy Moo was my baby, what can I say, she was spoilt rotten and she was the light of my life. She was one of those special ones—the ones who will always stand out in your life as being one to remember, she is one who did a lot for me and helped me through some rotten times, always by my side, always my support however she caused me some rotten times as well as all little red flea bags will do.
Mad aka, Mad Cow Disease, Moodle Noodle, Moo Moo, Little Red Flea Bag, Mad-e-lane, was not exactly the most successful show dog. Being at the small end of the standard she did not do that well, still she managed to amass 26 Reserve Challenges, In Group awards and some high placings at Specialty Shows, being always liked by South African judges and specialists.
Mad was the first born in Rage’s second litter and was spoilt by both Rage and myself from Day One. She learned the luxuries of life early & was the fattest roundest puppy you have ever seen earning herself the nickname “Pumpkin” as she was a fat little thing, round, orange and wrinkly.
At 5 mths of age she was run over by my then partner, Andrew, and broke her back left leg badly, the foot’s bones were shattered. We, of course, were in the middle of nowhere in a State Forest so after two hours of bumpy driving got her to a country Vet who just said “I think that leg’s broken mate”, talk about point out the obvious. He did not have much equipment and didn’t think they could do much so with a pain killer for Mad off we went again for the three hour trip home to our local Vets. He set the leg, I was back three days later as she had managed to get the cast off. He set it again, I was back 3 days after that as she got the second cast off. At that point we went to a plastic cast with bandage which I had to redo virtually every day. Maddy had worked out that if you ran full pelt with your leg sticking out backwards, Mum couldn’t catch you & then throw yourself in the dam & swim across, you will lose the cast by the other side, then run & hide and watch Mum – cursing & swearing, swim to get the cast out of the dam. This went on for 6 wks, needless to say the leg did not set that well and she had a club foot all her life.
A week after she had the cast removed, we discovered that her front wrist had been broken as well, she had been running around on it for 8 wks on this leg and it wasn’t until the back one was fixed that she started favouring the front. Talk about a typical Stafford – why bother showing any pain!
Mad has done the most for me as a brood bitch. Her first litter (see Litter 4) of 4 boys & 1 girl to Sid (Ch Leatherwood Iron Mike) produced two champions, one going on to be a Grand Champion (Basty) and would have easily produced a third champion had he been shown. Her second litter (see Litter 6) produced 4 boys (a disappointment to me as all I had wanted was a girl), one of which was shown when young but was not shown when older due to the family commitments of the owner which was a shame. Her third litter (see Litter 7) produced 2 boys & 3 girls finally giving me a girl to go on with, my infamous ‘Murtle’.
Mad also introduced me thoroughly to the world of Advertising with her photogenic face, she played a part in a movie as the Bookie’s dog in the Oyster Farmer with her son Basty & grand daughter Angel also starring. She did two parts as extras in TV serials and a host of ads for Japan—my biggest disappointment was that I never got to see any of these ads and one in particular for Sony I would have killed to see as it was very demanding hard work for her with multiple commands required, the ad was focussed on her rather than just being an extra. She also appeared in Dogs Life several times, Burkes Backyard, the cover of the NSW Canine Journal and Ringleader—a truly photogenic girl.
As a dog Madmoo was the most wicked, cunning and smart of all the dogs I have ever owned, I could go on for pages & pages about her exploits as much as my friends could. She was a cow but was fantastic to live with as she provided hours of entertainment in her ability to get food or the best for herself. She looked at a situation, summed it up for what she could get out of it and went to work. She was the leader of the gang at home until her last year & was very good at getting everyone else into trouble while remaining angelic herself. She was a dirty fighter and others often walk away with holes in their legs if they challenged her (just ask her brother, Lander). Still, she looked at you with those butter wouldn’t melt eyes and sucked up to you so you have to let her get away with everything. My biggest threat to my friends was always promising to send them a dog with Maddy behind it - they knew they would be in for a dog of great naughtiness but incredible character.
She was my protector and my guardian, always by my side demanding my attention and getting it from me. She always knew when I was down or depressed and dragged me out of my pit with her loving & sloppy kisses and talkative voice. I loved her Truly, Madly & Deeply and will do so forever. She succumbed to Lung Cancer at 10 yrs of age, always looking after me and comforting me right until the end. She was the only Stafford I have known that was truly loyal to one person, I miss you Truly Madly & Deeply my moo forever in my heart.