Thursday, November 01, 2007

Fave Foto Friday 'n' Stuff

I'm settling into the new house pretty well. An old retriever mix dog (Lab and Golden) has taken up residence here, too. He has been an outside dog all of his life. That doesn't sit well with me, but you know what they say about teaching old dogs new tricks.

Still, Max has arthritis, and he's near the end of his time on Earth, so I can't just leave him outside. His run takes up just about half of my roomy 2 car garage, so he has lots of space. I'm gradually introducing him to the inside of the house.

The garage stays tolerably warm right now, since it's attached to the house and it's insulated. The plan is to have him stay in the house overnight once the garage gets to be too cold. That will mean sleeping downstairs with him, since he can't climb the stairs and he'll need someone to be here to let him out on demand. I don't mind too much, since there's a fireplace (gas log) down here. The TV and computer are down here, too. Might be fun to camp out with Max!

I'm accustomed to small dogs, so a large dog is a big change for me. Everything is bigger, from the amount of food they eat to the amount of food they recycle. And the shedding! Oh, the shedding! But Max is just the sweetest animal. He helped me weed the garden last weekend, popping his head under my arm at odd intervals for a cuddle. I've never before had a dog that could be left off leash without a fence. Max is reliable that way. Besides, I can outrun him (poor beast).

Here's a picture of my buddy for Fave Foto Friday. This was taken in the midwest in September:

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's such a nice story..old Max is a lucky dog. That just makes me smile.

Frank

mommanator said...

AW, you are just the biggest sucker for big, loveable animals-teehee!
What a nice person to sleep with him in the winter!

Rainbow Demon said...

He's gorgeous...

Thanks for sharing.
Peace,
=RD=

Merci said...

Frank-
Max is deserving, too. He is as gentle as a dog could be.

Mommanator-
Little ones, too. I have a old gray dachshund visiting for a couple of weeks now, too.

Rainbow Demon-
Thanks for stopping by! Yes, Max is a gorgeous animal.

Pax Romano said...

OK, I already love Max and have not met him yet.

Maybe you should bring him to work with you, and then I can come down to Officeland II-B, and the three of us can spend the day gossiping and throwing him a ball.

Merci said...

Pax-
Wish I could! But make a visit to Officeland II anyway. We can gossip without throwing the ball!

Anonymous said...

ohh I'm not a doggie person but he looks like a sweet dog. I like his white paw, so cute!

Weary Hag said...

It sounds to me like both of you are lucky to have found one another. Isn't it amazing - the things we'll do for the sake and well-being of our animals?
My poor almost-old cat is having trouble getting on my high bed lately, so we got him stairs. Now the stairs stick out into the middle of the bedroom. Sometimes we trip on them. Do we care? NOPE. Not on your life! haha