Max has had an exciting week! We took him to the cabin for a couple days to get away the weekend before Christmas and he thought the little bit of snow left in WI was great! We went on a nice walk and he had his nose working full time smelling all the deer, rabbits, turkeys and possibly bears that have been there. Max didn’t have to be asked twice if he wanted to go for a car ride. He is always excited to get in the car and either lie down for a nap or watch the world out the window.
We also took Max to the vet for a recheck on his ears last week. His one ear was looking great! The other ear had a little redness inside still, so we’re treating it this week again. Max also had some fluid drained from his ear flap which is a small hematoma. The fluid is coming back, so we’ll have to have it drained again if it doesn’t start going down. It’s caused by shaking his head and basically breaking a blood vessel when it hits his head repeatedly. We haven’t noticed a lot of head shaking and there shouldn’t be when his ears are feeling good. I’m guessing he came in with this already going on. Max also was licking his feet quite a bit last week which is his allergies. His allergies seem to be limited to his feet and not causing itchy skin. I’m putting ointment on his feet because they were red in-between the pads and we’re trying another type of dog food. Max may require a few extra vet trips during the year and a little bit of trial and error with his allergies. He’s such a great dog with a big personality that the little bit of extra work and money are more than worth it for his love!
Max had a wonderful Christmas with us! He was introduced to cats and does perfectly fine with them. His nose really goes and he’s so curious about them. He doesn’t want to attack them and doesn’t bark. He just wants to sniff them to figure out what they are. Max was spoiled along with our resident dog with toys from his foster parents and grandparents. His favorite toys still seem to be tennis balls, but he had no problem ripping a toy in about 30 seconds to get to the squeaker. He’s fascinated by squeakers and wanting to play fetch.
Overall, Max is such a gentle giant, big teddy bear and great golden. Our resident dog spent a couple of days with my parents and Max seemed a little less confident without her to follow and hang out with. It might be best if you have another dog to boost his confidence, but it’s not an absolute requirement. We still have not had Max around kids and would prefer he goes to a house with kids over the age of 14 because of his previous environment and experience with kids.