Life with Max
· 6 min read
On the other side of my separation and the loss of Tommie were a lot of lonely nights and quiet mornings.
Anyone who knew Tommie knew he was something else. My ex-wife’s dog, yes, but he had found his way into my life and my routine in a way that you do not fully appreciate until it is gone. When we put him down in August 2023, the apartment got very quiet very fast.
I sat with that quiet for about a year.
How This All Started
What started as a simple text message asking when would be a good time to visit a dog refuge somehow ended up like this:
Me carrying a terrified dog into my home and him promptly shitting in my bedroom.
Welcome home, Max.
I had reached out to the refuge my ex-wife had donated Tommie’s things to after we put him down. I was not necessarily looking to adopt. I just wanted to be around dogs for a bit. Next thing I knew I was being shown photos of a dog that had been found abandoned outside of Chía.
I was told Max was very well behaved, castrated, and two years old.
In reality Max had been abandoned, abused, was full of worms, and was probably barely over one.
The refuge sold me a dream. Max delivered chaos.
The First Two Weeks
The first night was terrible.
Max slept on his blanket in the living room on the opposite side of the apartment from my bedroom. I lay in bed that night thinking about how much I missed Tommie, and that this dog was not Tommie. It is a strange guilt, wanting one dog while another dog is sleeping twenty feet away scared out of his mind.
Those first two weeks were spent carrying Max in and out of the apartment to use the bathroom. He was too scared to leave on his own paws because What if I am abandoned again? and too scared to come back inside because Stranger danger!!!
I believe it was week three that he decided to come sleep in my bed with me. I was very happy about the progress.
Progress, it turned out, also came with a 0100 wake-up call: the final ru-uh of Max throwing up in my bed. He was terrified I was going to hit him for it. I was consoling the pup and telling him it was okay when I turned on the light to find his puke wiggling all over the sheets.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Max threw up worms in my bed.
This is a violation I do not wish upon my worst enemy. Needless-to-say I finished sleeping on the couch that night. All told we went through worms four times. And yes, I said “we” (because at one point I ended up with worms too).
School Days
It was nearly two months before Max was cleared to start attending daycare. I am happy to report he loves it.
The first few days were something out of a movie. Like a kid being dropped off on the first day of kindergarten, he barked and barked:
Dad, do not leave me, do not leave me with these people!!!
By day four his tune had completely changed:
Later, sucker. I am going to go kick it with the homies.
It is very funny being a morning person whose dog is absolutely not a morning dog. Max will sleep until 1000 if you let him. When the school bus shows up at 0600 and I am trying to get him moving, I get the dog equivalent of:
Five more minutes, please, just five more minutes.
Max’s First Birthday
I had been told Max was almost two when I adopted him. No way was that right. So how old is my dog? I let him choose for his first birthday with me. I had two cakes made. One with a two on it and another with a three. We had a party in the park near home and all the homies were invited. There were probably twenty dogs there with their humans. When the time came Max chose the cake with a two on it. Made me very happy that he chose to be younger so I get more time with him.
Field Notes: Max Brunner
After one year of close observation, I can report the following findings.
Drugs of choice:
- Hashbrowns
- Ice cream (dog and human varieties, he does not discriminate)
- Greek yogurt
- Dingo sticks
Fears:
- Trash bags
- Brooms
- Vacuums
- The coffee grinder
Signature move:
- The Sneak Attack Torpedo to Dad’s nuts
Primary love language:
- Nibs, escalating to violent nibs
Wingman rating:
- Zero out of ten. Absolutely hogging all the ladies for himself.
Wrap Up
Watching Max’s personality come out over this past almost two years has been the best part of all of this.
From the terrified pup who introduced himself by shitting in my bedroom and throwing up worms in my bed, he has become one of the great characters of my life. He has claimed the bed, the couch, half of my Greek yogurt, and whatever piece of my heart was still unclaimed.
Here is to many more years of you and me, buddy.
(And God willing, no more worms.)
Until next time,
Cody