HOW WE GOT MAX

It all started on a normal day when my uncle was telling us about his never-ending adventures with the stray dogs which lived around his house. I wasn't that interested until he mentioned a dog called "Big" (I know, what a dorky name... but remember that Thai people may not have as excellent vocabulary as other people.) who was only a few weeks-months old and was abandoned by his mother. He ate very little since the older dogs would bite him and would pick on him. He brought up the suggestion that maybe WE should take Big home and take care of him as a pet.

Now before I continue, I must tell you about my dad and how he is always paranoid that if we have a dog, it will bite us. Since my dad wasn't there at the time my uncle suggested we take Big home, we said "yes".

That Sunday that my uncle brought Big to our house, I was so excited. My uncle took him out of the car... and those big brown eyes looked at us so innocently. We took him inside.

The first thing we did was to change his name.... which wasn't that easy at first. When we took him for his first walk (without a leash), he squeezed through a neighbor's gate and pooed inside their house (the parking lot area)!! We didn't know what to do but my uncle called him "Big" and he came back out.

After a few weeks, we found that there was something terribly wrong with this dog. We tried taking him to a vet near-by and found that he has a stomach ache. When he got better, we were relieved. But after a few days, he wouldn't eat or do anything normally. He was very weak and he wiggled everytime he stood up. Again, we took him to the vet. We were told that he was very sick and had a stomach ache (again!) along with the flu. It wasn't that easy.... Poor Max (he started to answer to his name by then) was so weak we had to feed him or he wouldn't eat! We took him to a different vet (much more expensive) and were told that he had pneumonia. He was given plenty of medicine and some black stuff that he could eat if he refused to eat anything else. It got even worse! Max had every disease that a poor puppy could have! After a month, Max got better. We later found out that he actually had measles which is a life-death situation for all dogs... luckily, Max survived.

Now, Max is strong and healthy. We all love him, including my dad who is now less paranoid about dogs biting us. Max is and will always be the one who will listen to us. No matter how boring we may sound, he will sit next to us when we are unhappy. He's always the one to cheer us up with his little doggie charms, kissing you when you feel bad. He is pretty well trained, just a little hyper. He sits, lies down, begs, and shakes hands on commands.

He's the kind of dog that cannot live outside the house... more of a companion. But when the right time comes out and strange people visit out house, he'salways ready to guard us and protect us. Around him, all I feel is love and protection.