We can't believe this week will mark 4 years ago since we adopted Max! Since we don't know his real BARKday we try to celebrate his adoption day. Here he is with Sloan and "Buddy" (the preschool bear who goes home with a different child in class each week) and his special BARKday cake and presents! Lucy had some too, but we let Max have first bites!

SOOOOOO grateful for his presence in our family! Many thanks to you-his dog angels!!!
Kelly, Chris, Sloan, Max and Lucy

30 October 2013

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What an amazing orchestration of effort, love, time and resources go into each and every dog getting placed in their "fur-ever" homes! I think it's us humans (and Max our B&T) that got the best Christmas gift!! Lucy came right in and sniffed the house over! She tried out all 3 sofas that they are allowed access to and decided she likes the one in the playroom the best (per the picture). She and Max seem to be doing well so far. She enjoyed watching Sloan take a bath (and Sloan was very excited to show Lucy her swimming moves in the tub). She then jumped on the chair where we read books in our daughter's room and when we told her a no she jumped right off. She has been great with going outside and very curious about the smells in the yard. She has been great with our 2 1/2 year old. She is snoozing away on the sofa right now and she and Max have nice harmony when they snore. Finally a photo of all 3 of our children!!! They love the bedtime routine with Sloan. They have been trying to figure out how to get in her crib with her so tonight we read the books in the guest bed!! TOO Fun! We are filled with a great, plushy, squishy face kind of JOY and much gratitude for all of you! Kelly, Chris, Sloan, Max and Lucy 29 December 2012 Although our "fur children" did not make it into the Christmas Card that will be arriving in the snail mail box, they are doing very well! We have learned just how challenging it is to get a toddler to be still for a photo, let alone a toddler and a dog or two! It could have been May before we got the photo of all of them together so rather than cause such a delay I'm sending along photos of Max & Hersh enjoying the Holiday season! Max went to the mall to see "Santa Paws" and had a GREAT time eating up all the attention from people, guarding his "furless" sister (per second photo) and wondering "what the Hale?" when he saw two little poodles that had been dyed pink for the photo opp! Now he feels more grateful for living in an organic, gluten free home where his natural appearance is supported! Hershey does not like car rides and has a harder time getting around in her "golden years" so she skipped the trip to the mall to see Santa! She gets great JOY from following her "furless" sister around and lying under her high chair for any clean up duty! Max & Hersh continue to be a HUGE part of our lives and we are SO grateful for their presence in our household (the sound of a toddler giggling at her dogs is one of the best sounds in the world)! So no need to worry, we are still those CRAZY DOG people! We hope your holidays are filled with yumminess, great warmth and cold doggie noses! Love & Slobber! Kelly,Chris, Sloan, Max and Hershey 22 December 2011 Just thought I would send along some pics of Max and his new baby sister! We haven't gotten any great photos yet because they are always on the move, but this is a start. Both Max and Hershey are SO great with her. If I lay her in her bassinet and step out of the room Max will lay in that room with her (extra help along with the monitor). If she is in the swing he lays "on guard" in that room. I'm not sure she knows what to make of his sniffing her, but she is sure to grow to realize what pure LOVE he is! And she has a doggie mobile that we have named all the dogs - one is Max, one is Hershey and we have a Riley and a Marley! On the health front, his Bartenella test came back negetive, so we are still in a state of mystery about his health, but we are successfully able to wean the steroids and his platelets are doing well. Hugs & Slobber (Max seems to slobber more in the summer) Kelly,Chris, Baby Sloan, Max and Hershey 14 August 2010 Max has been diagnosed with a tick-borne infection which caused his platelet levels to drop dramatically. He is responding well to the antibiotic treatment ; he had yet another blood draw today and if the platelets are continuing to rise he will continue on this med for 1-2 months with further testing. The good news is that he can resume his walking, but has to be careful not to "rough house." Thankfully, his sister Hershey is not so into roughhousing as she nears her 11th bark day and since I'm pregnant I don't plan on rough housing either! A fun side note about Max - he is already helping to prepare for our baby. He loves to follow Chris into the nursery to work on painting, etc. When we play the "Preparing Fido" CD of various baby sounds he runs to the sound and lifts his ears and turns his head in that adorable way and looks for the source of the sound! He is going to be a great big brother to his baby sister! Speaking of kids we were at a friend's little boy's 5 year old b-day party and he requested that instead of people bringing him presents (he has so many toys he figured) that everyone bring supplies to donate to a local animal rescue. People brought huge bags of food, toys, money etc and filled the directors car!!! What a great kid and another heartwarming story of people loving and rescuing awesome animals! Kelly, Chris, Baby, Max & Hershey 15 March 2010 We have realized many gifts since adopting Max on Oct 28, 2009. He has brought us laughter and joy, peace and a deep sense of gratitude. He has helped to heal us and our other dog,Hershey, after losing our beloved Riley, beagle/hound mix of 14 years. He has helped to refresh and inspire our belief that there are great people out there that love animals and desire to help them! We feel immense gratitude for his amazing foster Mom and the B & T Coonhound Rescue Association. We look forward to adopting another Coonie rescue some day down the road! After seeing how Max loved Thanksgiving we couldn’t wait to give him a Christmas at the Hale house complete with a whole tree decorated with dog ornaments (primarily Snoopy but as we are non-discriminatory we have pictures of all the dogs of our lives, and Scooby, Astro and Clifford ornaments too) his own stocking, presents, being featured in the holiday greeting card and a trip to visit Santa Paws! After we put the tree up he would sit and stare at the lights. It seemed he was enamored with the bright lights-that or he was wondering why this tree was any different than the ones he loves to mark on his walk!! Thankfully he has not tried to lift his leg on the tree! I worried about Max being our third dog and didn’t want the third child syndrome (you know less pictures etc) and made big plans for him to go visit Santa Paws. First, I had to shop for the perfect holiday outfit. After visiting 3 local pet supply stores I finally found a nice fleece in his size (XXL?). Although it is not very holiday-ish he seemed to enjoy wearing it and when I put his HOHOHO scarf on he looked so dapper! Before the big visit to Santa Paws we had our first snow! We imagine he did not have much experience with snow coming to us from Atlanta! Max did not like this and waited until he could wait no longer that first morning before going outside. He is starting to explore the snow more and comes in quite frisky and invigorated after his time outside! Max loved his field trip to the mall to meet Santa! He made new friends waiting in line and everyone laughed when he started to howl and the other dogs joined in! We think he wants to be in a choir! Max quickly learned how to open the wrapping on presents and about his own very own stocking! He cracked us up on Christmas day when he went behind the couch and tried to bury one of his prized bones that Santa Paws brought him! We had never seen him do that before!! Although he enjoys toys he seems to be most grateful for simple comforts such as: lying on the sofa, sleeping in the bed, organic treats, walks and a good ear scratch. He came to us with quite a scar on his rear leg. Although he has full range of motion and function he seems to enjoy when I work on the tissue and use the techniques learned in an animal rehab class I took. We intend to keep this tissue healthy and functional into his golden years! Max is so easy going-he doesn’t mind at all if Hershey steals his toy-he walks away! He is actually a big baby. If he unknowingly picks up a squeaker toy out of the pile of toys he gets upset when it squeaks, drops it and runs to find one of his parents. Once he was playing with a fleece toy and the stuffing came out. He dropped it and sat (yes all 75#) on Chris’s lap!! We imagine with such a sensitive soul he probably didn’t make a very good hunter. We have made it very clear to him that he is retired from working as a hunting dog. He can hunt for fun if he wants but he is now free to be a family dog. He seems to fully understand and enjoy his new life as a family member! He is so great with all the neighbor kids and we can’t wait for him to meet our baby in June! We thought he was such a great dog when we got him but every day he shows what a sweet soul he is and we deepen our bond and connection even further! We tell everyone what a great dog he is and what a great experience adopting a Coonie Rescue has been! We hope that more families will realize the amazing dogs that await them at the B&T Rescue! Kelly and Chris 4 January 2010 Max was such a good boy-he went to 12 Oaks Mall before hours for their special Santa Paws visit! He loved it; lots of good smells and new friends (except the bulldog in front of us in line-he did NOT want to be friends)!! He did howl though and get the whole line of dogs barking! I think he wants to be in a choir! We hope you are all having as much fun Christmassing as we are! Thankfully, next year we will have our human baby to take holiday photos of too! Kelly and Chris 14 December 2009 Max is getting more and more integrated into his new family! I think he thought that Thanksgiving was his day because many of the family and friends that came over were meeting him for the first time and showered him with ear and back rubs! He loved it!! Last night a friend and occasional dog sitter that is home from college came specifically to meet him. He must have known this as he climbed into her lap! We also started working with him on the training and he is doing well! We are planning to take him to the pet store to sniff Santa, too! Hershey is afraid of Santa but will probably feel safer with Max there! I hope you and your doggies are doing well and enjoying the holiday season! By the way, Max sends big hugs and gratitude your way! Kelly 6 December 2009