Maxamillion

Before my husband and I were married we adopted Max.  He was our first child.  I remember the day Jeff brought him back to Colorado from California to become a member of our family.  Jeff’s brother Myk was training him and the couple who had him could not keep him.  Long story short he arrived at DIA in his kennel.  I was expecting an 11 pound short legged Jack Russell terrier.  I looked in the kennel and saw a 19 pound very tall Jack Russell that really looked more like a Fox Terrier.  I said to my fiancee, “honey are you sure he is a Jack Russell?”  Max went everywhere with us.  He really was our kid.  Our friends all knew Max as the dog that jumped up literally 90 degrees in the air at our front window to see who was coming.  At the time we lived in a 1950’s house where the mailman still delivered the mail through your door.  Our mailman was quite the exception with the dogs and cats in the area.  He carried dog treats and pretty much ran his route with a great big smile on his face.  Max loved the mailman and couldn’t wait for the mail to come.  Max also always went with us to my Grandma and Grandpa’s for Sunday night dinner.  We even tried to adopt a Greyhound/German Shepherd mix for a while and the neighbors would all laugh when they saw us go rollerblading down the street with the rather large greyhound and Max running after him.  Max took many dog training classes.  They didn’t work.  Max had a mind of his own.  He was always a good dog.  He would have to be first to greet you at the door and make sure you were ok.  When we moved to Longmont, Max met our neighbors dog Rocky.  They were best of buddies although Max loved to steal Rockies toys.  One time he took a particularly loved fox toy Rocky got for Christmas.  He tried to bury it so deep in such a short period of time that his noise got bloody.  My 2 daughter loved Max.  He was protective and caring and they always let Max participate in all their affairs.  He was never jealous and understood when we had our daughters.  I always trained them to treat Max with respect and pet him gently.  In the end, Max was getting older and more frail.  We carried him up the stairs as his body gave out.  He was a dog, a companion, a friend, and part of our family.  We will all miss him greatly.