MAX THE WONDER DOG

When Pat and I had been married about 2 years, I asked him if we could get a dog. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic so I dropped the subject.  Then one day I decided to head over to the local dog shelter "just to see". 
The shelter as I remember it was gray cement blocks, dank, the barking of many dogs echoing throughout the building.  I walked up and down the rows of prison-like cells until I stopped in my tracks. There in one cell were eight little puppies, shaggy, bouncing off each other - and yet, look! There in the corner was one puppy who just was sitting still and quietly looking at me. Minutes later, he was on the end of a leash, heading home with me.  When Pat came home from work, I met him at the door.
I decided not to mince words and blurted "I got a puppy today."  He took it much better than I expected! We named him MAXIMILIAN VON SCHNAUZER 111. (The people at the shelter told me he was part Schnauzer and part Jack Russell). As that first night progressed it became clear that our new puppy was sick. In the morning Pat insisted on going out to the puppy's box first since he thought he wouldn't have made it through the night. He did but was a very very sick pooch! A trip to the vet, a diagnosis of whip-worms, and the first item in our checkbook with Max's name next to it! Many more to follow!

Max is now almost 11. He is, of course, a big part of the family. I'm sure everyone thinks THEIR dog is the cutest and smartest. However in Max's case we are sure of it!  I think if I were to name his top ten attributes, at the top would be his large bladder. Want to sleep late in the morning? No problem for Max! That alone has endeared him to me over the years!

What about his other admirable characteristics?  His vocabulary. We have lost track of the many words he seems to know. His latest word is tuna. He will do a back flip if you ask him if he wants some! He will pick up an almost-empty tuna can and carry it with his teeth to a private place where he can enjoy it. (He hasn't learned to bring it back to the kitchen yet!). Like all dogs he loves squeaky balls. But picture Max with THREE of them in his mouth! Whenever he goes out to do his business, we hide a dog cookie in the family room. He flies back into the house and looks in all the nooks and crannies 'til he finds his treat.

We started out enforcing the "No Dogs On The Bed" rule, then it was the "Dogs May Only Sleep at The End of The Bed" rule. Guess where you will find Max now! (He still is not allowed on our sheets!).  He has a wicker basket full of toys and pulls them out much like a toddler would. He does not put them back. In Ellijay he used to have the run of the yard and adjacent woods. If a car came up the private driveway they were trespassing. Here in Dexter, any car that drives past the house is therefore a trespasser and he will defend us with ferocious barking. If you ask if he wants to go in the car, he is all over you with licks,nibbles, circle flips. Open the car door and say "Get in the back" and he is ready to roll. He knows if we go to eat that he will always get something wrapped up in our napkin when we return to the car. If we get ice cream, he know he will get a doggie scoop. If he wants his window rolled down he woofs in Pats ear.

If anything happens to Max, Pat and I agree that we wouldn't get another dog.  Max has been the best - and when you have had the best....

Give it up for MAXIMILIAN VON SCHNAUZER 111!!