Max

Profile

-Anonymous

August 30, 2011

Maximum Max! That’s what we call him, because he does everything to the utmost maximum! This means he is a lot of fun, but he also gives us a lot of challenges. It’s fun, mostly, because he has such a cheerful, outgoing, and loving spirit, but challenging all the same. Maximum Max is a 1.5 year old male being fostered in Andover, MN. He weighs about 50 pounds, so is a bit smaller than the average golden. He is not purebred, he is definitely part golden, and the rest must be a fun breed, because fun is what Max is all about!

I’m sorry that you’ve had to wait so long to learn about Max – darn computer problems! He’s been with us for two weeks now, so this update might be a bit longer than usual, which makes sense of course, since this is Maximum Max!

Max needs a devoted and affectionate forever home with people who are consistent and who like to play, yet know how to assert themselves as kind and benevolent alpha leaders. The people in this home need to have a plan. For example, will Max be allowed on the furniture? Will he sleep in his kennel or in your bedroom, and if the latter, can he sleep on your bed? He has some faulty behaviors, mostly for attention or in attempting to get you to play, but can you consistently and immediately give him no attention other than to direct him into his kennel for a short time out? Can everyone in the household adhere to the same plan so that Max gets the consistency he needs?

Max also needs gentle, caring, and reliable correction for some persistent faulty behaviors, including counter surfing, mouthing, jumping to greet, and deciding that everything can and should be a toy for him. He is quite hilarious, but when it is your sock that he has stolen and you are already late to work, well, perhaps my daughter said it best: “It’s not hard to have Max here, but there sure is more yelling!” What we’ve learned though, is that yelling does not work with Max, but ignoring his bad behavior works wonders – he is such an attention seeker, he will work hard to figure out what you want so that he can get your attention again. The other day he was being so good that I decided that he could go off leash to play in the yard with me. I’m human, so I guess I get to make mistakes, right? He immediately pounced on some new black dirt/compost that we had on carefully raked into place on either side of our driveway, and eluded all attempts to stop him. I could swear he had a glint in his eye because he was having so much fun chasing around! I could have lived with cleaning up the mess, but he also decided that the dirt tasted good, and that he should eat it. Big mouthfuls, and no, he was not hungry. I was getting quite distressed, because I was certain he would make himself sick. Finally I remembered that he is treat motivated, so I turned around to go into the house and get him a treat for use in enticing him away from the dirt. As soon as I turned my back and was walking away, he was following me to try to get me to play again. He followed me right into the mud room and then went into his kennel --at my request, which was a good place for him to be, because I needed Max to have a time out! And then the light bulb went on, and I remembered what love bug he is, and that I needed to be aware of exactly where my attention is directed. Yep, simply turning our backs and ignoring him has proven to be a great training tool. So we ignore the bad behavior, and reward good behavior with attention or treats.

For example, when Max approaches me but doesn’t try to mouth me or my clothing, I give him lavish attention, and occasionally a treat. And if he does mouth me, he is ignored or given a time-out in his kennel. His mouthing behavior has never been aggressive – I think he is just trying to get attention, and/or he may simply need more oral stimulation. We’ve gotten him a Kong and some other toys, and that seems to be helping. He has never come close to breaking the skin, and he lets go easily. He’s gotten better since he came to our house, which may be related to the fact that we have had a policy of zero tolerance for mouthing – it is ALWAYS corrected verbally, and then he is ignored or has a time out. However, since this behavior could be very stressful and even dangerous to a young child or a sensitive older person, Max needs to go to a home where mouthing is not accepted, but also will not be met with fear or an aggressive response. Because of this, and despite his playful nature, Max cannot go to a home with young children.

Max also needs a home that can handle counter surfing behavior. He is fast! It’s been hard to train him on this because he is so quick that it is hard to catch him, and because we’ve all gotten better at keeping watch over our food. He has gotten better about not jumping up to see what is on the counter or table, but he is still untrustworthy if your back is turned or if you step away. I wonder if Max did not get regular meals at some point in his life, and so feels he has to grab when an opportunity presents itself? Whatever the cause, his forever home will need to continue to train him, and to safeguard all food until the lessons take hold.

Max’s forever family will need to provide exercise every day. When Max gets a workout he is far less mischievous, which then allows for more time to enjoy his fun personality. We go for walks every day, and not just around the block. If you are looking for an exercise partner, Max is your man! We are up to about 3 miles a day, and I think Max would be happy to go further (his foster mom just needs to get in better shape!). And Max is a good walking partner. With the help of the Gentle Leader, he does not pull. And while he definitely notices other people, dogs, and animals (such as deer or squirrels), he does not strain or drag his person. I have only minor issues; the main one is that Max will occasionally try to get the gentle leader off his nose. (This might be because he was successful at doing so three times the first day we had him, until I got it fitted correctly.) He still tries to get it off about once or twice per walk. It’s not a big problem, just surprising when the rest of his walking behavior is so good, and then he suddenly twists and ducks his head around. Also, he does bounce against my leg occasionally, which feels mostly like an affectionate bump more than anything else. And he also shies away from large, noisy trucks. He does not pull, but he avoids the noise, so his human has to watch for that.

Max absolutely loves to play. His favorite game seems to be “chase” and it doesn’t matter who chases who. On the two occasions where he got away from us outside, he did not really run away so much as try to entice us to play the game and chase him. I am currently teaching Max that we will only play “chase” when the toy is one that belongs to Max, or there is no toy. We race around the kitchen island, and then around the table, and to and fro, and we all have a grand time. However, when he tries to play the game with an item that does not belong to him, we initially ignore him, and then try to distract him with one of his own toys.

I have a recommendation for Max’s forever family, one that I recently learned from my RAGOM friends, which was to keep Max tethered to his new human with a short leash for the first day or so. As a new RAGOM foster mom, when Max came to our house I tried to do everything “by the book.” So I tried the tethering. It was a bit of a pain, but I knew exactly where Max was at all times and what he was doing, so that was a relief. Max didn’t exactly seem to enjoy it, but he didn’t protest much either. What I didn’t expect was the bonding effect – it was amazing! Even two weeks later he still looks to me more than anyone else in the family for both guidance and attention. I’m convinced that tethering works, and plan to tether all future foster dogs. What a positive outcome!

What else? Oh yes, Max LOVES car rides. When my husband left the window open on the van and Max got loose in the garage, guess what he did? Yep, jumped right through that 4 ½ foot high window, and was waiting to go! He’s a real happy rider! We will take him on a 3 hour ride this weekend, so I’m waiting to see how he does then. We will also be swimming in the river, so we’ll see how Max likes the water. My guess, based on how he plunges through the roadside puddles and drinks right out of the garden hose, is that he will love it.

Max is also good with other dogs, and he is not really interested in the resident cat - although she is a scaredy cat, and avoids him as much as possible. He treats the resident dog with respect and kindness, although she is an old dame, and has no time for his rowdiness. When he gets on her nerves, she barks at him to back off, and he does so, nicely. We did have the neighbor’s young terrier mix over the other night to play, and Max and the terrier had a blast! Chasing, running, jumping, chasing again, running some more, chasing some more, and totally smiling the whole time! It was fun to watch, so if Max’s forever home had another fun dog to play with or visit, that might be good.

Well, that’s all for now. I hope you will decide you have room for fun in your life, and will give Max a chance. He really is worth it, and will love you forever! Pictures show Max having fun with a toy, Max showing that toy who the boss is, and Max at rest.