Max was a Christmas gift from my wife in December 2009 and for the next two and a half years he was the sole dog in our household. For whatever reason Max suffered from extreme anxiety and therefore had phobias too numerous to mention. At the top of his dysfunctional list was the inability to warm up to strangers. If the face did not belong to my wife, son or I Max would escape behind the couch and refuse to come out.

In an attempt to socialize Max I would take him to various places such as friend's homes or geocaching events, but never achieved success. At a mega geocaching event in Kentucky we encountered a dog whisperer who informed us we needed to get another dog who exhibited incredible social skills. Eventually, Max would mimic his counterpart and improve greatly in sociability.

On June 29, 2012 we braved severe wind sheers and pouring rain to journey to Indiana to give a home to an out-going curly haired rescue puppy whom we named Indy. At first Max did not care for this wildly romping energetic newcomer one little bit. However, in the months and years to come Max formed an invisible bond which brought companionship and comfort as well as solace and sociability. Just three days ago (7/8/21) a visitor to our home saw Max walk up to her and slightly bow his head in an obvious attempt to have it rubbed. She commented how much Max had changed through the years recalling he used to hide from her when she entered the home. Max, you were broken and we mended you.

Years ago while I was still fully mobile I used to take both Max and Indy with me while geocaching. They didn't care about finding containers. They just loved to walk through the woods and fields in search of adventure and new smells. In the above photo I had just made an extremely difficult find and stopped for a celebratory photo. If you look closely you will see a slight grin on Max's face as he enjoys the outing with his little white friend. 4/25/16

Photographs courtesy of John Combs