This past Tuesday, my brother had to say goodbye to his beloved Max, who was almost 16 years old. They were together for 15 happy years and if you've read some of my other posts over the years, you already know how much I loved this boy.
When my brother adopted him, Max was a year old. At the time, my brother had just moved back to the east coast from many years in Seattle and he was temporarily living with C and me. He had driven a few hours away to go meet Max (we knew nothing about this) and he called me, saying he found a dog he wanted to adopt and asking if it would be ok if he brought him home. Would it be ok?!? Of course! We already had five miniature Dachshunds at the time, so what was one more dog? The more the merrier!
Compared to our little dogs, Max seemed huge, but that didn't stop him from emulating the little dogs' behaviors, including climbing up on top of the back of couches and armchairs and curling up, despite his long legs. He fit right in with our little herd and when the time came for my brother to move to D.C. for work, C and I - and our pups! - missed both B2 and Max so much!
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| the day they rescued each other |
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on top of the furniture
LOL
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his signature look was
one ear up, one ear down |
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the poster child for rescue dogs...
the most gentle soul |
Max knew and loved all eight of our Dachshunds, but had a very special bond with Ginny. She absolutely adored him and watching the two of them together over the years was the sweetest thing ever. Both were brindle - Ginny was light with dark stripes and Max was dark with light stripes - and they just seemed destined to be best buddies from the very start. Ginny was a year older than Max, and they really grew up and grew old together. The first time Max came to our house after Ginny passed away in October 2021, he searched the house for her, going upstairs, downstairs, from room to room, frantically looking for her. He was heartbroken. Don't ever tell me that animals don't grieve, because I've witnessed it time and time again.
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we had a family zoom during the pandemic
and when Ginny spotted Max on the screen,
she rolled onto her back and wagged her tail
madly for him |
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when they finally saw each other after a long absence
during the pandemic, Max was so excited to see Ginny |
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big and small
short and tall |
The title of this blog is inspired by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Sirius says to Molly, "He's not your son," and Molly retorts, "He's as good as!" That's how I feel about Max. He was never "my" dog, but I love him like one of my own.
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we got to babysit Max for a week this past June,
and we are so grateful for that time with him;
C loves Max as much as I do |
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| first time Max and Avalanche met |
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| they got along famously |
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as I mentioned above, we always
thought of Max as a big dog because our point
of reference was our miniature Dachshunds...
seeing Max next to Avalanche, it is clear
that Max is not as huge as we once believed
LOL |
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both of them were annoyed I put the gate up
when I was moving stuff in the house and
didn't want them escaping out the front door |
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these two hit the jackpot when
they found each other |
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last October, B2 and S2 had my human nephew
and Max had a new buddy to love |
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I will miss this face forever,
but I have no doubt Ginny found him
and they are together once again |
You better believe Avalanche has been getting smothered with love even more than usual these past few days (which he seems to enjoy at least some of the time!). My family has had sixteen dogs over the past 30 years, and only one remains, so whether he likes it or not, I will continue to happily annoy our stoic, aloof guy with my affection!
Happy Tails to you!
