Another Difficult Good-bye

The other day Future Vet pointed out that I haven't updated this blog lately. Specifically, he was looking for another "In Memoriam" post. And I realized that I have been avoiding dealing with a lot of things, including the need to update this and to talk about Max.

Max was our snow dog, a big-hearted goof who came to our family when he was already 5 years old. Someone did a good job raising Max to that point. He was well-mannered, good-natured, and he never ate food that was sitting on the dining table or kitchen counters, even though reaching them was no problem for him. (Unlike other dogs who shall remain nameless. For now.)

As best we can tell, Max was a fairly even mix of Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute. Breeders of both came up to us at one time or another and claimed him as their own. We called him a Siberian because that seemed to be his personality and because it was just so much fun to refer to him as Conehead the Siberian:

Over the last year or so, Max had been losing ground in his battle with arthritis. Looking at his x-rays, his veterinarian was amazed that he could get up and walk at all because his hips were in such bad shape. He got slower and slower, getting up and moving was more and more difficult, and finally there was nothing more we could do for him other than say good-bye.

Max, I miss you. I hope you are running through the snow without pain, that you get all the ear scritches and belly rubs you want, and that the treats just keep coming.