Royz Stuff

Maixmum My Man Weinberg

a.k.a. Max, Mr. Max, Mr. Maximum, Sir Maxelot

Born: Wednesday July 16, 1997

Died: Wednesday February 4, 2009

Max Bio Pic 1

The Beginning

Max was born in Apache Junction, Arizona. He had 3 brothers and 4 sisters. On Saturday August 30, 1997 he moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he spent the rest of his life. And, what a life it was...

Max was a big puppy by the time I got him. He was six and a half weeks old and already he weighed about 15 pounds. I took him home on the Saturday before Labor Day in 1997 and took the following week off from work. During that time we proceeded to bond with each other.


Running Records

Max was a runner. I never really took him out running on my running rountes. We would go running specifically for him. Of course I kept track of his mileage. Screen shots of his data from his WinRunLog logfile are shown below - first his yearly distances and then his total distance.

Max Yearly Mileage

Max Total Mileage


Notes taken from emails and personal writings regarding Maxz final days...

Read at your own risk.

Tuesday January 13:

Max started acting mean for no apparant reason.

Friday January 16:

I used the cell phone to film him being mean. I walloped him on his left side after I placed him outside in the morning because he turned mean. This is the only time I hit him because of this. I felt bad.

Monday January 19:

He alternated between not mean then mean then not mean then mean all within less than an hour.

Tonight he did the same thing. But, then I put on his muzzle. Shut him up for a while. So, I don’t know if it is just some stunt he is pulling or if it is involuntary. I’ll keep working on it this week and take him to the Vet on Friday if I don’t notice an improvement in his behavior.

His cancer on his foot re-appeared. I thought it was a puncture wound at first.

I took video of Max being mean.

Tuesday January 20:

He was OK until right before bedtime. But, I gave him 3 aspirins as soon as I got home from Track and 3 more in his food and hour later so I think that helped. He let me change his bandage on his foot (which is still bleeding a bit) and he was happy the entire time. In fact he was licking me the entire time.

He woke me at 1:15 AM to go outside. After that he woke me at 3:00 AM for no apparent reason. So, I sat up with him for a while and went back to bed.

Wednesday January 21:

This morning he wouldn't budge from his bed. I had to coax him to go out front to 'get the paper'. We came back in and I gave him his usual pills. Then I gave him his food. He wouldn't eat and he got mean. And he was shaking violently when he was growling and snarling. When I left for work today, he was just wandering around in the backyard aimlessly.

I took Max to the vet and showed the vet the movie from Monday. We got Tramadol pain pills thinking that Max was in pain and that was causing his meanness. We took a blood sample and sent it in for extensive tests.

When we got home from the Vet, Max was all happy and his usual self. I fed him and then a little bit later he wanted to play with a cow’s ear. He grabbed one and went prancing out into the backyard. I followed him and we sat in the yard while I held it and he chewed on it. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped, got up and walked away. He walked around the backyard like he was in a daze. After a while I went over to him and sure enough, he got mean. That’s how sudden he changes.

Thursday January 22:

Max was OK this morning - for a while. I woke at 4:00 and went out to the living room to see him. He was just laying on his bed and was very mellow. An hour later I gave him his pills and he was just normal. But, when I gave him his food, he went into his mean streak. So, I picked up his food and put it outside on the patio. When I came back in, Max was vicious. So, I made my way around Max and ordered him to go outside. He did so (all the while snarling) and I closed the door. About 5 minutes later I opened up the back door and looked at him. He began snarling so I closed the door and went to take a shower.

After I got home from running at Paseo that night he was goofy (thanks to the pain pills, I assume) and licked my leg the entire time I was changing his bandage on his cancerous foot. He started losing interest in eating.

Friday January 23:

I took movies of him being mean in the morning. I talked to the Vet later that day and found out that all the blood tests were negative. I got some psycho pills (Clomicalm) for Max because we thought his mean behavior could be due to dementia. I gave him some that night and he wasn’t mean. Nor was he mean on Saturday or Sunday.

Saturday January 24:

I cooked him bacon for the first time. I also cooked ground beef and rice. He ate a can of food the night.

Sunday January 25:

We went for his last run. We went out on his "favorite route" but cut it short. We covered a mile (it was usually 1.5 miles - sometimes 2 miles) and ran half of that distance (we would usually run a full mile).

Max hacked up blood and mucous all day. He actually started over night. But, it wasn't really that bad in the morning. That is why we went for a run. He enjoyed the run - he always did.

Max refused to take his pills that day. He wasn't doing to well by evening so I slept with him in the living room that night. Each time he started to hack, I grabbed a towell to catch the expectorant and protect the carpet.

Monday January 26:

I took the day off from work and my friend Jan and I took Max to the Vet. I thought I would have to put him down that day. We got stomach pills (Sucralfate) for him.

Wednesday January 28:

I worked from home that day. I noticed that Maxz feet had swollen from the ankle/wrist on down. Jan came over, took one look at Max and opined that Max wasn't doing too good. The Vet called and I told him of Maxz 'progress'. Jan brought me some pork chops and potatoes thinking I should get a good meal in me. She was right. I was thinking that I would need to put Max down on Friday. Max had started shaking by now. And, his appetite was diminishing. But, later that night, he perked up. He even ventured into my bedroom on his own – he’s only stayed in the living room for the past week. He has some life in him so we went for a drive in the Jeep for a half hour or so.

I took movies with my new cell phone.

Thursday January 29:

This morning? Mean. After work? Slow, but still ‘hurting’. But, I was able to coax him out in the front yard for a while. And he perked up later that evening. It was the last time that he actually ate a meal.

Friday January 30:

I took the day off from work. I thought I would have to put Max down. But, I changed my mind. I stopped giving him Clomicalm and Sucralfate today. I thought the mean behavior was all pain related. And I thought the fact that he wasn’t eating but gobbling zillion of pills might have contributed to his blood spew-age. But, the blood could’ve also come from his lungs... So, now he is down to just pain pills.

At this point, Maxz ills are:

  • Mean streaks – Growls, snarls and snaps. Acts like he doesn’t know who I am. Like he is defending himself. Thought they were dementia and/or pain caused.
  • Hacking up blood – he hacked up mega quantities of blood on the previous Sunday. But now, it’s only a little blood maybe once a day at most.
  • Lungs – not doing well. Has had a wheezing hack for 6 months or so.
  • Leaking eyes – great gobs of green eye boogers all the time
  • Leaking nose – runny nose at times
  • Leaking mouth – drools when he really feels bad
  • Swollen lower legs – from the ankle/wrist on down. Not soft – hard.
  • Cancer on toe – same foot that had the cancerous tumor removed in October. Bled for over a week.
  • Shaking – seems to shake when he is in pain.
Saturday January 31:

Well, Max is not doing too well. He stopped eating again yesterday morning. I can’t even hand feed him. He won’t eat anything. Consequently I can’t get him to take his pills. I tried dissolving some pain pills in water and squirting it in his mouth with a syringe. He took that. Once. But, unfortunately, only half of the pain pills had dissolved. So, I tried again and he got mean.

In the afternoon he went out in the back yard, ate a bunch of grass (so he could puke) and he puked. Lots of yellow liquid. Bile, I assume. Not good.

I cooked some bacon for Max and he ate that (and so did I). But, he was less than enthusiastic about eating the bacon.

Monday February 2:

I worked from home today until about 9:30. This is because it was cold outside and I didn't want to put Max outside until it got warm. In fact, when I left for work, I just let him stay inside.

Max got mean today when I tried to squirt some dissolved pain medicine into his mouth. So, it didn’t get done. I bought him Ensure to try to get some nutrition in him. He turned his nose up at it.

After work, I took Max to PetsMart (left him in the car) and bought some treats. He loved them in the Jeep but when we got home he lost interest.

Tuesday February 3:

Worked from home until 9:30. Left Max outside when I went to work. Came home early. I went to the Vets office and paid for euthanasia, cremation and marble tomb. I also got a refill for his pain pills.

Wednesday February 4:

I worked a few hours here at home today and then drove off to work. I got a half mile away and decided to come back home. I and took the rest day off from work.

His lungs are now filling with blood. He’s now periodically hacking up thick blood clumps. It started overnight. I realize his time is almost over. Unfortunately, his mind is still there. It’s his body that is shutting down.

Around noon I called the vet and made an appointment to take Max in for his euthanasia at 7:00 PM. I spent until early afternoon getting stuff done and then I switched my attention to Max. We hung out together for the rest of the day. We took a walk that afternoon. It was slow - he was slow. We visited some neighbors during the walk. I let him take all the time he wanted to sniff at and smell stuff. When we got home, he was whipped.

I hung out with him in the backyard. I read magazines using Max as a magazine support. He didn't care. He just laid on his side.

Later, when we were waiting for Jan to come by to take us to the Vet, I took pictures and movies of Max and me together. I placed the camera on a tripod. Max and I were on a folded up comforter in the dining room. It was the last time Max gave me a kiss - and I got it on video.

Just before Jan showed up Max did something he hadn't done in weeks (since he had gotten ill). He always liked to chew on and eat Purina Busy Bones. I had given him one a few weeks ago but he didn't have any interest in it. As a side note, he had lost all interest in biscuits, treats and playthings once he got sick. Anyway, he picked up a Purina Busy bone and pranced around with it in his mouth. He stopped to chew in it briefly then picked it up and carried it over to me. He used to like it for me to hold whatever it was that he was chewing on while he chewed. I was so happy yet so sad. Happy because he was showing a bit of the ol' Max. Sad because I knew it was just a fleeting moment and he would be gone forever in just an hour.

Jan arrived at about 7:00 PM and we got into the Jeep - Max and me in the back and Jan in the drivers seat. Max was still showing energy - he always liked riding in the Jeep and he always liked going to the Vets.

We got to the Vets and walked in and Max instinctly got on the scale. He was down to 87.8 pounds. Just 3 and a half months ago he weighed over 100 pounds.

We went into the examination room. They had a comforter laid out on the floor for Max. I made him sit and then lay down on his left side. I was next to him - facing his underside. Jan was facing he back side. I held Maxz collar with my right hand and put my left hand on his head. Jan and I scratched his head and kept telling him he was a good boy until finally he lost conciousness and died.

Of course, I cried. And cried. Max was my best friend for over 11 years. No matter what happened in my life, I knew Max would be there for me. And, he always was. He knew when I was happy and he knew when I was sad. He was my rock. He was the one single steady thing in life. And, now he was gone. Gone forever.

The Vet left me and Jan alone in the room with Max. After a while Jan left me alone. All I could do was hug Max and cry. I was alone again. Finally, I kissed Max on his lips a few times and got up and opened the door to the examination room. It took me forever to walk out of that room. I backed out slowly and walked into the reception area. Jan and I went back in and I showed her that Maxz gums and tongue were already losing their pink color and turning grey.

And then we left. Jan drove me home and came in for a while. I was surprised that I wasn't near as upset as I thought I would be. In fact I felt relieved. It had been a long 3 weeks watching Maxz health decline right in front of my eyes.

Since Jan has a dog (and I no longer did) I gave her some of Maxz food (cold cuts, peanut butter, dry food) and other Max things that I didn't need anymore. It was best to get them out of the house as soon as possible

After Jan left, I got a call from a friend. We talked for a half hour or so. Then I called another friend and we talked for over an hour an a half. All the while I still wasn't upset - just relieved. Then we hung up and I decided to stare at the TV for awhile.

I finally was alone - nobody to talk to nor did I have Max with me. I was so exhausted - physically and mentally that I fell asleep.

When I awoke at midnight, I freaked out. I had absolutely NO IDEA where Max was. I stood in the living room completely perplexed. I looked around - in the bedroom and in the living area. I looked out the back door. I could not remember what happened to Max.

Finally, it hit me.

Max was no longer...