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I often talk about my babies and I have shared birth stories for both of them. I don’t think I have ever shared about how our first baby girl came into our home. Our fur baby goes by a few different names; Madison, Maddie…if she’s in trouble Madison Marie. Yes, I gave my dog a middle name. What do you want from me? She was my first kid!

My husband and I (at the time boyfriend) had moved in together after a few years of dating. We then did what any couple does after cohabitation, we decided to get a dog. We didn’t have a specific type of dog breed in mind. I knew there were plenty of dogs in shelters and on the streets and that is where we would start our search.

Within minutes of making the decision, I grabbed my phone and started googling. Surprisingly, there were a ton of listing on Craigslist. My first click was on a listing for a nearby city. It stated in the story that the dog was a stray brought to their home and needed a good home. I called the owner and said what’s your address? I am on my way!

Photo from listing

When we arrived at the house, a garage door opened and I saw her. My Madison, my Maddie! My first fur baby girl. She was crouched in a metal cage in this corner of the garage. I looked at Chase and said, “Even if we decide not to keep her for us, we have to take her from here!” I knew she couldn’t stay in that hot garage. We live in South Florida, a persons garage can get well over 100 degrees during the day.

The man explained that his wife was shopping at Target with their kids yesterday and that their son had noticed the dog behind the store. There was a canal behind the store, they looked and could not see an owner nearby and still continued on their way. When they left the store they saw that the puppy was still there. Sitting behind the store, waiting by the canal, all alone. They still did not see a person anywhere nearby.

They brought the puppy to a local pet store to have her scanned and see if she had a chip. They utilized social media and no one responded.

The man then said that because he already has 2 kids and 2 dogs, they could not take in another dog. He was willing to give away the dog if we would cover the cost of the cage and the food. We instantly agreed, paid for all his “troubles” and threw everything in our car.

We weren’t more than a mile down the road and Madison jumped into my husband’s lap and we knew, we knew she was ours.

Our ride HOME

Since that day she has been a part of our lives. She goes out on boating trips, road trips, jumps into our holiday photos and slept in our bed (until our kids came along). She now prefers to sleep on my bedside in her own bed.

Since the day we brought her home we have continued to provide the best home, the most love and the best foods for her. Freshpet never uses any pre-processed meat powders, “chicken meals,” or by-products – just real US meat as the #1 ingredient, and real veggies you can see. Freshpet is real pet food, fresh from the fridge. It’s the next best thing to a home cooked meal. What’s perfect is that it is made right here in the USA.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.