I lost my shadow last month and my heart is broken. Two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, we had to bring our dog Max in to be put to sleep after he suffered what we think was a stroke. 

He came into our lives one December afternoon when the kids and I were making Christmas cookies. My husband came in the house and unzipped his coat to reveal a small spotted puppy with big brown eyes. He was supposed to be a surprise for our daughter Michalee, however we found out later that she secretly wanted a bunny instead.

That turned out to be a good thing, as Max chose me as his person and was glued to my heels every step I made. He’d even go through our invisible fencing if I was on the other side of it, yelping as he did so. He wasn’t a big fan of water, but one day I was on a paddleboat, and he jumped off the dock and swam out, desperate to get to me. Once I walked around our kitchen table 10 times with him right next to me the entire time to prove to my dad he’d follow me anywhere.

A Jack Russell Terrier, Max was the smartest dog I’ve ever had. He taught himself to whine at the door to go outside just two weeks after we got him as a puppy. Then he learned to jump up and open the front door by hitting his chin on the handle. Unfortunately he never taught himself to shut the door after he came in. 

Max was also the most stubborn dog I’ve ever had. Nothing would stop him. Food would disappear off our counters when we were gone. We knew it had to be him but couldn’t figure out how he was getting up there until one day I left for work but forgot something and had to come back. I caught him pushing a chair away from the table. He was moving furniture around to use as a step stool.

He would eat anything he could get his paws on, especially candy. The first time he ate an entire bag of chocolate he threw up and then shook for three days. He must have built up a tolerance because he never had any problems after that. He’d just throw up the candy wrappers and go on with his life.

One Valentine’s Day I’d wrapped up gifts for my niece and nephew and tied Tootsie Pops in with the bows. I came home to find the presents exactly as I’d left them but missing the suckers. Max would always bring things he wasn’t supposed to eat under the bed, and sure enough, when I looked there were the wrappers. Once he got into the closet where I’d hidden all the kids’ Easter basket candy and ate everything three days before Easter.

He never had the best eyesight, but his sense of hearing was acute. All I had to do was shift in the chair I was sitting in, and he’d be awake and at my feet, waiting to follow me wherever I might be headed. I don’t think he had a full night’s sleep until he became nearly deaf last year.

When Max first came to us we had another dog that would “chase” cars, running back and forth along the edge of our property line. After watching for a few days Max took over the job. As it was an ongoing job he eventually ran a dirt path along his route and we became known as the house with the car chasing dog.

As a puppy he was short haired, through most of his years he had a mohawk of wiry hair, and during the last few years the wiry hair started taking over his entire body. By the time he passed away his eyebrow hairs were over 2” long.

He didn’t really start showing his age until he was around 15, and this summer it was obvious that he was getting tired. But of course he was too stubborn to pass away in his sleep. My daughter Brenna told me he’s jumping around in heaven waiting for me and bothering everyone, “Is she here yet? Is she here yet? Is she here yet?”

All of us who love animals know how much it hurts to lose a pet, but there always seems to be one that’s harder to lose than the rest. Max was that one for me. Stubborn, annoying, and loyal, there will never be another like him.