Gun Dog Forum

It is with a crushed heart,and tearfull eyes that I report the passing of a great dog,and the perfect example of what a gsp is supposed to be,my max dog is gone.
I had to help end max's suffering today at 243 pm as we had discovered advanced cancer in his kidneys,extending through to his colon.True to max's toughness,he never showed any signs of it until last night,when he showed me he was in pain.Ultra sounds found the cancer and surgery confirmed the extent of the damage.
Max was that one is a life time dog,he would do anything I asked of him,with every bit of his abilty and strength.
Max started his life as the runt of the litter,but soon caught up,and at 6 months of age recieved a navhda natural abity score of 112,he then went on the recieve 2 prize 1 ut scores at the tender age of 18 months,one on a friday ran by mike kindler,and another ut prize 0ne on sunday when ran by me.For us two it was the start of a life time of a partnership.
Max went on to recieve 2 more prize 1 ut test scores,with both of them on grounds he had never seen once before he ran them,once in iowa,and once in south dakota.He would just tear the grounds apart,and was fun to watch run.During this time i also put an akc master hunt test title on max,which he recieved around 2 years of age.
At about 3 1/2 years of age I decided field trials would be fun,so I took this navhda trained dog,and started to run walking trials with him,we learned together and he once again showed his trainability and recieved his Field Champion while be handled by a beginner.So max did it the hard way,learn to run big after learning to quarter your first 3 years of life.
During his filed trial life,he had 23 staright runs without making a mistake,and never broke once in his entire life in a call back,he was 3rd in open gundog rating one year,and I did not even run a fall trial with him that year.Max always found birds and was broke,he placed 3rd in a trial at 12 years of age at pine island,with a very nice performance.
During all this,max also went down to the nstra dog of the year event in amos,and won many shoot to kill timed events with his fastest 4 bird time around 3 1/2 minutes.
Max also excelled at wild birds with sharptails,praire chickens,ruffed grouse,texas quail,ducks,geese all being shot over him,he would hunt all day,and never quit.
His toughness was amazing ,one day he came out of our marsh,with one eye shut. I looked in it,and he had a 1/4 diameter stick,2 inch's long under his eyeball,just walking around like no big deal.
Besides his god given talents,max was a great friend and a gentleman in the house who never once growled at anyone in his entire life.
when the gsp was designed as an all purpose,hunting companion dog,max was the dog who fit that mold in every sense of the word.
My bed will have an empty spot on it tonight,along with a big whole in my heart,for my old brown dog max.

My bed is

Sorry to read this Larue it's tough to loose any of them but one you really have a close connection with well you know how it hurts. :cry
Just know you helped Max by not letting him suffer.
You have my deepest sympathy
RIP/Max

Sounds like you did find the dog to do all things. Those are usually the type that do it lovingly and not because they have to. Good dogs can handle any bird in any environmemt given the chance and I think you did just that. Remember the good times and be thankful you had all of those years with him. God bless you and Max.

Ezzy

So sorry to hear of your loss. We all know they don't last forever, but it is still never easy to let them go. I have a line bred shooting starr dog myself and there are some truly special dogs in that pedigree.

Sincerely,
Charlie

Very sorry about Max..I know he was a great one for you...

Sounds like he was one heck of a best friend... I'm sorry for your loss. He'll live in your memories and heart.

Dennis, sorry to hear about the loss of Max. I know he was way more than just a "dog" to you. Dogs like this will continue to live in your heart and memories forever.

Sorry for your loss. Never easy. Sounds like Max was a wonderful dog!

Thank you for sharing that tribute. He was a great dog, obviously.

Sorry to read that Dennis. Glad I was fortunate enough to hunt with him a couple of times and see him at trials. He was a Very nice dog and it will be strange to see you without him. He was your "Go Too" dog and he will never be replaced, but I think you will have others in the future that will try and reach his benchmark, and when they get close you can Thank him. That dog taught you alot.
Hang in there Buddy.

Sorry to hear about Max. When I lost my boy to cancer I had somebody ask me awhile later "If it hurts so bad why do you do it? Why do you get and keep dogs?" My answer, "Because they're worth the hurt" Sounds like Max was worth the hurt and in the long run more than made up with it with the life he gave you. Again, my condolences.

As I greave,I remember a few stories I have had with max.
I remember the first trial he placed in,it was down in rend lake,I was a very poor horse rider,and as I was getting on my horse(borrowed),my wife had max at the line.As I stopped to tighten the saddle,I heard
a "oh "bleep"",and looked up to see max breaking away minus his collars,both flash and leather.He had backed out of his collars as my wife held him,luckily the judges told teh other handler to go,so off we went!
I found max standing out of sight,and after the bird work,put his collars on him.
he then had 4 more finds,all clean.
So,,in the call back he points the bird,I flush it,mutlple shots and the bird rocks hard and sails for 200 yards..I send max.
He cannot find the bird,so i call him back and give him a line to take.Now max ran the invite so he knows blind retrieves.He then finds the bird,but he goes on point!
I tell him fetch,which he goes to do,but the bird gets up and flys away! He stops to flush.
Lucky for me,the judges are good and they give him a dead bird to retrieve,which he does with his normal speed.
He gets 2nd place for 2 points in a 25 dog stake.
I remember a trial in which he was the first brace,a walking trial.He had 5 clean finds,with two of the finds the birds were actually roosted in trees,the secound of these max was pointing with his front end standing on a downed log,while pointing the bird in the tree.He won that trial.
i remember his first triple kill on sharptail in south dakota,as i walked in and bird after bird got up in front of him,and the three retrieves after that.
I remember him being the only dog in texas,who would point singles,and the one who found most of the dead birds.
I remember watching him hunt all day out west,when other dogs had quit,getting into his all day pace,as I used to call it.
I remember the judges making me hold him in the water for 10 minutes,at the invite so his bracemate could find a bird,he had 14 finds,even with being held out.
I remember when at 8 weeks he backed a 3d deer target and I did not know what he was doing
Most of all I remember the love he gave me,and his heart,and burning desire to please me.

sorry for your loss..your stories are ways of celebrating his life and will keep his memories alive..gone but never forgotten!!..ruth

Even in death,max does his part.I just receieved a letter from my vet where they have donated money in max's name to the 2nd chance fund,where dogs who's owners do not have the money to pay for vet services are taken care of,very much like he was.

Such good memories. Wonder what he is telling all of the dogs up there with him. Bet he has just as many memories as they are something that always takes two.

Ezzy

I thoughts and prayers are with you.

Very sorry to hear this. May he RIP.

Very sorry to hear about Max.