max's big adventure
If you’re new here, Max’s story is a tale of love, loss and legacy.
Before we start, we encourage you to grab a box of tissues and buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…
Max’s story began on September 14, 2017 when a wonderful volunteer at the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC) posted a video to Facebook. Max was on the EList because of kennel stress and needed to be rescued right away!
Our 12 year-old rescue pittie, Smitty had passed away from old age 4 years before and it broke our hearts. We weren't sure we could ever do it again until we came across Max’s post and we couldn’t let him be put down.
On the evening of the 14th, we met and fell in love with Max and brought him home that night.
Max was a great BIG ball of love and energy! He was 2 1/2 years old and enjoyed walking me and long runs with Ted. He could also be swayed with naps, cuddles and Jeep adventures.
You see, anywhere we went, Max did too. He explored the red rocks of Sedona, the snow of Flagstaff and road-tripped to New Orleans (on my lap) for the 1,000 mile drive to see his hooman sister, Alyssa get engaged! He was family from the moment we laid eyes on him.
Max had high energy and it was tough to wear him out. We spent many days running him around the desert (in the cooler months) trying to help expend some energy.
On the fateful day of March 25, 2018, we had Max out in a remote area of Lake Pleasant, near China Dam to hike and enjoy the day. We’d later learn that this area of the desert is 10,000+ acres.
What began as a beautiful day with a peaceful break along a small creek quickly went south when two wild burros came running by and Max took off to meet them! In that instant, our life forever changed. We cried out for him to stop and he was gone in a FLASH!
The hours, days, weeks and months that followed were an absolute emotional roller coast. You should know that we’re crazy dog people and by the end of this, you’ll be shaking head in agreement.
We were new to Arizona and didn’t have much of a network and had never lost a dog. We did the only thing we could think of which was to stay close to the area and take to the internet to ask for ideas, help and emotional support.
We were met with an outpouring of generosity, love and support by our fellow Phoenicians. 50 volunteers showed on the first day to help us search. There were hikers, boaters, prospectors, horseback riders and ATV/off-roading clubs.
My husband spent 3 weeks straight onsite, camping in the desert searching, resetting humane traps at sunrise and sunset, cooking chicken and bacon to lure him in. We had 2 pet trappers, consulted with hunters that knew the terrain and animal behavior. We made scent trails and placed our clothes in the area. We had the help of two pet trackers, an American Bulldog named Apollo and a retired police K9. We rented drones and a helicopter. We hiked miles on foot and took to the lake for a different vantage point and searched the shorelines. We captured footprints and compared them to Max’s tracks from home. We talked to anyone that would stop, shared our story and gave out hundreds and hundreds of flyers. We used spotlights, night vision goggles and acquired snake boots given the countless number of rattlesnakes we came across. By far our scariest encounter was a bull but that’s a story for another day.
We posted and reposted large yellow lost dog signs with a 20-mile radius. We alerted our vet, logged him on every lost dog site we could find. We had countless trail cams with countless visits from more wild burros, cows and skunks.
We even hired a psychic...
Our internet friends checked the lost dog sites for us and reported any dog that looked like Max. We ran back and forth to the shelter to check. Some of our new friends even joined us to camp and lift our spirits.
The days grew hotter and sightings dwindled. We made the difficult decisions to return home to sleep. We’d get up early in the morning to set the traps and search until high sun, rest on the trail as we suspected Max would be doing and as suggested by the animal trackers and ramped up when the temps cooled some in the evening, setting the traps, searching and exhausting all of the day light for days.
One of the many tough lessons we learned was that while Max was chipped, it only helps if someone finds and scans him. If only Apple tags were a thing back in 2017!!! We still keep his info current on the lost pet sites, microchip company and with the vet in hopes that one day we’ll be reunited.
Max loved us and we loved him in return. He taught us how to love after loss and we loved him hard! He definitely rescued us. If loved could’ve saved him, he’d be napping on the couch with his family today.
During this dark time, we found comfort and peace in our community, and we are eternally grateful. As the days and month passed, we decided to channel our grief into honoring Max's memory and paying forward the kindness of our community. We wanted to give other "Max's" at MCACC a chance to find their forever homes by providing enrichment toys. Kennel stress is a huge challenge and is a large contributor of euthanasia. Through enrichment toys, dogs can focus on an activity and find purpose instead of solely focusing on their environment and Max's Miles, community collective was born.