Thursday, April 23, 2020

A Sad Day

It doesn't matter that you know this day is coming, it is still heart rendering when it does. Our old friend Max has crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Max
Now every dog is special and I have had some great ones in my time on this rock. Max came to us late in life, we found him and his sister Maya at the rescue in Canmore, Alberta. We were actually sent there by an old blogging friend Sandra Merrikin who knew we were looking for a border collie type dog, we had recently lost our Meg, and had found one on the internet. We had just seen this meme on the internet and thought it was time.

Look close at the dog in this picture and Max, is that a coincidence or WHAT?


Getting them home is a story in itself. But although we figured he was a beagle/lab cross and we have had a few border collie's in our time, Max was the only dog I ever had that understood complete sentences. Some of those border collies had pretty big vocabularies but Max was the only dog I have had that you could actually converse with and get a response like he knew exactly what you said and why.

He had that ability right from the get go with us. When we went to the Rescue to look at a border collie type dog they had there, we were chatting with the manager of the place and asked her if that dog, Maya, got along with other dogs. She said she wasn't sure, but she did get along with Max. We asked "well who is Max?". She told us Maya and Max had been surrendered together and wondered if we wanted to meet Max. We said sure, well he came into the room, took a spin around it, and set himself down in front of me and proceeded to bark at me. His eyes, his body and especially his tail were giving me every indication that he was telling me some kind of story and I had better listen up. To this day I believe he was explaining that if we were thinking about adopting Maya we had better make room for him, because like it or not he was coming along. We got the message and although he had been spoken for by another family, the manager worked it out so this bonded pair could come home with us. Like all Brown family stories, that leads to another story, but one I have told before on this blog so just follow this link back to it.

Long story short, they both came home, eventually and the last seven years have added immeasurably to our lives. They travelled with us, going south to Arizona every year and camping around Alberta in the summer, while Max still made sure that the coyotes here at Dogpound North knew exactly where they were allowed and where they weren't.

He was a happy guy!

Maya and Max enjoying a summer day at Dogpound North

He loved going to walkabouts in the desert with me.

Yesterday visiting Cain and Camo, Matt's two Mastiffs



11 comments:

  1. Run free sweet Max. You are loved deeply.

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  2. It's never easy to loose a beloved furkid. They bring us so much joy and love. RIP Max....run free buddy.

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  3. Sorry for your loss of your best friend. I'm certain Max's absence will be felt.

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  4. He had such a great home the last years of his life. Rest in peace Max--out hearts go out to you John and Brenda.

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  5. Very sad to read this. Very obvious that Max was very special.
    Lots of love pats also to Maya.
    Kelly & Al

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  6. If you've had furkids this is a hard post to read. I knew when I saw the title. Unconditional love, hugs and kisses, sloppy at times, but the best anyone could receive when you're feeling low, sad or down and when you're happy too. We all have our stories and they all bring us to tears. So many pets and so little time, our last one lived to be 19, I miss him like a limb, everyday. However, those tears turn to joy and that hurt becomes good memories. They love us so much and we too give them our all. Be happy, thankful and always remember.

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  7. So sorry to hear about Max. I'm glad that I got to give him a few pats this winter, and I'm glad that he made it home with you, before heading down the trail. :-(

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  8. Sorry to read about your Max.
    The picture you have of him at the top of this blog is really wonderful.

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  9. Sorry for your loss. How quickly pets ease into our hearts and lives and what a tremendous empty space they leave behind. I enjoyed the 'will'. Very touching.

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  10. Thank you, thank you for posting this. The love for a dog and from a dog is immeasurable and unconditional. We, as most dog owners, have gone through this sad time of having to say Goodbye several times. And like the dog says, give your heart, your love and your home to another dog. There will always be another dog. When our dog comes to us after having had his food looking us straight in the face we know it's time for a walk again. It's storming outside and the last rain shower has just passed. We can't deny her the pleasure and get up from our comfy seat and take that walk.
    Sorry for your loss!

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  11. We haven't had a dog since we lost our last one 9 years ago. We've talked about getting another one every once and a while but remembering the pain of losing one has stopped us every time. Some things are very hard to get over. Thankfully the happy memories last.

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