While we were there, Mom said something about Tucker (G+M's puppy) being a great dog and that if she could get a dog just like him she wouldn't be opposed to getting another dog. Well on the ride home, that sparked some conversation about Mom and Deddy and dogs, so I, of course, whipped out my phone and checked out Petfinder.com. While I was looking, I saw a face. This dog looked like a mini-Riley and I was instantly curious. I checked out his profile and liked what I saw. He was an almost one year old mutt that liked people, did well with other dogs, and had a sweet disposition. I told Greg and Michelle who instantly told me to send his picture to Jason to see what he would say. I thought for sure he would send something back telling me that I was crazy. He was totally ok with it and told me that he thought he did look just like Riley. At this point it had been about 6 months since we put Riley down. Harley has been great, but could use a little friend! So that is where the Max journey began!
I emailed the people and for some reason was thinking that we would be able to just bring him home that afternoon. I am crazy. The dog adoption process is much more involved than I originally anticipated. I know they want dogs to go to good homes, but I just about had to give them a DNA sample!
Over the next two weeks, with lots of emails, forms, vet visits for Harley, and phone calls, we got to meet Norman! They brought him to our house on a Saturday afternoon (the same Saturday I got my van!) and let him meet Harley. There was some initial figuring out, but everything went pretty well. We signed some papers, handed over a check, and began our 10 day trial.
Over those 10 days, we had some adjustments to make. He was pretty scared (who wouldn't be) and cowered in a corner every time that Jason came into a room. Being a rescue, there is no way to know what happened to him before they found him. It was pretty easy to see that Norman was not a fan of men. So we tried different things until we figured out what was working. There was a point in those 10 days that I called his foster mom to warn her that our house might not be a good place for Norman and that he may need to go back. He just looked so scared and I hated for him to live like that.
Well, we are now a week past the end of our 10 day trial and Max (we tried Norman, but for some reason Max just felt like a better fit) is an official member of our family. He has gotten completely comfortable and we get lots of belly rubs and cuddling out of that sweet little boy. Caroline loves him and talks about Max (she has named him Maxidoo!) and Har-Boo all the time. He is really warming up to Jason and just last night stood at his feet wagging his tail when he got home! He has had a play date with Tucker and had SO much fun! He loves going on walks and does great with that, and every once in a while gets a puppy spurt and runs around with Harley.
Here is our sweet Maxidoo!
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