Max
He Thinks He's People
Max was rescued from a Bronx hoarding house in 2010. Later that year, he found a loving forever home with Jessie S., who shares with us how she and Max became family:
When he pressed his big white paws up against the ASPCA's glass doors, I thought, “Kind of big, totally adorable.”
Then we entered the playroom. Max, then called Spotter, looked straight into my eyes and nestled his head up against my chin—a dog's “I love you.” At that point I knew he was special, and I knew he was mine.
Over the past year and a half, that instant connection we had at the ASPCA has morphed into a deep and loving bond.
I couldn't have known on that first day how much I would come to adore and depend on Max. And it's really his personality that does it.
Max has been called "awkward," "goober," "goofball," etc., in part because he has a huge Pit Bull head and a Border Collie body, and in part because of his more endearing behaviors.
Max thinks he's a human being. He will not pick up balls, toys or bones with his mouth. Instead, he tries (and fails) to use his two front paws they way we use our hands. He refuses to drink from communal dog bowls, or anything that looks unclean. He can't figure out that to swim, he needs to move his back paws as well as his front ones, and he prefers hanging out with humans over dogs.
Max's bark sounds like it's coming from a Beagle. When he communicates, it's with deep Beagle howls that bring laughter to all those in earshot. Usually his howls are followed by the question "What kind of dog is that?"
I don't know what breeds Max has in him, so my usual reply is, "An awesome one."
I’m not trying to brag. There's just no other way to describe my 70-pound, thinks-he's-a-human, cuddly, loving lapdog.
