Max

Fellow pet owners,

For more than a month we were looking for a puppy and, a few days before Christmas, we found Max. On Christmas Eve we lost him.

Max came to us from a shelter. He was sick, but he didnıt have to die.

Iım writing this because I hope some small good can come out of this senseless tragedy. Weak and thin when we got him, Max quickly developed a high fever and quit eating. Though never officially diagnosed, our vet suspected distemper, brought on by a dual function vaccine often used by shelters who need to keep costs down. We were caring for Max with multiple antibiotics, doses of puppy formula and human baby food ‹ and he seemed to be rapidly improving, with a renewed appetite and plenty of energy.

At about noon on Christmas Eve 2000, Max had an accident on the carpet, as puppies often do. The day was bright and sunny and, in my anxiousness to clean up the mess before it left a stain, I left Max standing outside the back door, which led to a fenced in yard, while I cleaned up.

I wasnıt angry, I wasnıt annoyed, I just set him outside, never dreaming it would be the last time I saw his sweet little face. He was only supposed to be alone for a minute, but one minute turned into 10, as Christmas cookies came out of the oven. When I went outside I found our precious puppy dead, drowned in the family pool. All our efforts to revive him (both Mark and I attempted CPR) were in vain.

In our frequent outdoor visits in the all too brief time we had Max, he had never shown ANY interest in the pool, so, when I put him outside that day, I actually believed he was safer than he would have been in the house, where we were always on the lookout for hazards such as eating carpet cleaner, chewing on electrical cords and chasing the cats.

I knew he was probably too small to get himself out of the pool on his own - we had plans to teach him to swim in the summer ‹ but I just never thought heıd fall in the first place. Not when it was cold, not when I was right there, not when he was only going to be out for a minute.

I have gone over the sequence of events endlessly in my head. The ³what ifs² continue to prompt nightmares and crying jags. If just one person learns from my mistake, at least Maxıs death would not have been vain. Puppies, and even older dogs unfamiliar with a particular pool should never, not even for a minute, be left unattended around a swimming pool. Max never made a sound. I had no warning. Taking into consideration the icy water temperature and his weakened condition, our vet thinks it was probably over in two minutes, probably less. As we have so painfully learned: There are no second chances.

Itıs too late for Max, but hopefully another puppy wonıt have to learn the same hard lesson we did.

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IN MEMORY OF MAX

You werenıt what we were looking for, but it took only seconds for you to steal our hearts. How could something so small make such a large and immediate impact on our lives?

So smart, so easy to get along with, so eager to be called "a good dog," so anxious to be part of the family Š How could we resist?

Innocent, sweet and loving, you didnıt deserve to die. Your past had been so hard ­ we thought we were saving you, never anticipating the tragic accident that stole you from our family. So many "what ifs?," so much grief, so many tears shed. Though your time was short, please know you will never be forgotten and always be loved. Sweet, wonderful Max, our Christmas angel.

- With love and many regrets for what could have been from your "Mom" and "Dad," Mark and Susan Williams, Norman, Okla.