The opening line in Christopher Plummer’s recent autobiography is “I was brought up by an Airedale” and I’m thinking of that today as I prepare to celebrate my son’s graduation from high school. Our dogs have been pervasive in Andrew’s life–he has quietly shared ice cream with Bernie; happily blown bubbles with Max; patiently pulled prickers from Amber’s fur and laughed as he and Krissy play chase around the house and yard.  Andrew has grown into a smart, funny and caring young man and I think our dogs have had a paw in teaching him as much as my husband and I have.  In honor of Andrew’s graduation, today’s Life to the MAX Pose of the Week is one of my favorite photos of Andrew and Max, which is also featured in the dedication of our book.  If Max were here today, I think this is what he would say to Andrew.

Bernie, Max, Amber and Krissy–I think we did good!

This week’s Pose of the Week is of my friend’s Airedale tripod, Nina, who epitomizes the Life to the MAX attitude.  Since having her leg removed a few years ago after what they thought at the time was cancer in the bone, Nina has not lost a step. In fact, the way she stands, walks and engages in life, you almost have to look twice to realize her front limb isn’t there. Nina could have whined, sulked and withdrawn from life, but to her, nothing was missing from her life–she had love, family and a warm place to sleep. According to Mark, Nina never stopped being happy, active and just as mischievous as usual.  A little disability is not going to stop her!

As humans, we can all learn something from Nina.  Like Nina, we all endure some wounds, losses or setbacks during our lives, but we can choose to blame our bad luck or bless the event that made us stronger.  Nina is leading the way. Now we just need to have enough sense to follow.

Send us your funny, cute or inspirational dog photos for your chance to win a free copy of our book and remember we are now in the process of collecting stories for our sequel.  If you have a story about the lesson you learned from the Max dog in your life, please send it to us or submit it online.

This week’s Life to the Max Pose of the Week comes again from Susan Widmar of her Airedale puppy, Dudley.  This adorable photo caught Dudley’s Dad peeking at him through the laundry chute. No doubt for Dudley, this phenomenon was met with a mixture delight upon seeing Dad and bewilderment at how he came to fit in that little door!

Join the fun! Send us your cute, funny dog photos for your chance to win a free copy of our book.  Also, we are beginning to collect stories for our sequel, so if you have an inspiring story about a dog named Max, please feel free to submit it online.

Next month, my son graduates from high school and in preparation of celebrating this milestone, I have been going through a lot of the pictures we have accumulated over the years. One of the things that has struck me as I review these images (other than “What was I thinking with some of those hairstyles and glasses?!”) is how much wonder babies have at discovering the world and how much excitement they exude at mastering even the simplest tasks. Like when Andrew discovered that Bernie made a good pillow.

Or how happy he was to be at the same level as the dogs in his dinosaur walker.

Or how content he was just to share a bit of ice cream with his buddy, Bernie.

As adults, we often let daily stress, thoughts of past difficulties or projections of future problems mask that child-like wonder of enjoying the little triumphs that are a presented to us each day. Though it’s often hard to stay in the moment, if we remembered-even for a few minutes-to act a little more like babies and puppies, we’d have a lot more gratitude and fun to share with each other.

That’s what I thought about when I saw this picture of Dudley that was sent to me by his mom, Susan Widmar.

Even when we get older, there are new worlds to explore and moments that make you say, “AWWWW!”  And when you do, you know you’re living Life to the MAX!

Do you ever wonder who you can turn to for good marketing advice? I think the answer may be lying at your feet. Your dog is probably one of the best examples of what it takes to market effectively. Take our Airedale, Krissy, for example. She and Amber come to the office with us every day. After they have greeted everyone, Krissy begins her marketing campaign to be taken for a walk. What makes her an effective marketer?

1) She knows her target market. She knows who feeds her, takes her for a walk and plays ball with her. She is not going to waste time pursuing anyone who hasn’t scratched her belly or given her a Greenie. She makes a beeline directly to my office and jumps on my lap to get my attention.

2) She has developed her core message. For any given situation, she knows the exact doleful face, the slight whimper or persistent paw that will get the just response she wants and she keeps it up persistently until she gets the desired reaction.

3) She uses a good marketing mix. Krissy doesn’t rely on just one tactic to attract attention. If I don’t respond to the lap jumping, she barks and then gets Amber to bark.

This is the basic premise of social marketing. You tweet; someone retweets.

If that doesn’t work, she takes my hand in her mouth and pulls me toward the door.

This is called direct response marketing.

If that doesn’t work, she runs to my assistant and jumps on her chair.

This is called influencer marketing.

And if her wishes are STILL ignored, she will lay by the window and sigh loudly and forlornly.

A good example of stealth marketing.

In the end, she usually gets the walk she’s been lobbying for which just proves you have to use a variety of tactics to achieve success.

These are just a few of the marketing lessons you can learn from dogs and it is the basis for my presentation, Marketing to the MAX: What My Dogs Taught Me About Marketing My Book. Please join me at my next presentation Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 5:30 pm at the monthly meeting of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers at the Scottsdale Marriott Suites Old Town, 7325 East Third Avenue, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. You’ll see that much of marketing just takes dogged determination!

Last week was National Puppy Day and we asked our followers to send us pictures of their dogs when they were pups to celebrate.  Sue Shannon sent this adorable photo of little Elli giving this cat an earful!

Note the guilty look on her face!  Good thing that cat wasn’t real or Elli might have found out what happens when a cat gets ear-itated!  Share your cutest, awww-inspiring puppy photos with us and you could win a copy of our book!  Send to max at nicecreative dot com.  Have a GREAT day!

Yesterday was National Puppy Day and in celebration, I thought I’d share Amber’s baby picture.  I didn’t find it until today so I’ll keep the celebration going by sharing it today as the Pose of the Week. Here she is when we first brought her home in May of 2001:

Now doesn’t that just make you say, “Awwww!?”  Still that innocent face certainly masked a devil in a fur coat!  She was really the poster pup for bad behavior. You’d never know it by the proper lady she has become today though.

Although Krissy looks pretty much like she did when we rescued her, she would feel left out if we didn’t include a photo of her:

That’s the sweet face we fell in love with! Another furry rascal underneath!

If you have a photo of your dog as a puppy, send it to max at nice creative dot com and we’ll share it on our blog.  The cutest photo will win a copy of our book!