To start off my new feature, I am focusing on each pet - one at a time.
So on this third Furry Friday, last but certainly not least, today's feature is:
Maxwell.
Oh, Max! Remember when we found old Max? Bless his heart, he is just the most precious lump of dog you ever will meet! Max came "home" to be a part of our family just before Christmas 2008 when we were still staying at May's. He has come a LONG way since then. Both literally, since he has moved all the way to Illinois AND figuratively, as he has changed quite a lot.
Oh, Max! Remember when we found old Max? Bless his heart, he is just the most precious lump of dog you ever will meet! Max came "home" to be a part of our family just before Christmas 2008 when we were still staying at May's. He has come a LONG way since then. Both literally, since he has moved all the way to Illinois AND figuratively, as he has changed quite a lot.
When he joined our family, he weighed about 19 lbs. Now, he weighs 28. (Don't judge me OR him - after the rough time he had, I have decided he can live it up. He deserves it!) But more has changed than his weight. Remember when he was learning to walk?? Bless his heart, we had to help him learn to be a dog!
Max was not terribly housebroken when we brought him home. And he has had some trouble adjusting to different houses and different set-ups. And let's face it, he is not crazy about wetness or cold or wind or putting forth much effort.
Despite his overall aversion to moving very fast, the bottom line is that Max is not big on independent thoughts. If you ask him to go out, he will. Once he is out, though, he sometimes forgets why he went out there. You have to remind him. And he does not see all that well, or really hear all that well. So sometimes, you have to guide him while yelling, "Max, let's go POTTY! MAX! MAX!" He is pretty high maintenance, actually - but worth it!
So now he is basically housebroken, as long as you remind him, or, um, force him to go out every couple of hours. The only problem with this is that Max does not enjoy grass. During summer months, he will tip toe into the yard briefly. And after he does some business, he hurries back to the patio. Actually, this is the only time he does anything even remotely quickly. Or when there is food - he can move FAST for food. But that is easy to guess since he has gained almost 10 lbs in a year with our family.
Anyway, Max tolerated the grass in the warmer weather. He did his dash in to the yard and back out when we absolutely insisted. But now he has taken to using the patio. Yes, the patio. It is pretty gross, but it is at least outside, right? Well, David is not thrilled about this, but I keep reminding him that it is OUTSIDE. And of course, when the weather warms up, we may want to hang out on the patio at some point. This may be, to say the very least, inconvenient. As with many of my posts, I wanted to show you this rather unpleasant habit that old Maxie has, but taking pictures of dog bodily functions is pretty gross. So I scooped off the patio and placed coke cans everywhere he recently had #1. And the orange cones, well think of them as big, fluorescent # 2s, OK?
I hope that this is not too graphic. But really, this is the craziest thing that he is doing right now.
I must say that with any other animal, we may get really upset or frustrated.
But he is just so Max.
A precious, sweet baby animal.
A blessing to our family.
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