Ode to Max the Dog

Max was an AKC registered Boxer whom we got from the pound in July 2007. He was about 5 yrs old then.

To us, Max was:

~ patient

~ loving

~ loyal

~ protective

~playful

~ goofy

~ excited to see anyone

~ was not fond of little dogs

~ a lover of running wild

~ a chaser of bicyclists (only to try to befriend them)

~ a digger of garbage cans

~ a great garbage disposal

~ a smelly gaseous animal (mostly after digging in the garbage)

~ a sufferer of separation anxiety

~ a people-dog

~ a good friend and family member

Yes, I have used the past tense to describe Max. We had a sad day today. Max hasn't been feeling well the last few days. It is more noticeable looking back. A couple of months ago, he survived eating about a quart of dark chocolate chips. He had a small seizure from that, but recovered. He's been normal, until Sunday.

Sunday, he had a small seizure again, he fell down with all four legs spread out like he was on a cartoon and slipped on a puddle of water. He wasn't down very long - probably not even 30 seconds - then he was back to normal. Monday, we were down at the marina for a walk and he was running around and suddenly fell over in another seizure. He stiffened up and was down for a minute or two and then was back up to normal. This morning at 4:30am, he had a very bad seizure. He was in my room and I had just put the baby back in bed after his morning snack. The dog was right next to my bed on my side and he was shaking badly, foaming at the mouth, possibly peed himself (not sure, it was dark and I didn't smell the carpet afterwards). It lasted for several minutes and he had a hard time walking afterwards, he was pretty disoriented and was hyperventilating. So, each day it got progressively worse.

I took him into the Vet today and he said at first that it could be one of three things - epilepsy, heart condition or a brain tumor. I think he tried to make it sound not so bad while I was there for some reason, like I was maybe going to start crying on him or something, but Paden was with me, so maybe that's why too. He listened to his heart and said that he definitely had a heart murmur and heart arrythmia. He said that his heart condition could cause the seizures, but it's hard to tell. So, he went over the cost of some stuff. I told him that we love the dog, but don't really have the money to spend on medical bills for him. So, I said that we needed to take him home and talk to Neil and Gunnar about it. The Vet sounded pretty concerned that he would have another seizure tonight or tomorrow and that probably one of the next seizures could be fatal. He didn't really say much about having a brain tumor, he wanted to do some bloodwork and get him on some medications. So, we came home and Neil got home from school about the same time. He called the Vet to talk about it. The Vet bascially told Neil that Max most likely had a brain tumor. Epilepsy was ruled out because the seizures were getting progressively worse and epilepsy wouldn't be like that; the seizures would be the same every time. The Vet said that his heart condition could be causing the episodes, but more likely it's a tumor. So, we talked to the boys and let them know that even though Max looks pretty healthy, he was actually pretty sick and he wasn't going to live much longer. We decided to take him back to the Vet to have him put to sleep instead of risking him dying here at the house or at the park where the boys could possibly see him.

So, we said good bye to Max which was much harder than I thought it would be. It was really hard to see the boys so sad. Although, I have OFTEN been annoyed by the dog constantly at my feet or getting into the garbage, or puking up junk he had eaten, it was still hard to say good bye to him. He was a great dog for the boys, he was very protective of them. He was very loyal to our family. He will be missed.

Rest in peace, Max.