Maddie by all accounts is a 'bubbly blonde' that thoroughly enjoys life.  One of her favorite things to do is to go outside and play with her 'friends'.  She has yet to figure out that these friends are little girls that are 6 - 8 years old and are there to see our oldest daughter.  She has developed the nickname throughout the entire neighborhood as Maddie 'Moo Moo' because she moos like a cow when she gets excited rather than barks.  Her tail has been known, on many occassions, to send low hanging/sitting items (Christmas tree ornaments as an example) flying because the wags it so much.

 Back in the fall she was diagnosed with substantial displaysia in both hips. This was noticed by her gait primarily and the fact that she would only play fetch for 5 minutes or so before quitting.  This was completely out of character with a girl that has as much energy and desire to play as she displays.  After speaking with a surgeon, it was noted that the surgery would cost approximately $6,000 as both hips would be done.  Because displaysia often times, even when diagnosed, doesn't pose a problem to the animal until much later in life coupled with the large amount of money required, we opted for a management approach in hopes our moo moo would be ok for a few years while we compiled the money.  As a result, she is on Glucosamine/Chondrointin supplements and we actively watch her weight.  Furthermore, we ensure we do not over exercise her to cause her to have a day of recovery the next day.  Recently, even with this approach, we have begun to notice more discomfort as she walks and gets up. 

Our hope is to get both hips replaced, perhaps one in the near future and then the other in a year or so.  Our research shows that nearly 90% of dogs do well with just a single replacement so we feel that spreading the two operations out will not cause her any signifcant problems.