When Max was young he was treated horribly. All I'm sure of is that he was shot! Yes... that's correct. He was shot with a shotgun. When we took him for x-rays we saw all these little, metal beads in his side. This explains his fear of loud noises, but that's beside the point. Max was young, wounded, alone, and scared.

The day we found him, we brought him to the pound. When we saw what bad shape he was in, we were horrified. He was missing hair and you could see his ribs. We felt so bad for him. After a week, nobody claimed him at the pound. The day they were going to put him down, we decided to take him home. As I said, when we got him he was in horrible condition. We brushed him, fed him, and took him to the vet and after a while he began to look presentable.

Max brought so much joy to all of us and everyone around him. The people's lives he touched the most were the lives of my grandparents. Whenever we would take him to their house, both of their faces would light up. They would constantly be feeding him and petting him. Even when my grandpa was in the veteran's nursing home he would get so happy when Max was there. I even believe Max kept my grandpa's willpower going when he was sick because of all the love and happiness he brought.

When the time came that my grandpa died, Max was always there when I would cry. Even in the hardest times, he would make me smile. Not only did he help me through my grandpa's death, but my whole family. He was wherever the sadness was, making it better. It was so great having him at my side, knowing everything would be fine when he was around. It was unbelievable the amount of joy and happiness he brought.

We didn't know it, but Max had been with cancer for about a year. Even with cancer spreading and slowly taking over Max's body, he was the same old Max. We didn't know he had cancer until five or ten minutes before we had to put him down, but the cancer was bad!!! It was already spreading out from his pancreas and into his liver. Even though, everyday he was getting a little closer to death, he was the same Max, making everyone smile with his laziness and charm.

In conclusion, nobody ever loved their dog more than I do.