Max & Harley come to us from a family who could not give them enough time and wanted a better life for them.   They will be 2 in April and are sweet nice housedogs that love children.  They are housebroken and polite in the house,  Max is a bit blonder and Harley is a bit darker.   here is Max’s update from his first night in foster care…

“Max had a rough time settling down his first night--panting, pacing through the house, generally nervous.  Finally convinced him to settle in on the bed I set up for him in our room, and he slept well.

“He loves the baby, and Meghan (he obviously likes small people).  He follows Mark everywhere when he's home and in the vicinity (no surprise there, since his dad was his life before).  He's apparently never seen a stuffed bone in his life--I gave all the dogs one each this morning stuffed with liverwurst, and the other two went to town while Max licked his a moment then watched them in amazement.  Later today I'll try peanut butter or Velveeta.  

“He loves squeaky toys and is also a serious counter-shopper wannabe.  So far all he's managed to snitch are a few cheerios from the baby, but he was seriously interested in my ice cream last night, Meghan's honey bun this morning, and Mark's cereal…  So on we go to learn about him.  He's very sweet, very solid and is settling down well today.”

 Max’s letter to his brother Harley from foster care:

 Dear Harley,

How are you, bro?  I'm hanging out and having fun with my new foster family.  I love playing with the three kids, even the baby.  The older kids throw balls for me to chase and as you know, I love to de-fuzz tennis balls, so I work on that for awhile when they are busy.  There are whole bunches of squeaky toys to play with too!  Today I chewed the nose off a squeaky grapefruit--it was getting on my nerves.  I've also tried potato pop-ups and sterilized bones, and they're pretty good.  My foster mom stuffed one bone with liverwurst...man, you have no idea how nasty that stuff is!  I ignored it after I tried one lick!

My foster mom gives me this stuff I love, though--she calls it “cheese”.  When she stuffs a bone with cheese I lay right down and chew on it for a long time... they are good!  For cheese I'll even go in this wire thing called a crate and let her close the door.  I let her know when I've had enough by giving one deep WOOF, but she usually just tells me to settle down, and I do.  I don't like being separated from her so I whine a little, and then a nap catches me, since it's got a soft comfortable bed in there.  I try to be good when my new family isn't home...I hang out with the other dogs here and we wait for someone to come home to play with us.

I've made it clear that I like to be right in the middle of things.  My foster mom always finds me right next to her no matter where she is cause I'm trying to show her what a loyal dog I am.  For some reason when she trips over me while she's making dinner she seems a little upset, but she just asks me to move, or lets me play in the yard while she watches me.  I haven't had any accidents in the house and they are very happy about that.  And, one night my foster mom sat down and groomed me while I slept next to her.  That felt REALLY, REALLY good.  I highly recommend it!

 The baby has really cool toys on the floor.  I usually don't pick them up but sometimes I just can't help myself.  I don't mind giving them back when they take them back, though.  And today I had a great time shredding a tissue from the wastebasket...my foster mom said, "NO" to me and I quickly swallowed it down!  Then I tried to look really sorry...

 I'm still a little scared of going in the car, but I lie down in the back and try to ignore all the turns.  I love going on walks.  I haven't pulled my foster mom down the street yet, but I love to try to tug the kids!  And I've showed them my tricks like "sit" and "stay."  My foster mom says I have to slim down some, and she's got me on reduced-calorie food (can you imagine??) but she's mostly trying to get me to exercise.  I'm feeling pretty good--I play longer than I did when I first got here.  I heard her say I'm good about coming when I'm called, but it's really just cause I want to be with her and the family all the time.

 I like to try to play with the other dogs that live here, but it's not like playing with you.  I really miss you and I know my foster mom is a little worried cause she told me I look too sad, and then......she took me to the VET!!  Don't tell anyone I said this, but she was a really nice vet.  Everyone petted me there, and I actually had fun!  I do like getting out and about.

 I hope you are OK and enjoying life at your new foster house.  Please write and let me know how things are going!

 Love,

Max

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