My Buddy Max

When I was a kid, I remember on occasion asking for a dog. My Mom told me that I could get a dog when I had my own house. Therefore, a week after returning from our honeymoon, j and I adopted Max from the KY Humane Society. We were down between Max and a border collie, but Max was so chill and cute that we had to have him.

We soon learned that Max was probably given up at 5 years old because of some anxiety issues (thunderstorms, diesel trucks, his shadow...). So after some destroyed furniture and carpet, we learned how to manage him a little better. And while we thought him as pretty chill, he did show some lightning fast reflexes in the first couple weeks that we had him, to the shock of both of us and some baby bunnies.

Having such a cute dog led to me getting hit on by guys in Chicago, yet many people on the streets of Philly have actively sought the opposite sidewalk when seeing me with him. I guess they didn't know that he was a Chowerd (They told us he was Chow and German Shepherd).

Sadly, over the last 6 months, Max's strength and weight have rapidly diminished. Since last year, his weight was down about a third. We ran some tests and tried some different medicines, but nothing seemed to help. So today, j and I had to say goodbye to Max, 17 days before the 7 year anniversary of his adoption. I will greatly miss my buddy, our morning and evening walks, and his companionship, especially on nights when j is on call. He was a very good boy.