My New Home

In the summer of 1999, I was living in the Stanislaus County animal shelter. I had been there for about fifteen days, a day or two longer than the rules allowed. One volunteer worker kept moving me around in order to give me just a little bit more time to find a home. One Saturday morning, she slipped me into the "visit van", the van that takes dogs to the local PetSmart stores to show them off to prospective adoptive parents. I wasn't scheduled to go because I was not very attractive at the time. I had no hair from my midsection to my tail. I don't really know why, stress probably. When the other volunteers found me in the van, they quickly "hid" me in one of the cat kennels at the store...and then she walked in...my mom. I didn't know that she was going to be my mom, as a matter of fact, I thought I was alone again when at the end of the day I was put back into the van and taken to the shelter. It was nearly closing time and someone came and looked into the cage; she walked away. When she came back a minute later and scooped me up I didn't dare hope for anything good. But a few minutes later I was being cuddled in my mom's lap and headed for my new home.

My Name

I had no idea that Max is the most common dog name in the world! My mom took one look at me...no hair...she thought I looked like a little boy in a dog suit. She thought of Maurice Sendak's character Max in Where The Wild Things Are ... thus I was Max.

Who I Am

I am a stubborn dog. I'm not very interested in toys, or bones, or other dogs. I prefer spending time with my mom, or my dad, or my gran. I think my favorite thing is to go for rides in the car. There is always something interesting to see and often I'd find myself visiting with my cousins. I am really good at going out to get the mail. Once the front door opens, I make a beeline for the mailbox down the street. I know the way. I have a favorite tree to pee on and the guy who owns the house with that tree told me it was ok. Sometimes neighborhood kids would tell my mom that I looked like an ewok, you know those Star Wars guys? One kid always said that I looked just like a little human. Personally, I think I'm really cute. I used to like to play tricks to get cookies. Sometimes I'd bark to go into my backyard and then when the door was opened for me, I'd just step out and then back in real quick. I thought that would work. Sometimes, if I was barking and noone was paying attention, I'd go into the bathroom and bark really loudly. Boy could I get some bass in there with all of that tile! Everyone thought that was really cute and I got a few cookies out of it. The best part of who I am is that unconditional love thing...you know, I just love and I get love back. How much better could it be than that?

My Illness

About three years ago, I had the worst illness of my life. I was in so much pain...it happened so fast. My mom took me to see my doctor early on a Saturday morning. He kept me there for about ten days. I had surgery during that time to remove lots of bladder stones...those things really hurt! My doctor wasn't sure that I'd survive, but I had plans. My mom still needed me and I was feeling so much better after that surgery. I was doing pretty darn well after that, but I did need to start wearing a diaper. I was a little drippy, but my mom was so glad that I was alive that she didn't mind changing my diapers for me. I still loved going for rides in the car to visit my relatives and walking to get the mail. Then about a year or so later, I started to have some seizures. It took awhile, but between my mom and my doctor they determined that I had insulinoma. That sucked. Mom started to feed me small amounts of protein every three hours...every day...for more than a year. That was great because it kept my blood glucose from dropping too low. Eventually, I had to start taking prednisone to keep the seizures at bay. Oh, well...I was getting to be a very, very old man.

My Last Days

I grew very tired. I could no longer walk around my house or play in my yard without my mom following to make sure that I got up when I'd fall. It was so hard to stay awake because I was using all of my energy fighting my illness and trying to heal the wounds that I was developing from even the tiniest of bumps. My mom told me that love as great as the love we shared could never go away. The energy of my love and the love of my family would exist forever. She told me that God is love...the greatest love. I said goodbye to my daddy and gran; my mom held me and kissed me until the very end. I am a part of the greatest love now.