Maks - Adopted April, 2008

Maks with his new brother, Little Duke

June 2008 - Maks' mom sent in an update on her beautiful boy:

Maks came to live with us as our foster dog in April, 2008. Although we have fostered dogs for some time, we were nervous about Maks. He was being returned to the rescue by his second adoptive home in a year. We heard he was out of control, completely not housebroken, able to leap fences with ease, crazy high energy. His most recent adoptive home reported that he deliberately urinated on them and guests to their home. We agreed to foster him, to evaluate him, and hopefully help his bad behaviors get better with training so he might have a chance at a successful adoption.

Expecting a monster, we ended up with an incredible, wonderful dog. He was shaking with pent-up energy when we picked him up; we immediately took him to the off-leash dog park where he ran his fool head off for well over an hour. For the first two weeks he needed at least one good trip to the off-leash park every day; once he adjusted to the regular exercise, he now has a normal amount of energy for a strong adult boxer mix. He put 4 pounds of muscle on in the first three weeks, filling out to the healthy, beautiful boy he now is.

We have not had one single potty incident with Maks - deliberate or not. He is doing wonderfully in his obedience class. He gets long trips to the off-leash park just about every day, and snuggles up every night in bed with one of his humans. So far we have had no issues with him at all, but we promise him every single day that no matter what might show up, we will all work on it together. He is part of our family and will be for the rest of his life.

Our family has had a year of heartbreak as we lost our 2 senior dogs and our senior cat. While nobody can replace them of course, Maks has filled a void that was felt by every single member of our family. His new momma and daddy love him to pieces. His new human boy adores him and vice versa; Jake's bed is Maks' first choice of where to sleep every night. His new canine brother Duke is thrilled to have a buddy to play with again. We all feel so fortunate that Maks has come into our lives, and promise to provide him with a loving home for the rest of his life.