word!

Our farm dog, Max has passed away. Max was a full breed black lab and lived a full life to a ripe old age. As he was ~15 at his passing, we don’t remember much about how he came into our farm; his true age or where we got him from. We assume we got him in 2004 or so and he probably was a free puppy from Brownton area where his dad visited his purebred mom after hours.

Max for surely spent his puppy time visiting Gustavus Adolphus college and wooing all the coeds. He also loved to tag along with Michael and the other dog we had at the time – Jake. As he grew, he would constantly chew on and try to fight Jake, who couldn’t care less. They were best of buddies but often would get in trouble by running together away from the farm. They always came back when they were hungry or thirsty.

As a black lab, Max loved the water and would often hang out in the water of the pond or a drainage ditch if it was nearby. He helped hunt his share rabbits and squirrels, but never really caught one. He loved going for truck rides and was always not more than 10 feet away when you were doing something on the farm. Michael brought Max into town a few times as he remodeled his house, but Max would whine and whine that he couldn’t be outside and roaming where he loved.

After Jake passed, Max was the top-dog on the farm and enjoyed that role. He later had to contend with a dog James got that wouldn’t let Max be the alpha. That dynamic led to fights that almost killed Max and left him with lasting ear damage.

To the end when he could hardly stand the heat, cold or old age, Max was a trooper and would always come around for a pat on the head and to be by you. He was a great dog that will be missed.