Maddy - Courage and Heart: Life Lessons from a Puppy Handbook

By Sam Kauffman

Through supper dishes that seem to fly; pansy salads and conquering loveseats the size of Mt. Everest Maddy - Courage and Heart - teaches us lessons about wide-eyed wonder, life changes and opening up to the miraculous all taught by a puppy.

Through humor, engaging storytelling and insight into the mind and attitudes of a puppy, Sam Kauffman draws readers into Maddy's story weaving a captivating tale about Maddy, her littermates and her family.

With eyes open, ears up and tail wagging, Maddy takes us on a journey from the vantage point of a lively puppy that discovers the world of bugs, music and how life is supposed to be through her "Puppy Handbook."

As each chapter unfolds, we are invited on a magic carpet of memories that ultimately brings the reader into the experience of grabbing onto life with courage and heart.

A must-have for anyone who loves animals!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491834282

Sam Kauffman

Sam Kauffman is an internationally known Christian author, writer, singer, songwriter and recording artist, a published musician and poet. Sam says: "My inspiration for writing comes from life - children in airports, national events, holidays, friends, the seasons and day to day living. This world is a place of wonder and awe begging to be noticed - speaking to us if we will listen and give life a voice." Originally from Seattle, WA, Sam studied music and English at the University of Washington. She now lives in teh San Francisco Bay Area but travels nationally and internationally with her music ministry offereing programs, concerts, dramas, workshops and writing seminars for school children. A wife and mother who loves writing music, musical dramas, poetry and children's stories, when at home Sam enjoys knitting, gardening, floral arranging, cooking, scrapbooking, skiing and playing with Padraig, a Wheaten terrier - Paddy for short. Visit Sam's website - www.samkservantsheart.com.

Book preview

MADDY –

Courage and Heart

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LIFE LESSONS FROM A PUPPY HANDBOOK

SAM KAUFFMAN

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AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2013 Sam Kauffman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/04/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3429-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3428-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013919997

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is dedicated to my

husband, family, friends and anyone who has loved and cared for a special animal.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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Maddy and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all of the people who have made Maddy—Courage and Heart possible. Without the support and love of my husband, my family, my friends and the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier community this book would not exist.

To my husband, Art, who has given me feedback and encouragement. Any time I have asked for his help from scanning artwork to reading drafts he has been there with his perceptive insights and willing hands.

To Diane Harvey, friend, writer, mentor and co-conspirator without your support I would have floundered under a sea of details. Your friendship and guidance are a gift I treasure among the jewels of my life. The words Thank you will never adequately express my gratitude for all you have so willingly done.

To Beth Kauffman, Karen Klein, Kathy Guenther, Pat Bertapelle, Stephanie Edwards, Pastor Becky Anderson, Lynette Roth, Ellie Wong and Pat Mullin—each one of you, in your own special way, has made this project so much stronger with your honest feedback and reviews. I truly hope all of you can see your input in the final product. Thank you my friends. Merci! Takk! Gracias! Danke! Grazie! No matter the language each word expresses my gratitude.

To Maureen, Elaine, Elena, Pat and Meg for your tireless devotion to Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers and for keeping Kauffman homes filled with these enthusiastic, energetic, confident, zany companions who have stolen our hearts and made us laugh with their antics for almost thirty years.

Thank you Ann Summers, Barry Lee, the design team and production staff at AuthorHouse. What would I have done without you?. You have taught me so much and guided me through so many twisted paths bringing this project to a beautiful conclusion. Sometimes the last steps of a project are even more important than the first words scribbled on a page.

And, last, but in no way least, thank you Taffy, Snickers, Fantasy, Ted, Paddy, Kelsey, Lindy and all of the Wheaten Terriers who have been the foundation for Maddy. Over the years each one of these animals has touched our lives in a way that is so special there is not space, nor words, to share our unique relationship with each of these unique creations of God.

High fivespaws to all!

Table of Contents

Chapter One

BIRTH

Chapter Two

FIRST WEEKS

Chapter Three

EYES OPEN

Chapter Four

A CRISIS

Chapter Five

MADDY ATTITUDE

Chapter Six

A FAMILY PACK OF WHEATENS

Chapter Seven

THE PUPPIES CONTINUE TO GROW

Chapter Eight

WEANING

Chapter Nine

A BRAND NEW WORLD—ROCKS, ROSEBUSHES AND SQUIRRELS

Chapter Ten

PLAY STRUCTURE—SLIDES AND TUNNELS

Chapter Eleven

EVALUATION

Chapter Twelve

WHERE ARE THE BOYS GOING?

Chapter Thirteen

HAIR NOT FUR

Chapter Fourteen

SOMETHING IS NOT QUITE RIGHT

Chapter Fifteen

LIFE WITH BROTHER CASEY

Chapter Sixteen

WHAT IS THAT SOUND?

Chapter Seventeen

A WINDOW ON THE WORLD

Chapter Eighteen

BLUE BOTTLES, ELECTRIC CHORDS AND CANDY JARS

Chapter Nineteen

A MORNING DOG

Chapter Twenty

HOUDINI AND DICK TRACY

Chapter Twenty-One

GARDENS AND BEING A GIRL

Chapter Twenty-Two

GARDEN PARTY

Chapter Twenty-Three

THE WORLD OUTSIDE—WALKS

Chapter Twenty-Four

AND LOVE BESIDES ALL OF THIS

Chapter Twenty-Five

MOUNTAINS TO CONQUOR—THE FAMILY ROOM LOVE SEAT

Chapter Twenty-Six

SHOWGIRL

Chapter Twenty-Seven

THE MIRACLE OF MADDY

Chapter Twenty-Eight

MADDY

CHAPTER ONE

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BIRTH

Her name was Maddy, My Wild Irish Rose officially, and this is her story.

She burst into this world at 1:35 pm on Easter Sunday amid Easter brunches, new Easter bonnets and Easter egg hunts.

Bright beams of sunlight streaked across a sky unobstructed by clouds or costal mists. Every shade of pink, purple and orange could be seen in the sunrise. The air felt warm even in the chill of the early morning. A gentle breeze off the water mingled with floral scents of new cherry blossoms, roses and freshly mown grass as it rustled tree branches sporting their pale green leaves. It was a day that was surely filled with all the hope possible born with the coming of springtime.

She was the last of six healthy puppies born in the litter. At under 7.oz. she headed straight to her mother to nurse within five minutes of taking her first breath. Her mom, Rosie, Everything’s Coming Up Roses just for the record, had licked her dry making sure she was breathing, moving around and doing all the normal things a newborn puppy does, which isn’t much.

She wasn’t called Maddy at her birth, but rather rose puppy because of the bright rose colored, Velcro collar she was given to tell her apart from her litter mates—Big Brown, born first and weighing in at a hefty 10.8 oz, Grey Boy, Kelly Green and her sisters Yellow Girl and Khaki Girl—but the color of her collar, and her name, pretty accurately predicted her personality.

Like every other Terrier puppy of her breed at birth, she was mahogany red with a black face and black ears. And, like every other puppy, she was all mouth and no teeth scooting on her belly across the whelping box, eyes closed, finding mom to drink her first meal in this world from mom’s plentiful milk tavern.

Not much is known about the origin of this breed of Celtic Terrier, except that they appeared in the southern part of Ireland leaving their paw prints in the mists of Irish history with their wavy, flowing coats, big black gumdrop noses and brown eyes, the color of Irish sod. Forelocks protected their eyes in stormy weather. Beards protected their faces from the sheep they herded and vermin—rats, moles and badgers—they hunted.

With their easy going temperaments, they take surprises in stride and look for unexpected events with eagerness, and a sense of adventure. During their first week of life, Maddy and her littermates experienced one of these unexpected surprises with their first ride in the car to the vet, of all places.

It didn’t seem necessary to have Rosie and the litter examined, but it would provide an extra ounce of reassurance to know that mom and puppies were all healthy. Better safe than sorry especially since Maddy was so small in comparison to the rest of the litter! So Rosie and her six newborns were carefully gathered up into the car for the short trip.

The six tiny puppies, nestled tightly together in a small box protectively held in the front seat of the car, looked a lot like six furry éclairs. Lying on a soft flannel-covered hot water bottle, the puppies were shielded from any possible temperature variations in the spring air by a towel draped over the top of the box. The towel and the hot water bottle combined to keep the heat in the box and their body temperatures constant.

While it was a warm day with temperatures in the high 70’s, the car temperature was kept at 80 degrees—a virtual sauna protecting the puppies from the slightest breath of cold air!

Snuggled up together in the cozy warmth, the puppies felt that familiar sense of security by being scrunched close together.

Even during that first week of life somehow tiny Maddy managed to squeeze into the middle of the puppy pile already making her presence felt. Maybe her size, as the smallest puppy, motivated Maddy to continuously seek the warmth found at the middle of the puppy pile. Maybe she just wanted to be in on the action first!

Riding in the way back in her travel kennel, Rosie was frantic to be with her newborns. Crying, whining and pawing at the sides of the traveling crate, Rosie could not understand why she had been separated from her new litter. While, on the one hand, she knew they were in the car with her, she picked up on their scent. not having them close to her was more than she could tolerate.

Rosie paced and panted. So agitated, she couldn’t lie down but constantly attempted to walk in circles in her kennel unable to relax. Whimpering softly she tried to reassure the puppies of her presence.

Blissfully ignorant, the puppies, on the other hand, slept through the whole experience not moving a muscle in their protective cocoon.

All were pronounced doing fine by a vet who showed his pleasure in a smile that spread from one ear to the other and all over his face.

Returning home, the litter settled down quickly next to their mother in the safety and the warmth of the sunny birthing room. With the newborn pups safely cuddled up beside their mother in the whelping box, Rosie’s relief was evident! She sighed deeply, lying on her side so the puppies could nurse.

It went without saying that Rosie would be deliriously happy if there were no more surprise rides to the vet.

Anyone watching the six tiny puppies eagerly nurse on their mother, huddling together for warmth in the toasty seven by seven foot whelping box that would be their home and shelter for the next few weeks, instantly became aware of little rose puppy. She just grabbed any observer’s attention with a spirit that made one gravitate toward her!

There was definitely something remarkable about this brand new puppy—something eye-catching, something striking—a spirit whispering gently of her championship roots passed down from her mother and her father. Even though all of the puppies were beautiful, Maddy attracted notice. Attitude seeped out of her.

Not the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest mover among the newborns, Maddy was like a strong wave relentlessly moving toward the shoreline—parting obstacles and littermates before her.

With their eyes tightly closed, the puppies knew Mom was with them—on call 24/7, feeding them on demand, gathering them close to her, bathing them and keeping them warm at all times. A champion in the show ring, Rosie was a champion among mothers with her pure nurturing instincts.

She did everything right for her litter of six puppies. Hardly even getting out of the welping box to eat or drink or go outside, she channeled her entire protective, nurturing focus on her wiggly, squirmy, sightless brood—alert to every noise and every movement that was outside the ordinary flow of daily life as she knew it. Nothing escaped her watchful eyes and ears.

And if any of the puppies strayed too far from the other puppies, especially Maddy, Rosie was quick to reel them in—back to her side. Already showing signs of an independent nature early in her life, Maddy caught the eye of her mother especially when Rosie accidentally stepped on one of the tiny paws of her littlest puppy. Maddy, in turn, even as a newborn loudly, and vocally, expressed her displeasure at being trampled