Adventures In Writing

The Giant That Lives At Our House!

Since I posted pictures of our newest dog and have told stories of Max, our black Labrador, a few of you have E mailed me and wanted to see pictures of him. I don't think some of you believed how big he really is.

Max weighs between 120 and 125 pounds generally. Our veterinarian has stated that Max is the biggest dog he takes care of. Walking Max is incredibly difficult. It takes nearly everything I can do to handle him. I swear that dog could pull a plow and till a field.

Having Max as a pet is really cool. As big as he is, he's a dog that doubles as a pony.

Whenever I have to walk him somewhere, it's better if he wants to go that way anyhow. Because, at least for a while until I get a better grip and can dig in, we're going where he wants to go. Most veterinarians have tile floors. Sometimes it's hard to get a grip on tile floor. Occasionally, I have done extreme dog sledding there while handling Max.



As you can see from these photos with Chandler, Max is huge. We've had Max since Chandler was a baby. Can you imagine letting your child play with something this monstrous? What if it got hungry?

Utility people who have gotten surprised or ambushed in the backyard have sworn they thought they were getting attacked by a bear. Max has never hurt anyone, but he won't let anyone get around Sherry or Chandler if he thinks they're dangerous. He's kept other dogs away and he's killed snakes in the backyard. He has a unique approach to the latter. He grabs the snakes in his jaws, whipcracks them from side to side, then crunches them to death.



One thing we all know is that Sherry is Max's best buddy. She can get him to calm down when no one else can. He adores her, and I have to admit he's got good taste.



Chandler got his second snow day off this week. And tomorrow he gets his third. Today he and Ruby chased each other around the back yard, laughing and barking. Chandler was the one who was laughing, just for clarification. But I swear sometimes I think they traded off.



And yes, Max is a gentleman. He always saves the last dance for Sherry.