Maddie, a Coonhound Who Awed Instagram by Balancing on Things, Dies at 14

Around 2011, burned out from his corporate photography job, Theron Humphrey hatched an idea to travel the country, interview people and take their portraits in all 50 states. He quit his job, crowdfunded $16,000 and prepared to hit the road for a year in his 1994 Toyota pickup truck.

But there was one thing missing from his travel plans: a dog.

Mr. Humphrey, who was 28 at the time, had never owned a dog, but growing up in the South, hounds were always around. He typed “coonhound” into an online registry of adoptable pets, and an image of a caramel and white spotted dog with squinty eyes was the first result.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. She looks like a little deer.’ I loved her speckles,” said Mr. Humphrey, who is now 42. “That same day, I drove to the animal shelter, and I went to see her, and I left with a dog. I had no idea what I was doing.”

The coonhound’s impeccable ability to balance on street lamps, chain-link fences and basketball hoops made her one of the first dog influencers.

Maddie, whose uncanny level of camera readiness gained her the title of “dog supermodel,” died on Thursday at Mr. Humphrey’s shop and office space in Colorado. She was 14.

For the past year, Mr. Humphrey said, she had been struggling with dementia and arthritis, and had lost much of her vision and hearing.

Before this week, it had been months since Maddie had been able to enjoy a “sweet, deep sleep,” in which she puffed her cheeks, barked softly and jerked her paws as if she were chasing a squirrel, Mr. Humphrey said.

But on Thursday, after the vet gave Maddie a sedation shot, Mr. Humphrey said she finally dreamed again.

“She started going, ‘ruff, ruff, ruff,’ like that half bark, puffing up her cheeks, and you can see her paws moving,” he said. “She was chasing something and having a good time. I was like, ‘Oh, Maddie, I’m so happy for you. You finally get to rest.’”

Soon after adopting Maddie, the two set off on their trip across the country. When he wanted a photo of Maddie, he thought, “Let me just pick her up and place her there.”

Whether she was on a tire, ladder or wheelbarrow, she almost always stayed.

After posting several photos on Instagram and a dedicated website, maddieonthings.com, a friend asked Mr. Humphrey to balance Maddie on four soup cans.

“I was like, ‘Huh, OK, I think I could do that,’ so I just put four soup cans in the driveway and I just picked her up and placed her there and she just stood there, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s amazing, Maddie!’” he said.

Maddie was “extremely food-motivated,” Mr. Humphrey said, and soon learned that sitting still would guarantee a treat.

In most photos, she stood tall and seemingly unbothered atop fences, cars and road signs.

In 2013, Mr. Humphrey published a photography book, “Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics,” in which the dog defied the laws of gravity across 160 pages.

Their 2017 follow-up, “Maddie Lounging On Things: A Complex Experiment Involving Canine Sleep Patterns,” displayed Maddie’s “penchant for just flopping and looking silly,” Mr. Humphrey said.

A professional photographer since 2005, Mr. Humphrey equated his photos of Maddie with a social media-friendly homage to William Wegman, who rose to fame in the 1970s for photographing Weimaraners with similar humanlike flair.

Mr. Humphrey embraced the challenge of finding thousands of ways to photograph the same dog. In each shot, he sought to explore Maddie’s role as his friend, model and closest collaborator.

For years, Maddie was a calm, gentle presence for her Instagram followers. Her fans frequently commented that her eyes showed wisdom and knowledge.

Alisiene Schall, who lives in San Diego and has followed Mr. Humphrey for a decade, said his photos captured Maddie’s soulful personality and showcased her “delightful zest for life.”

Iga Budzikowska found Mr. Humphrey’s Instagram account soon after adopting her first dog, Sara, a Belgian shepherd mix.

Ms. Budzikowska, who lives in Poland, struggled to connect with Sara at the start of their relationship. But the moments Mr. Humphrey shared with Maddie on Instagram brought her comfort as she grew into her new role as a dog owner.

“Even though I’ve never met her, and I live on the other side of the planet, she was such a wonderful being, and she brought so much happiness to my life,” Ms. Budzikowska said of Maddie.

Though he adored her, Mr. Humphrey never fully understood the internet’s obsession with Maddie.

But on Friday, as he strolled through his neighborhood in Montrose, Colo., without Maddie, he passed a dog and its owner.

Overwhelmed, he asked, “Can I say hi to your dog?”

“I became that person that I never thought I would be, and that I never truly understood,” Mr. Humphrey said. “That moment just brought me back to getting to wake up and say hi to Maddie for a few minutes. Oh, it was so sweet and special and simple.”