Max The Maximum Dog

Max found me late one evening. I was driving home and in my headlights there was suddenly this tiny dog.  I stopped the car and opened the door. Without hesitation, the dog jumped into my car. Rather than leave him to the danger of traffic (and the pound), I took him with me for the night.

He had no collar so the next day, we visited several local pet stores, and veterinarians to try to locate his family. We posted "found dog" notices and watched for "lost dog" notices, but could not locate his family. We made several trips to the county humane shelter to see if anyone was looking for a small fluffy dog. The workers at the shelter asked if I wanted to leave him, but I did not want to put him through that.

After a couple of weeks, I decided that it was time to figure out the name of my temporary visitor. It is not a matter of "giving" a name to an animal. Animals already have their names, and if you pay attention, they will tell you their name. I always liked big dogs, but this was one tiny dog. Eventually, he communicated that no matter how small he was, he was the maximum amount of dog possible - thus the name "Maximum", or "Max" for short.

Max gets along with everyone and everything. At the dog park he socializes quite well. He lives with four cats and seems to think that he is one of them. He seldom barks but will sound a warning if a stranger comes to the door.When we are inside the house, Max follows me from room to room. Outside, he likes to roam and will not consistently come to me when I call.  If he thinks I am angry, he will sit and wait for me to walk to him, then make a begging gesture and wait for me to pick him up. That is what he is doing in the photo above.

His coat is quite fluffy and he seems to be much larger than he really is. In the bath, he looses the bulk that his coat provides and I realize how tiny he actually is. His legs are so thin that they look as though they would break if he tried to walk. Max has a love/hate relationship with bath time. He does not really appreciate the "wet" part, but he loves the "towel-rub" part. The "brush" part is pretty good too from Max's point of view.

Max is a perfect travelling companion. He normally curls up and sleeps in the passenger seat, occasionally standing on his rear legs to look out the window. His only requirement is that I reach over every now and again to scratch his head or rub his chin. Max is very ecologically inclined. When we stop for a break, he makes certain that every tree, telephone pole and tuft of grass gets enough liquid to grow at least a few inches taller.

When we go for a walk, for each step that I take, Max must take fifty! The other morning we were camped in an off-road site. During the night we had a light snow. Max woke me that morning and asked to go outside. I prepared my morning coffee and five minutes later went outside to see how Max was doing. In the snow I could see the record of Max's explorations. He probably traveled at least five miles without ever leaving the campsite!

I am not sure if I found Max, or Max found me, but I certainly am glad to have him for a friend.