Max

Max was the sweetest Rottweiller I have ever seen. He was a rescue dog. His ex-owner had taken him to a kennel to board him and never picked him up. Through a series of strange coincidences, I was able to adopt Max. He was supposed to be a birthday present for my boyfriend, but Max had other ideas about that. He immediately became my dog. He was definitely supposed to be mine. He would follow me everywhere.

I used to take him walking every day after work. It was the greatest stress reliever. I would have a bad day at work and come home and knew the only thing I had to do to make Max happy would be to put on my tennis shoes. It was so cool to see him smile. (He actually, really and truly smiled. He would put his lips back like a growl, but he was smiling). He was the most serene, kind dog. He almost had a glow about him. He helped me get through a lot of tough times.

But, my Max,unfortunately got a disease that is very common to rotties -- bone cancer. He had had some tumors removed previously, but I had thought they had gotten all the cancer, but no. It devastated me. Max wasn't just my best friend, he was my confidant, my healer, my soul mate.

I will miss him forever. He was a beautiful, sweet dog. Even the mailman liked him.