About Max:
When I said I wanted to go get another puppy to replace Bubba, Mary Alice was very upset with me. She said; "no one will ever replace Bubba". Vicki suggested that we needed to give Mary Alice a little more time. So over the next five or six months, every time we went to look at a new puppy, it just made Mary Alice sad, it just reminded her of Bubba, and she refused to take another dog home. (when the boys were growing up - if we lost a dog, they were ready to go get another puppy the next day! - the thought of getting a puppy made them feel better at once - Girls, go figure! )
About eight months after we lost Bubba, we went down to Miami to look at another puppy. This one was from the same bloodlines as Bubba and our female, Morgan (Bay Breeze Kennels). As the puppies came over to Mary Alice, she sat down on the floor and played with them for a few minutes and this little guy just seemed to hit it off with her. He wouldn't leave her along, keep jumping on her lab and kissing her face. She was smiling again, for the first time when looking at puppies.. it didn't make her sad.
So I said, "how about him?" - "do you want to take this one home?"... She said yes, that she liked this little guy. (it's a good thing too - because that was the dog we went to look at, and the only one we could buy; as that was the only Male the breeder was willing to sell to us - the others were either spoken for or not for sale).
Mary Alice held him on her lap most of the way home (a six hour trip). She was smiling the entire time and Max was certainly happy being with her. Now at nearly two years of age, Max is most certainly part of the family. Mary Alice is still "his little girl" and he loves her dearly. Max has his own set of "Poodle Tricks" to play on Mary Alice too, he just loves teasing her. (he runs off with her shoes, or stuffed animals so she has to chase him - then he brings them back to her - and grabs another to run off with;-) He just thinks that's great sport... (Mary Alice knows now that he is just teasing her - but she goes along with it just to make him happy;-)
Below:Vicki, Mary Alice and our new puppy - "Max". Here we stopped at a park so Max could take a potty break on the way home. We bought him from a breeder in Miami (same blood line as our last Standard Poodle - Bubba).
Below:Max, our new puppy, at 3 Months - confined to the family room. Morgan (then age 13 years) on the right always stayed with him.
Below Max has to see what I'm trying to do on the computer - so he comes and stands to look over my shoulder!!.
Below If Max wants to play, and I just ignore him he always finds ways to get my undivided attention. He won't let me work when it's Play Time!!
Below: Max waiting on me to get up and go play Frisbee with him. He loves being on the deck at the side of the house - he can watch the street that way. That's Mary Alice's Butterfly Garden in the background.
Below:Mary Alice at the Dog Park with Max. Note that his tail is slightly down, that means he is getting ready to lunge for that ball in Mary Alice's hand if she doesn't throw it soon!
Below:
RUN MAX!... When he was smaller, he had a hard time keeping up with Mary Alice, now of course she can't catch him..
Below: Max always stops and waits on Mary Alice - or he goes back to get her.
Below: Mary Alice gets her buddy some fresh water
If you want to see one of Max's and my favorite places - you can visit our Web Site for the Largo Dog Park. LargoDogPark.com