Max came to us on December 11, 2010. He was a little underweight and sorely neglected but a handsome boy none the less. He was very timid getting of the Alpha Dog transport and we were told he was quite the handful, even breaking out of his crate a few times along the way. We kind of snickered about that, ASDs as most know, rarely like a crate. We brought Max home to meet the family including our other two dogs, Cody and Kara a previous adoption from NASRN. Kara and Max didn't hit if off immediately but soon became great pals. Max was very, very quiet, unusually so. We had heard he had gotten sick at his temporary foster and had already scheduled a vet visit for him.
Max was sweet, affectionate and quiet... until we went to the vet. Max was diagnosed with Addison's Disease also known as Addisonian's. A manageable disease but rare and complicated as well as time consuming. We didn't mind, we had already grown attached to this sweet, endearing dog with such a sad story. We began treating Max's disease and at first there were no immediate changes other than he ate everything in sight. Shortly after, well that's when we got to see Max for Max.
Max did not like cats, kids, teens, older people, vets, cars, he simply didn't like anything or anyone except for Charley. He didn't even like me, Melissa, his foster mom, we had a bit of an issue but in the end we resolved that and loved each other again. He would growl at my oldest daughter, jump on my father in law, he was just... stubborn and headstrong. What you come to expect in an Anatolian but with a bit more attitude.
One would think, wow why wouldn't you re home this dog. Well, until we could find a suitable home neither of us was willing to give up on him. He was an amazing dog and in a lot of ways his behavior just made us laugh. Max may have been hard for some to love, but once you did, you loved him with your whole heart and once he loved you, he loved you fiercely and respected you more.
On May 4, 2011 we lost Max. The previous day we had rushed him to the vet because he was unable to stand and felt warm. The vet found he had rattling in his chest and a fever, it was pneumonia. They treated him overnight with fluids and antibiotics, his fever broke. The vet even called to ask us to come get him because and in his words "Max is uhhh acting like a true Anatolian and is uhh getting a little uhm aggressive with the staff, he's also broke out of his crate a few times". We thought this was hysterical and on the way to the vet we discussed Max's temperament and how its just Max. Half way to the vet's office we received a call Max suddenly took a turn for the worse. We didn't know how bad that was going to be.
Our vet stayed all that night with Max trying to stabilize him, nothing worked. We got phone calls all day and into the night with his progress. Then came May 4, 2011, and you never thought in just a few months it could hurt so much or you could love him so much, but we did and it did. A few days later we found out that Max had a condition known as Thrombosis and had at some point thrown a clot causing necrosis of the Colon, most of it was blackened necrotic tissue, but more recently he threw a clot to his lungs which is what his cause of death was. We never knew Max had no chance for a long life, I'm just glad his last few months of life were with us and he was happy, comfortable, loved and cared for.