Some of you may have noticed that scrawny sick puppy in my side bar - that is Maxx. Maxx came to us through freecycle. He had been dumped on this woman by her daughter. The woman already has 2 small older dogs and a medium sized outside dog. She posted him on Freecycle and I replied. Why did I respond? There was no posted picture, the brief description gave no indication of anything that was happening with this pup - there were no red flags. As I skimmed through the offers, this on just got my attention. As I clicked to open the full message I was thinking “I need another dog like I need another hole in my head” Reading through the description my gut started screaming “GO GET THE DOG GO GO GO” I emailed the lady and we made arrangements for us to meet Maxx that day. When I first saw Maxx my heart fell into my shoes. He was obviously grossly underweight. He had sore where his knee was rubbing through his skin. He was covered in dandruff and there was no sheen to his coat. He was impossible to pet. When you tried you’d run your hand along his back your hand dipped and rose over every single rib. I was afraid that I was bruising him!

These pictures were taken the first day we had Maxx. On Maxx’s second day with us we took him to the vet. We had to be squeezed in on an emergency basis on a Saturday no less (can’t you hear the money falling from our pockets?). The poor guy was weighed. He was 26 lbs and a normal Doberman pup his age weighs at LEAST 40 lbs. They stuck stuff up his butt, needles in his legs, squeezed and poked and pried at every corner. It was the doggie equivalent of an alien abduction. Maxx was diagnosed with severe malnourished, hook worms, and vitamin/mineral deficiences. He’ll need to be monitored by the vet as we try to bring him up to a normal weight and we now have to get our other 2 dogs tested and possibly treated for hookworm. Anyways, this all adds up and the whole thing snuck out and blind sided us. If you could donate a dollar or two Maxx and I would be very grateful. The button will remain active in my side bar until I reach the amount that covers Maxx’s vet bills. If there is any excess money we will use it to buy supplies for a local dog rescue. Thanks everyone and remember to click on the donation button in the side bar.