In Memorium, Max

This post reminded me of my dog when I was a kid. A great dane/doverman (spell). The longest hike we took him on was 9 days between snoqualmie and stevens. Good times. I got him on my B-day. He died after being hit by a truck on my b-day about 9 years after we got him. At 14 or so that hit hard. We had to shot him that morning all those years later. It sucked. Thanks for reminding me of an old pal, Cochise. A damn loyal/good friend that showed me the hills 'bout home. Bottoms up to them both.

My condolences on the loss of your friend.

I'm sorry to hear about Max. I lost Coby,my best friend of over twelve years, almost six months ago, and I still miss him HORRIBLY! Sounds like Max was pretty lucky to get partnered up with you. I'm glad you enjoyed each other's company so much.

sorry to hear about the loss of your buddy man, It's worse than losing a human friend. (at least it was for me) They all told me to just try and be greatfull for the time we did have together. I assume it helped I smile at the thought of her a lot more now, but it sound like good advice anyways. <br><br>I miss my dog.

Thanks, guys. SAG - you're on to something. I lost my dad yesterday (seriously strange month here). It's hard to really tell what's going on in my head at this point, but so far my dog has hit me harder. I have been hearing the same thing from a few people. We spend so much time with our 4-legged pals, and they have that unconditional love for and dependence on us. <br><br>Today's good news was a call from the vet letting us know we can let our neighbor off the hook (the anti-freeze was still in a dumb spot and wide open so I'm still pissed and he still feels bad but the scale of it is different) as Max tested positive for Leptospirosis (blood test takes a while to come back). The antibiotics he got once he went critical just weren't soon enough. Who knows where he picked it up, but it may have ironically been our shared love of the mountains that did him in in the end, as he of course drank from open mountain water sources as all dogs will. I didn't realize until now that we have lepto around here. If so, I'm sure he'd still have said he'd take the risk if he could think that way (and talk).

Gosh Jim, sorry to read about Max and then to lose your father, that's tough. I have had many pets over the years and it's never easy when one leaves the family, in fact it hurts so bad that you wonder if you will ever allow yourself to get attached again. When I lost my last cat, I found some comfort in the quote below. <br><br>"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." (Irving Townsend) <br><br>You'll know when the time is right to share your love with another unique companion.<br><br>