Max was timid and nervous about unfamiliar surroundings and sounds when he first arrived to his foster home, but he has started to thrive with patience, routine, and gentleness. He is an incredibly sweet and friendly dog who seems to love every person and dog he meets. He's a smart boy who has picked up on simple commands and - fingers crossed - appears housetrained (Max hasn't had an accident indoors yet).

Max loves walks - short walks around the neighborhood and longer hikes through the woods - but he is learning to potty on-leash, so a fenced yard appears to be a must for Max. He's shown interest in toys and has enjoyed playing chase with his hound friend Kori, especially with a ball or stick in his mouth. One of Max's favorite things to do is burrow and nest underneath a pile of blankets in his dog bed. He loves scratches and belly rubs, and is generally a sweet, gentle little dude.

Max shows signs of separation anxiety, and has needed extra patience and comfort through some "scary" experiences, like riding in the car. (We've learned he settles down if he can sit in his dog bed on the back seat.) In addition, his previous owners indicated Max has a history of mild seizures - foster mom is monitoring closely for seizure activity.

Max has a tenative adoption pending, but circumstances have delayed that until February.
posted 12/20/20 and updated 01/03/21

Success Story:   A note from Max's family:

I’m happy to report that Max is doing fantastic. He has been such an awesome addition to our family. He and Griffin are really developing a great bond. We’ve all settled into some nice routines - including Max spending a good part of the day in a bed in my office while I’m working. I will admit though that we’re still working through some of Max’s anxiety issues. He’s generally pretty good if one of us leaves. After a few minutes of anxiousness he can pretty much settle down, especially if Griffin is keeping him company. But we do find that when the two of us leave, which is very, very infrequently, he does tend to get a lot more anxious and upset. We’re really trying to employ some techniques so that it’s not such a big deal when the two of us go to leave, including holding our car keys in our hands and making noise with them at random times during the day, etc. So that there aren’t as many triggers that may set him off. Knock on wood, he has not had any seizures. He’s doing really well on the medicine. Even though Jeff and I do work a lot during the week we try to take them on some good walks a few times a week in the neighborhood. Definitely on the weekends we go on one big walk. Max is making puppy friends in the neighborhood too, one of his best buddies is the Alaskan malamute that lives across the street from us. I have to get a picture of the two of them one day, because he’s about 20 times bigger than Max so they make quite the odd couple when they’re standing next to each other. Max did so good for Halloween, although I’m sure he’s probably never experienced anything like that before. We sat out in the driveway with our neighbor/friend and her dog so there were three adults and three dogs handing out candy to kids. I think Max was a little confused why all these people kept coming up to take candy and then leave, there was a lot of barking going on. But by next year he should definitely have the hang of it. Hard to believe that we’re in November, and that we’ve had Max now for almost eight full months.”