Maximo

I found Max on Christmas Eve morning. He was laying where he always lays, at the threshold of my bedroom. Keeping watch.
Max came to me when my friend moved to Hawaii. He was about 6 months old and had no discipline. I had never owned a dog except as a small child so I didn't know what the heck I was doing. My coworker, Yvonne, was also given a dog, Chewy, and was starting from zero too. We spent a long time talking about what the heck to do with these little creatures. She watched a lot of Cesar Milan and went in that direction. Me, not so much, although I tried.
He chewed everything. I only own one pair of shoes from his puppyhood because he ate all of them. He ate a feather pillow, I woke up coughing in the middle of the night and stepped onto a very fluffy floor. He was very proud of himself and I couldn't blame the guy, it had fallen from the bed so it was fair game. I learned a lot about picking up after myself. I'm not a neat and tidy person but I do pick up if I don't want something destroyed.
He ate paperback books off the shelf. and I once came home to a cat litter beach. It had been sitting there for a really long time and all of a sudden it was interesting! He loved cardboard all his life, Coca-Cola cartons, paper towels, towel rolls...
Since I didn't know he needed an Alpha, he became the Alpha and protector. He rarely sat facing me. he always kept his back to me. I found out it's a protective measure for dogs. That's why he slept at the threshold of my door.
When he was young, he would lay down in the bed with me and then, when he felt I was safe or asleep, he would go eat his food and patrol the house. I would put his food down as soon as I finished his walk after work, but he wouldn't touch it until night time. I still don't understand why. Eventually, he would eat dinner at dinner time.
At the same time period, he would hear my alarm and jump on to the bed. I'd snooze the alarm and we'd snuggle. When I would fall back to sleep, he would sit, with this butt in my face, watching the alarm clock for the next 10 minutes until it went off again.
I loved to lay down with him at that time. He would lay in the crook of my arm and put his paw in my hand. It was lovely. I cherished those moments. I knew I'd never get a picture of that moment.
I'm crying. I'm stopping. for now.