Max the Ninja Dog

We had a bit of tense situation involving Max, our golden retriever, on Monday. I let him out the front door to go the bathroom, then ducked back inside for a second to grab a poop bag in case it would be necessary.

When I came back out, Max was nowhere to be seen. That wasn't too surprising given than he likes to wander around to the side of the houses and sniff around. Our next door neighbor had just come out to let her own dogs out and was commenting that she wished her dogs were as well behaved as Max - if only she knew!

I went around to the side of the houses and . . . no Max. Sometimes he'll chase a deer into the woods behind our house, so I looked there . . . no Max. I called out his name . . . no Max.

At this point I started to become concerned. It wasn't like Max at all to wander off. His separation anxiety usually keeps him very close. Furthermore, it was dinner time and he hadn't yet had dinner, which usually means that he races back to the front door as soon as he's gone to the bathroom. So I was concerned but also just confused - something didn't add up.

I grabbed Max's leash and squeaker toy and began running concentric circles out from our house, calling his name and squeaking his toy. Some neighbors offered to help me find him but they hadn't seen him either.

After I had canvased most of the neighborhood, I still had a nagging feeling that Max running off seemed highly improbable so I returned to our yard to look for clues. As I walked around the side of the houses to check the forest again, I noticed a white cushion in our nextdoor neighbor's window . . . a white, fuzzy cushion.

I called out Max's name and, lo and behold, the cushion in the window moved - it was Max! He must have sneaked in while she was letting her dogs out. Max loves her house because there are usually dog treats lying around at accessible heights (Her dogs are much smaller than Max.) so he probably thought he could pull a quick one.

Once our neighbor returned (from helping me look for Max elsewhere in the neighborhood!), she opened her front door to let Max out. All's well that ends well, but it was a pretty tense 30-45 minutes of not being able to find him. Of course it turns out that he wasn't in any danger at all; he was just earning his title of of Max the Mischievous!

Thanksgiving with Max

I'm running way behind on blogging but here is a belated entry for Thanksgiving, which was a real joy. Katie and I drove up to Hot Springs, Arkansas, as we usually do for Thanksgiving but this time there was a major difference: we had Max in the back seat!

He is very good in the car, mostly snoozing and occasionally poking his head up front for a few ear scratches. We stopped every two hours or so to give him a chance to stretch his legs, do his business, etc. However, when we did so, he was always very nervous and desperately tried to get back to the car if we weren't both with him. We hypothesize that he was abandoned once by someone just dropping him off out of a car and then driving off--heart-breaking!

When we arrived in Hot Springs, Max went crazy. He's used to being a city dog, couped up in a house most of the day and only going outside on a leash. We turned him loose at my aunt's house out in the country and at first he just ran laps around the house he was so excited to be free out in the open. My aunt and uncle have their own dog too and she got along very well with Max. The two of them were regular Tom Sawyer/Huck Finns, exploring the woods together, chasing after animals, and wrestling around.

Wednesday evening another aunt of mine threw Katie and me a little engagement party, which was a lovely affair. We wined and dined and celebrated with our family and some close friends. It must have been a great ordeal to organize and execute but it was a really wonderful way to start off the long Thanksgiving weekend!

Thursday we attended two different Thanksgivings meals, both of which were absolutely excellent. Friday we spent all day cooking, lazing around, and watching football - what a great way to spend time! Saturday there was one final Thanksgiving get-together and then we hit the road back to Houston. Max's hips were so sore from all the running around that he actually needed some help getting into the car. Needless to say, he slept allllll the way home, tuckered out from his great country adventure.

Sunday we headed over to a Houston friend's house for yet another Thanksgiving dinner and yet more football - I wish this could go on forever! It was a fantastic holiday weekend but it was also a time for reflection. Katie and I both are so very thankful for so many things in our lives, but most especially for the people. For loving, supportive families, for fun, interesting friends, for capable, driven colleagues, for good neighbors...for all of these we are incredibly thankful. We try our best to give back and be as positive a force in others' lives.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Phoenix

Last weekend Katie and I went to Phoenix to visit her sister. When we planned the trip, we had an ulterior motive too: get our canine fix with Kelly's newly adopted dog, Kona! Now, due to the timing of our own adoption of Max, we no longer needed the fix but we new it would be a wonderful trip anyway.

After having Max just one week, we dropped him off at Pet Paradise to be reunited with his buddies for the weekend and then we headed to the airport. I pulled a really dunce move and left my driver's license at home. I had scans of both my driver's license and my passport on my laptop but that was obviously insufficient. Just when it was looking like I would have to return home (in rush hour) to retrieve my license and then take a later flight, we received a very welcome surprise: TSA offered to help.

They took me into an isolated area and grilled me with questions about my identity, verifying my answers against a database of everywhere I had lived, which cars I had registered, etc. Then they gave my luggage the full treatment, checking every nook and cranny of it for sketchy stuff. Finally they gave me the full treatment, patting me down--well, up, down, and every other which way too! I passed all the tests so, after 20 minutes or so, they let me through. I was incredibly impressed with the professionalism and courtesy they showed me throughout the process. I know it's not easy to keep millions of travelers safe every day but they did it with aplomb. Seriously, well done, TSA!

Kelly and her boyfriend, Mike, picked us up and took us immediately to The Vig, a bar/restaurant. We ate, drank, watched college football, and met up with their friends there; it was great weather for outdoor merrymaking! Then we went back to their house to meet Kona. We had another pleasant surprise, though: they were sitting two other dogs for the weekend! All the dogs were sweet and fun and it was clear that it was going to be a good couple of days.

Saturday we went to the dog park, had some breakfast, and then hiked Camelback Mountain. Mike and Kelly had made the hike many times but this was Katie's and my first time hiking anything in awhile--and we decided to make the attempt in our Vibram FiveFingers barefoot "shoes." The terrain was very desert-rocky so it put our Vibrams to the test, but we scrambled up OK. Coming down was a little slower as we focused on ensuring we had enough grip and tried to avoid stepping hard on jagged rock surfaces. It was hot and tiring but a very rewarding experience.

Afterward we treated ourselves to Thai food at Fresh Mint. The food was excellent, the oldies playing in the background were great, and the Joe Montana memorabilia on the walls (The owners are from San Francisco.) was very welcome. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing by the pool, cooking dinner, and watching 300.

Sunday we played some beach volleyball then had brunch at a vegan restaurant that offered many raw food options. I put together an entire meal made of raw dessert items: black cherry cheesecake, blueberry acai pie, chocolate donut, chocolate walnut brownie, chocolate macaroon--all raw! It was delicious and very filling.

We stopped by a microbrewery to watch some football before being dropped off at the airport for the ride home. A friend of mine had very kindly overnighted my driver's license to me so I managed to avoid extra TSA attention on the way back. Max was elated to see us again when we picked him up.

Now, after nearly two weeks with him, he seems really to have adjusted to our house and life. We were sorry to leave him for a weekend but it certainly was a wonderful 48 hours!

Max the Golden Retriever!

Katie and I took a big step this weekend by adopting a golden retriever from Golden Retriever Rescue of Houston. We both grew up with goldens so we were sure that we understood what we were getting into in terms of temperament, activity level, size--and volume of hair! We also felt that this was the right time in our lives to move forward with this kind of commitment. Even as recently as a couple of years ago it would have been unthinkable but now we have settled into enough of a routine and committed to a future together such that we know we can handle this new responsibility.

After spending some time on the GRRH website, we filled out an application which had a primary purpose of verifying that we understood the cost, time, and discipline commitments involved as well as screening for any signs of abuse.

After GRRH approved our initial application, we received a call from their coordinator to discuss in greater detail our lifestyles, home environment, and preferences. We were hoping for a young (1-3 years) but already trained golden that would socialize easily with other dogs and people. Katie and I are both very social so a dog that we could take to the dog park and to friends' houses would fit best with us. We were targeting youth so that its joints would be OK with all the stairs in our three-story townhome. Katie and I both grew up with female goldens so we had a natural bias toward getting a girl but we also knew we would love a boy just as much.

Based on the profiles on the GRRH website and on our phone conversations with them, we identified 5 candidates for potential adoption. The next step was to talk with the trainers and foster parents of each dog. The first trainer we contacted was actually training two of the dogs on our list. One of the dogs was incredibly sweet but apparently had a really hard time being around other dogs and the trainer just wasn't sure that was addressable. The more we talked with the trainer, though, the more we fell in love with her other dog, a three-year-old boy named Max.

On Thursday we made the decision to meet Max in person Saturday morning. He came in with his foster mom to Pet Paradise, where he had been boarded. We met them both there and had a chance to play with Max a bit, witness him showing off his tricks/training, and chat with the foster mom about her experience with him.

In short, it was love at first sight. He was incredibly sweet and very gentle but still with great enthusiasm and energy. He was quite smart and had been picking up his training very quickly. Unlike any golden I had seen before, Max was a very light cream color, almost white; apparently this is the British style of golden retriever.

At the end of our session, Katie and I said our polite goodbyes and let them know we'd come back to them with our reactions shortly. We made it maybe four steps out the door, though, when we looked at each other and, without words, we both knew that this was the dog. We decided to skip the formal decision process, turned right around, and said we'd take him if they would let us. By the time we reached our car in the parking lot, we had a call from the coordinator saying that the trainer and foster mom enthusiastically approved of our adopting Max so we could sign the adoption contract and pick him up as soon as we liked.

As we didn't have any dog supplies at home we delayed pick-up until the afternoon. In the meantime I picked my brother up at the airport and we worked out together for the first time in three months (Consequently I can barely move now out of soreness.) while Katie went to PetSmart for our first stock-up.

After lunch all three of us went to Pet Paradise to pick up our new boy. He was very excited to see us again and super easy to manage on a leash, in the car, etc. We introduced him to his new home, which he took to immediately, and spent awhile showing him around, taking him for walks, and just getting to know him a bit.

His first night was a rough one. While boarded (presumably) he had contracted kennel cough, the canine equivalent of the flu. This meant he was up all night with a hacking, productive cough (worse than Smuckers, on Seinfeld!) and, hence, we were up all night as well. Around 5 AM we finally took him to the vet just to make sure it wasn't something more serious but they put him on some antibiotics and confirmed that we would just have to wait it out for several days. No problem, as long as he's OK!

Sunday was a lovely day for all of us, lazing around the main floor, watching football, and introducing Max to the housemates. His cough is already getting better and he loves all the people around him showering him with attention. He still needs some training around where and when to do is business and not jumping up on people/things but, again, he's a smart boy and learning quickly. We have all the patience in the world to work with him because he is such a wonderful addition to our family and we just love him so much!