Project 13: Max's Rescue Story

Serena from Pretty Fluffy, started a wonderful cause, it's called Project 13! 13 things we can do to help shelter or rescue animals.

This is a cause especially close to our hearts as our little Max is a rescue. We adopted Max when he was just over 3 years old. He had been a puppy mill stud dog. His coat was terribly matted, his paws were sore from walking on wire for his entire 3 years. His first day out of the mill, he found himself at the vet, getting a huge umbilical hernia fixed (a big lump coming out of his stomach), 13 teeth removed because they had rotted, a big dose of antibiotics for the cuts and scraps and he was also neutered. Some of his ribs are fractured, and his front legs bow out like a bulldog (our vet has the theory that he was crushed at one point in his life).
Surprisingly he was still very friendly . . . to me! When it came to men (including Lee) he was very unsure. Once in the beginning Lee had raised his voice at the TV and Max just started peeing, he was so scared. That was the first moment we realized how 'damaged' he was.

To be fully honest I wasn't prepared for the challenges that came with adopting a rescue. Because he had lived in a crate since he was 8 weeks old he had never learnt to hold his pee. He would pee on everything and anything. He peed on the leg of the couch, the leg of each dining chair, the bed frame leg, the dining table legs, the coffee table, the console table everything. Slowly but surely we taught him to ask to go out, and I guess he felt he had sufficiently peed on everything in the house :). We still weren't able to leave stuff out of place, seriously you couldn't put a bag of groceries on the floor without him feeling the need to "claim" it, once Lee left his runners out and Max let him know that they weren't suppose to be there with a shoe full of pee, that might be why we're pretty good at putting our stuff away now! haha

Another thing we had noticed was that he had NO idea what toys were. We would buy him cute little dog toys and he wouldn't even touch them. He never ran (unless he was scared), and he never played. 

Another issue was eating, he wouldn't take food from us. We would have to walk away from him while he ate and he would very tentatively pick at his food. Clearly he has gotten over that issue:

And his last big issue was some SERIOUS separation anxiety! He would scream when left him, have diarrhea, pee, the whole nine yards.

Slowly but surely he got better, he stopped peeing in the house about 6 months after we got him, he stopped being scared at loud voices about a year after that (although he still hates it if Lee raises his arms into the air, seriously he jumps up and barks at him until he puts them back down). He's now obsessed with toys, and will steal food right out of your mouth if you're not looking. And very slowly his separation anxiety went away, once he realized that we'd always come back he stopping being upset!

Max brought out the best in both of us. I found patience I never knew I had. 7 years later he's a dream dog minus his all consuming hatred of big black dogs (I'll explain that in another post). And through all the challenges I would do it again in a heartbeat with out hesitation! It's almost selfish. I see him snuggled in front of the fire, or eating his birthday cupcake and I think of how far he's come and how lucky we all are to have found each other!
I realize that not everyone is able to adopt a rescue right now (we aren't in a position to do it again right now) but there are still  lots of things that you can do to help the cause. Here's 13 of mine:

1. Donate old towels, and sheets to our local shelter. 
2. Donate old toys to local rescue groups for other small dogs like the rescue group we adopted Max from: Little Paws Rescue.
3. Donate time to take photos of shelter dogs. Sometimes the difference between getting adopted and getting euthanized is a good photo. 
4. Buy a Puppy Mills Bite T-shirt from The Fleas Knees Tees.
5. Instead of Christmas Cards, save that money, send out Christmas Emails and donate the money saved to a local shelter. 
6. Promote Project 13! ;)
7. Share profiles of adoptable animals on facebook. You never know when a photo will result in a forever home. 
8. Take part in more adoption events at Petsmart and Bosley's. 
9. Continue to donate to Little Paws Silent Auctions and fundraising events. 
10. Never Ever shop at stores that sell puppies or Kittens! NEVER EVER! Not even to pick up a toy, not even to spend a penny.
11. Consider fostering another dog. A few years ago we fostered the sweetest wire haired chihuahua named Chewy. We fell so madly in love with him it broke our hearts. We still talk about him at least once a week! We said we couldn't do it again, but time heals all wounds and we're thinking that for short term fosters we might be able to do it! 
12. Consider fostering a Bird. Dogs aren't the only animals that need help! We adopted our Canary, Carson, from Greyhaven Bird rescue when he was just a little chickadee. Greyhaven receives many many birds that need foster homes. We could definitely do that!  
13. Lastly, share Max's story! I will always consider Max a huge success story! He overcame so   much to become the amazing dog he is today and I know that when he passes I will have no regrets about his final years with us. 

Remember small acts done with great love can change the world!

*if you decide to do your own 13 list feel free to link up to Pretty Fluffy's Link Party!