[SRR]

So sorry for your loss.

[mrrat1]

Sorry to hear.....I just returned from putting my 17 year old cat down. He went blind and dementia set in......started to have seizures today....never easy! I worked from home so he's been by my side or on my lap & desk everyday all these years! Evening Burial........

[The Boss]

Thank you all for your kind words & mrrat1, so sorry for your loss today.

Max was a great dog and lead by example. He's welcomed three other dogs into our home and showed them the ropes - first Gradie who we lost 3 years ago, then Wilson and last year Penny. We'll miss him greatly but we've had quite a while to get used to this idea and I am in a small way relieved that he's no longer in pain.

[Region Warrior]

Sorry to hear. Least he had a great family.

Not to take away from your thread.
Found out 2 months ago my 12yr old cat has had a strangulated intestinal hernia for years when took him in for 3 broken bones in front paw when a kitchen bar stool got knocked over while other cats where chasing each other for fun.
Least the story I was told...

Pressing against a lung and eventually his heart. Vet said 6 months to 2 yrs max.
$3000-5000. And wouldn't know if could be fixed until opened up.

Been by my side in house, garage, and yard since day one.
Sleeps across my leg whenever on couch or recliner.
Waits for me to get home from work on either back porch, in driveway, or inside house door depending on weather.
Sometimes think has some dog blood in him...

[Carmine]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I've loss a few myself, so I know how you feel. They are such great companions. Members of the family. That's why it hurts so much, Carmine.

[ponchjoe]

My condolences Chris, they are our kids and they aren’t on this earth long enough.
Luv them everyday while they are, that’s all they want.

[carcrazy]

Very sorry for your loss. Sounds like you had 14 good years. I'm facing the same situation with my 12 year old GSD....dread the day.

[Chief of the 60's]

Sorry for the loss of your buddy Boss

[6804gto]

So sorry for your loss.. Sounds like he was a great dog and your family gave him a good home
Rip Max

[mrennie]

Sorry to hear as well. I had to put my male lab Carter down at 14 1/2, same symptoms as Max, we had to carry him up and down the stairs and help him get outside and then one day that was it, his back end stopped working. Putting him down was so hard and my wife and I cried like babies for days.

I said I'd never have a dog again but somehow I've got another lab and love her to death...

Your last pic of Max in the car with the gray muzzle and head, that really got me. I swear he looks exactly like Carter and brought a lot of tears and memories back.

My condolences.

[Ram4king]

All i can say is sorry Chris. You know how much my Bandit means to me. My best friend in the world.
The loss is incredible buddy. Give me a shout.

[Bob Dillon]

On a Good Dog


O, my little pup ten years ago
was arrogant and spry,
Her backbone was a bended bow
for arrows in her eye.
Her step was proud, her bark was loud,
her nose was in the sky,
But she was ten years younger then,
And so, by God, was I.



Small birds on stilts along the beach
rose up with piping cry.
And as they rose beyond her reach
I thought to see her fly.
If natural law refused her wings,
that law she would defy,
for she could do unheard-of things,
and so, at times, could I.



Ten years ago she split the air
to seize what she could spy;
Tonight she bumps against a chair,
betrayed by milky eye!
She seems to pant, Time up, time up!
My little dog must die,
And lie in dust with Hector's pup;
So, presently, must I.


Condolences.

[The Boss]

We've been telling a lot of Max stories over the last few days around here. He was a great dog but he had his moments, like they all do. For the first few years of his life, he would eat the sheetrock next to his bed when he was bored - ACTUALLY ATE IT! He would counter surf like a pirate, would go dumpster diving through the neighbor's trash or mill through their garages looking for toys - balls, bats, old soda bottles. He never showed any remorse or guilt and would give you a dirty look if you yelled at him.

He had a route he would go on every morning to visit the neighbors close by, would give a single bark or bat at their sliding glass door and they would let him in, giving him treats or even one of the kids half eaten cereal bowls. He would sometimes walk to the bus stop with them & send them off to school and sometimes I would have to pick him up there or on his way back when I was heading off to work. We started refering to him as the Mayor because whenever there was a group of people, he would work his way around, saying hello to each of them, spending a few minutes with them and then move on to the next. Be it a party, a dog park, a visit to Home Depot, he said hello to everyone.

He went to work with me every day for his first three years, would sometimes get left on the jobs if I had to go meet someone or pick something up, and would always be there laying on the front steps or porch when I got back. He semi-retired when we got Gradie since Gradie didn't have the social skills necessary to be on a worksite (we determined he had been beaten as a pup and was afraid of everyone he didn't know & trust). So the two of them spent their days at home, committing their crimes - pulling the pyrex pan of cream cheese brownies off the island and consuming it all (including the shattered pyrex pan). They gutted every stuffed animal they could get their mouths on execpt for one each they would sleep with. Barked like bad-***es at anyone who came into the yard, but loved the UPS lady who gave them treats (left with her once as a stowaway).

Max was heartbroken when Gradie died, absolutely lost, and had no room in his heart for the young imposter (rescue) we brought home a month later. Even though Wilson LOVED him, he would ignore him and avoid him whenever possible. It wasn't until Penny showed up last year that he decided to get involved with them again. She was cute, would snuggle with him & smelled different (had girl parts) so he liked her.

We adopted Penny because of how Max had acted when he lost Gradie and knew that Wilson would have a problem when we lost Max, and he has. He keeps waiting by the door, or on the chair in my office looking out into the front yard for him. He looks for him each time Sandra or I get home and then will stair at us for a while as if to say "Well, where is he?" He sniffs his bed but refuses to go into it whereas before we would often find him in there (often with Max) and he wonders where he is at mealtime, sometimes leaving his bowl half finished and walking over to see if Max is at his.

We're all working through this, each in our own ways as everyone does. My condolences to each of you who are dealing with the same issues or have recently. Thank you to each of you for your kind thoughts, words, calls and texts.

Couple of other pics - the three of them from two weeks ago, waiting in the front yard for Sandra to get home - I literally have hundreds of these pictures from the last 12-13 years of the dogs waiting for her to get home at the end of the day but this is my last one with him. Second one is Wilson with Max, laying under the coffee table in the family room from last Saturday - he knew something wasn't right. The last one is the second to last photo I have of Max, took it while sitting with him in the back seat while Sandra went and got his ice cream.

[Longs]

Condolences to you and your family on the loss of Max, sounds like you had a great run with him.

[Formulabruce]

So sorry for your loss. I have been there and still feel it. I sometimes think about the Blind Red Fox you rescued. I have donated to the center where it went, but think about how it is doing..
You will have many Good memories Chris, and thats gotta help, Be well.. Bruce

[MUSLCAH]

It’s a Suck day for sure....but like you say,we signed up for it. We have an 8 year old Choc lab that had an operation today for a torn ACL...all went well....we bring him home tomorrow ....his brother and Sophie are out of sorts with out him tonight.....here’s His brother and Sophie..

[MUSLCAH]

[Ozzmann]

I hate reading these stories, but then I love to read about the good times with them......got some dirt in my eye now.

[The Boss]

Thanks guys.

Wilson had some tough days & nights since last week but has now accepted the corner bed in the kitchen as his own. He's a great pup too, now almost 3 years old.

Each day gets a little easier.

[grr8one1]

So sorry for your loss! I had to put my first pet down in 2015 after 17 years, and like yourself, may have waited too long. She was alzheimer'ed out and had two glowing cataracts. She gave me and many, many people (young and old) years of joy, as your boy did. He's running in heaven with all my girl and all the fur babies that have crossed that rainbow bridge. May they all rest in peace.

Kevin