Maxwell Smart

Hello everyone. For awhile now I've wanted to do a post about our old dog Max. It's thanks to him that I'm not afraid of dogs anymore.

I've seen a lot of you other nail bloggers post about your cats, and I used to be a cat person. After I met Max that changed. I love my kitty Goober tons, but I am definitely a dog person now. Big dogs especially.

I was in 6th grade when my mom met Ray. Our stepdad Doug had moved out not long before because our parents had found out about how he was abusive. Anyways, I loved it when it was just us and our mom. Then she met Ray, and he moved in with us just a couple weeks later because it was the middle of winter and he had been living on a boat. He was going through a breakup too and let his ex and her kids stay in the house until they got out of school. When Ray moved in he brought his 120 pound yellow lab, Maxwell Smart. I was terrified of dogs because our neighbors dogs were really mean and chased us. The first time I saw Max was in the middle of the night. I woke up and saw this giant beast standing in my doorway. Then a couple hours later I woke up and he was sleeping on my bed next to me. It freaked me out.

I wasn't afraid for very long though. Max was just the sweetest dog and I decided later that he was mine and not Ray's. He started sleeping in my room most of the time. I let him sleep up on my bed even though Ray said he wasn't allowed on furniture. He followed me everywhere and I just loved it. We took him on the boat with us a lot and he would come lay on my lap which kept me warm. I remember getting really mad at somebody who said Max was dumb as a a rock. Oh and one time, my sister was screaming at me and shoved me and Max jumped up and it scared her. He got really upset when people fought. Sometimes he would start barking, other times he would hide in my room. But Max made me feel safe.

Anyway, in 10th grade I really wanted to get another dog. I wanted to go to the shelter but when Ray finally agreed he said I had to get a lab from a breeder. That is how I ended up with my Marley. I got her in May of 2008 I believe. She was Max's little shadow, and he was great with her. I wish I had pictures of the two of them. We might somewhere but I'm not sure.

Max died a few weeks after we got Marley. He went in his sleep, laying in the middle of the hallway like usual. He was 10 years old. I miss him like crazy. I love when mom-for-a-day Michele talks about him. She and Ray have known each other for a very long time and I think she knew Max when he was a puppy. She tells lots of stories about Max and I like hearing her tell them.

This is the only picture of Max I could find on my laptop.



I've just been thinking about him a lot lately and wanted to share. I will be posting more pictures of him from my other computer when I get a chance.

-Tier