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 Nina could have whined, sulked and withdrawn from life, but to her, nothing was missing from her life–she had love, family and a warm place to sleep.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.

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!

Our call to have our readers send in their favorite funny photos or cute puppy pictures has brought in some interesting photos of large and small puppies.  Such is the case with Al Navas’s pit bull rescue, Princess. When we saw this photo of Princess in her little basketball shirt, we thought she looked like a pouting basketball fan–perfect for the beginning of NBA playoff, right?

But Princess has a deeper story that proves she’s now a team player and no sore loser.  I will let Al tell you in his own words:

Princess is now 18 months old; she came to us when she was about 8 weeks old. My 19 year-old daughter brought her from a shelter where she was working as a volunteer when somebody was about to surrender this beautiful puppy. What I saw was a gorgeous, active, playful, intriguing puppy. I had a couple of dogs when I was younger but I had heard about pit bulls and their terrible reputation, which made me question the decision to adopt her. As the days went by and the excitement shared by my children and I grew, my wife became increasingly worried.

She saw Princess as a puppy that needed love and a home, but she also saw an aggressiveness about her that only would feed a lifelong fear of any and all dog breeds. I, on the other hand, figured that her defiant behavior was something that would disappear quickly as she got used to the family. But this wasn’t happening. Not only was she defiant, but she would jump on our 10 year-old cat Tigger and she nipped at my children when they got too close. Soon I realized that I had a big problem on my hands and if I couldn’t train my dog properly, there was no telling what a full-grown aggressive pit bull could do to a human being or a small animal.

My concern grew so quickly that I went and bought the book: “Cesar’s Way” by Cesar Milan, better known as the “the dog whisperer.” I also bought other magazines and read up on a few different articles on dog behavior, but Cesar’s book was the most helpful tool.

I learned through reading and a lot of observation that Princess’ aggression was triggered by fear and she was only trying to protect herself. She was so young when we brought her home that assuming that she had been abused could be very erroneous as some dogs suffer from fear due to other conditions. But my love for animals, especially pit bulls as I learned that they are so misunderstood and that they can make such wonderful companions, gave me the determination to make the time and have the patience that has made me bond with this animal more than I ever have to any other animal in my life.
I learned to correct any undesired behavior immediately and that training brings you closer to each other. I also got my children involved in training her and rewarding her with treats. Slowly she learned that aggression was unacceptable and that she had to obey everyone in the house and respect our cat.

Change didn’t come about fast, but anyone familiar with our dog can pet her safely even when she is eating. She is not obsessive with any toys or objects and she has also learned to release or surrender anything upon command. I think I successfully turned a potentially dangerous animal into the pet EVERYONE in my family loves and plays with. My children are so comfortable around her that they can safely get Princess to her crate and close the door when we have to either clean the floors or we had a guest who isn’t comfortable around pit bulls.

My wife who was afraid of any and all dogs now loves them, and this gives me great satisfaction. Our new found love and respect for this breed has made me become a vocal advocate of this breed and I don’t waste a chance to educate others and share my personal experience with the dog that I love as my best friend…Princess.

Al’s story demonstrates why breed-specific legislation won’t stop dog attacks as much as training will. Thanks to Al and his family, Princess is able to live Life to the MAX!

Send us YOUR funny dog photo, cute puppy picture or tell us the story of your dog and you could win a copy of our book. Have a GREAT day!

This week’s Life to the Max Pose of the Week comes again from Sue Shannon when she caught Timber with an obviously guilty face!

This is what happens, Timber, when you get a little nosy. Thanks for submitting another great photo, Sue!  And people, don’t drink too much green beer today!

This week’s Pose of the Week comes again from Nancy Guillory.  It appears that on a hot summer day, her young Airedale pup, Bailey, took it upon himself to make room in the ice chest, so he could cool off.  The only problem was there were things in his way.  Not to worry he took care of it!

Just another demonstration of how ingenious Airedales are!  Congratulations once again Nancy and Bailey and have a GREAT day, everyone!

I don’t know who’s worse when it comes to the anticipation of the holidays–kids or dogs. Yes, I do–it’s the dogs.  Every time I come in the house with a bag or package, I have Amber and Krissy glued to my heels until I put them down.  Then they have to stick their noses in the bags and if there is anything that could even remotely be considered a toy for them, out it comes in a flash.  My husband’s socks, a package of ribbon, a pair of slippers for my mom, a t-shirt for my son–have all been danced across the room with gleeful abandon and christened with a wee bit of slobber before being rescued.

And when the big night comes and everybody is supposed to be all nestled in their beds with no one stirring, not even a mouse–Amber is scheming under her stocking next to the fireplace.  Since more than once, she has crawled up and taken her stocking down by herself, we have taken to barricading off the fireplace and putting her filled stocking up high on the mantle once it’s filled.

It is small moments like these that make the holidays fun, memorable and special.  And when it comes down to it, it’s really the small moments in life that really mean the most. So enjoy your every moment of the holidays with your family, friends and dogs.  Appreciating the moment may be the most important lesson we can learn from our dogs, not just during the holidays, but every day.

Around the holidays, there’s no shortage of sweet treats-especially when it comes to us humans. But for dogs, it can be entirely another matter-just the same ol’ kibble.

While it is not safe to share your human treats with your furkids, you can whip up a batch of homemade dog cookies with this simple recipe:

Max’s AHHH-mmmm Morsels

Ingredients:
2 C       Organic Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp  Baking Powder
1 C       Organic Peanut Butter (chunky or smooth)
1/2 C    Organic Chopped Carrot
1 C       Organic Milk
dash     Cinnamon

Instructions:
In one bowl, combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon. In another bowl, combine peanut butter, carrots and milk. Slowly add dry mixture to peanut butter/carrot/milk mixture and blend well into dough. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured surface and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.  Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375˚ F for 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Cookies can burn easily, so watch carefully.  Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

You can get this recipe on your own keepsake postcard along with a 3 inch dog bone cookie cutter in Max’s store.  Or you copy it here.  Either way, it’s a great way to treat your dogs around the holidays!