Max's 7th Birthday

Dan and I bought our first Lab, Brenna, as a puppy prior to having children. As you all know, I'm a planner, and while Dan was finishing his second degree, I had the time to train a puppy, take her to obedience, agility and fly ball training classes. Brenna was smart as a whip, and calmed down by the time Nicole came along. Unfortunately, she passed away at 9 years old and Nicole was only 2 1/2 years old.

We waited a few years before we felt we could add another dog into our busy schedule. When Nicole was in first grade, she started eating lunches at school. She had a very difficult time for about 3 months and cried at every single lunch hour. Her teacher and I tried to figure what was causing all this stress. We felt she was overwhelmed with the noise and the crowds. So she started wearing ear plugs at lunch time. Then I "challenged" Nicole.......if she could stop crying at lunch for 30 days, she could earn a dog. IT WORKED like a charm.

We were looking for an adult dog that was already trained. We had our name on a waiting list for 14 years with Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, MI. In all those 14 years, they never once called us to say a dog was available. So I called them. YES, YES, they had a male 2 year old lab available but we have to make a decision within 24 hours. YEAH RIGHT! I AM NOT a spontaneous person and I research things thoroughly, and YOU'RE telling me after 14 years of waiting, I HAVE to make a decision within 24 hours????

From the get go, we were hesitant because we wanted a smaller female. Dan and I checked him out at our lunch hour. Max was HUGE to us compared to Brenna. But he was very social and calm even when other dogs were passing us by (don't know what happened here) in the Leader dog lobby. We brought Nicole and 2 friends the next day to see how he reacted with children. While the girls swarmed him, he just laid down absorbing all the attention. So he became part of our family on Nov. 11, 2004.

Nicole's personality changed dramatically after adopting Max. She started becoming more outgoing and less fearful with crowds. We've been blessed to have Max with us for 5 years now and last Saturday, Oct. 24th he celebrated his 7th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX! WE LOVE YOU!