Max 07-493 [1]

Sponsored by:

Julie S. ~ Ken S. ~ Bethany M. ~ Dana N. ~ Peter B. ~ Jennifer O.
"In honor of Jennifer O's birthday!"

    -Anonymous

August 26, 2009: Our big golden boy, Max, is a returning RAGOM dog. His family's situation has changed and they were no longer able to keep him, so a couple of weeks ago, Max came to stay with us.

Max is 8 years old, neutered, house-trained, and gets along with everyone. He is a very nice, beautiful boy with a dark red coat and is a typical happy golden. He is not overly demanding for attention, but does like to go along from room to room to see what you are doing. Max is a very nice house guest and is just about the perfect dog in his behavior.

Max is very overweight at this point tipping the scale at 115 pounds. He should weigh about 75-80 pounds. He is on a diet and has been going on slow easy walks until we can build up some muscle and stamina. Max has a hard time getting up from laying down, which is his usual position. We have started him on Rimadyl which has helped some, so I am not sure if his troubles are that he has pain in his hips or if it is just the extra weight he has been carrying for some time. We have to work on getting that weight off to help his joints and overall health. When Max first came here, he would lay down and not want to get up very often. At night, before we went to bed, we would get everyone outside to go potty. Max would just lay and look at us and not move a muscle to get up. It would take two of us, one on each end, to lift him up and get him moving. Sometimes when Max doesn't want to do something, he just lays like a rag doll. That's a 115 pound rag doll! I would start laughing and it sure didn't help trying to get him up and going.

Max also has a nasty ear infection in his right ear so he is on meds for that too. We will be getting that rechecked soon and may have to get it flushed out good at the vet as there is so much gunk in his ear, it is hard to get clean at home. He is a good boy when getting his ear drops. He just lays down on the floor and lets you put them in. We have been giving Max some Benadryl twice a day too, for his allergies, which don't seem to be too bad, but if off the Benadryl, he will start chewing his paws once in a while.

I gave all 4 of the dogs here a marrow bone today and everyone laid out in the yard enjoying their bones. I didn't have any fighting among them, so Max seems to be very good about leaving everyone be when they have a bone. He was a happy boy to sit and chew on his own and not bother anyone. I didn't have any trouble being around him when he had his bone either.

We are listing Max as "Unavailable" only until we figure out what his weight issue is. All of his vet work, including his thyroid, came out normal, so I am not sure why he weighs so much. I was pretty positive it would be a thyroid issue, but since that is not the case, we need to make sure Max is well on his way to losing that extra weight and also that there isn't another physical reason for his ample body. Max is not a very active dog at this point and I am hoping once he loses some weight he will feel better and want to get up and go more.