WHO is this Guy?

Everyday in Heaven is so pretty. There's much to see, to eat and there are all the train rides you want. Fred took us on a ride today. He never asks where to, we just climb aboard and take in the scenery. Trains are nice, I'd never been on one before here. They seem to be very pet friendly too. We all have a blast. Bubba (we'll talk about him when he's not reading this) seems to stay closest to Fred. I like to sit with the girls....especially Smokey and Lady. Celie and Queenie are thick as thieves, although there are no real thieves in Heaven, duh. They spend alot of time at the beauty parlor getting those silly pink ribbons in their hair. The cats, well what can I say about them. Oh, I can say lots...and I will. But back to Me, Max and his new home.

After the party for my arrival, I finally got to go inside my new home. WOW...big place. And, there were food bowls...2 of them. That means I get to eat twice as much I guess. I heard the silly man say one was for Celie, but hey, she's little, does she really need a bowl of her own? I think not. I'll just help her keep her girly figure by munching down. I started on my bowl but all of a sudden there were 6 eyeballs staring me down. Now what. No more surprises, please.

There were these 3 gray cats just inches from me and they looked serious. Seems they are part of the Gray Army and they run the place. How did Celienudge allow this to happen? Cats rule, what planet am I on? The Queen is Winnie. She is absolutely in charge. Mickey is the General of her army and George is the foot soldier. Winnie explained all this to me and said as long as I behave as well as Bubba I was welcome here. What's a Bubba? How did he act and where is he? I'd have to check with Celie on these rules and titles and find out about this Bubba fellow. But for the time being I wanted to hang out with my new family and lay on the carpet and just enjoy the day.

The big Cele and Fred seemed to be part of my new family. Fred avoided me though and Cele seemed confused by me. She too mentioned Bubba. I don't know what a Bubba is but I will figure this mystery out. Everyday Celienudge and I get a walk of the neighborhood. Cool places to see (and pee!). Fred likes walking Celienudge...I get Mr.Dad. I've been very good on the leash...they will need to let me off it soon though as I really was born to be a free spirit. Mr.Dad comes and goes each day. He gets up way too early for my taste. I had to do that early routine at the shelter but would prefer to sleep in. I think they appreciate my barking skills. I am able to alert them to all sorts of dangers..men in brown trucks, men in white trucks, potential trouble of those people walking by. I even protect them from birds. Dam, I am good at this. I knew I'd find my calling. With each day I've gotten to know the cats and Celienudge better. The cats are really quite nice. Who knew? I thought it was my sworn duty as a dog to not like them but this army is ok. Or maybe they're trying to trick me? I doubt it though. They all seem very relaxed.

I tried to find out about this Bubba guy from Winnie. She just shook her head and got all sad.

Why? She wouldn't say a word. Mickey is the same. He said just not yet, too soon to discuss. He's a really good guy, very quiet fellow but friendly in his way. I'll have to ask George what he knows. CelieNudge absolutely won't discuss Bubba, she actually got teary eyed at his name.

Who/what is this guy? Sheesh, you'd think he was WonderDog or something. Whatever. I'll get to the bottom of this. But not today, today I've got a ton of biscuits to devour and running amuck to do.

The VERY Long Way Home!

I'm back. Lots of fun stuff going on up here. Everyday we get new recruits and show them the ropes and give them the tour. It's fun, it's like seeing it again for the first time every time.

But back to Me...that's what you want to hear about, isn't it? I knew it. I've led a very exciting life...let's get to it.

I went with the nice volunteer to see Vet. I guess he's going to find the broken part and fix it?

I started to say hi...and bam, out like a light. What was that about? When I came to I was quite groggy, dazed and confused almost. Then I heard a voice say, Max, your Mom is here, are you ready to go home? Mom...I have a Mom and a home? This is the bestest day ever huh.

He put me on a leash (I don't like them much) and there was my lady...now and forever known to me to be Mom. Two fellows put me in her Jeep. Mom has her arm in this heavy metal brace thing so she can't very well lift me (or the Jeep door even!). We're off. Home, sweet Home. WhiteGold was right, life is good. She was told I was still groggy, and would sleep the whole 25 miles home. Yea, alright, are you kidding me? Sleep...I need to see where and what home is.

So as we started down the road I decided to stand up and stretch. Then I thought it would only be polite to help Mom navigate. She said words like sit, sit, sit Max, Please Sit. I don't know sit from lollipops so I ignored her words. I figured if she wanted to talk I should come up front with her. I could see what she saw that way. Mom didn't seem so happy about that move, I don't know why. I did my best to watch the road, but it wasn't going anywhere...there were more cars than I'd ever seen. I looked back and there were tons more behind us too. So, I took this opportunity to get some air out the window...and the magic window went all the way down so I

could really hang out. I figured I'd get out and check up ahead to see what was holding us up...good idea, or so I thought. The Mom person was not at all happy with me. She grabbed at

my tail, Ow. Then all of a sudden she jumped out of the car and pushed me back in from my window side. Just wanted to help you know. I felt unappreciated at that moment. The cars behind all made lots of noise and were yelling at Mom. I guess the tail pulling was seen by them. I'm sure it wasn't me hanging out on the road was it? So, now here we were, back in the Jeep...we've gone maybe a mile...maybe. Mom had magic powers of her own and locked the windows shut...darn. Too bad there was no air conditioning, like we had at the shelter. It was really, really hot that day. I think it was about an hour or so before we got off the big road that led to

home. We went up this steep hill and then she turned into a driveway....HOME. My home.
WOW. Then she took me out of the car and we went into the backyard. Hey, wait a second...

home, inside right? Why out back? This is not good for a fellow like me. There in the yard were all sorts of people. A party for me? This is cool huh? Celie was there, on a big CelieNudge person's lap. Fred was there too. For some reason, he was afraid of me. I never did find out why. The silly, silly man was there. He'd be Dad. There were others as well. They all said hello Max. It was good. But then, someone said ok, when are we having hot dogs? WHAT? I saw the fire going, but I never thought they'd be cooking dogs. Wait, I went from being a gang dog to being Lunch? This is just not right. Then I saw what smelled like food. Whew, hot dogs is a food, not a me. What a day. I need to never, ever do drugs again even if Vet says I should. I really want to get inside and see my home and nap.

Fixed? Am I Broken...What are they Fixing?

I'd like to tell you a little about Fred. He's got this huge heart. Every time I look at him, he's smiling and either humming or whistling. He has all sorts of friends too. This big group of

guys have been with us for the past week, staring down on that silly game of baseball. One fellow, strange name...Harmon. He plays fetch with us too...but he hits the ball so darn far that it takes us a very long time to get it back! Then there's Mickey. No, not the cat, the guy. He is always at Fred's side...they seem like best buddies. I don't remember all the other names right now but each day it seems more and more of them stare down to that field! I for one find it a very strange game. Why in the world would people run to one white bag and then another, why not just go straight across the field to the 2nd one first? Saves time, and energy don't ya think? At least Fred seems calmer watching than my Lady....she'd get so upset me and the cats would run to the other rooms and the silly, silly man would drive around for hours to hide from her altogether!

I don't get it, I just don't get it.

Back to CelieNudge. I was expecting..well, I don't know what I was expecting as the volunteer walked me to the box. The box is a glassed in room where dogs and people meet and greet. I didn't know I needed to go there since I'd already meeted and greeted my people but they made me go in. In I go...and there....was this little white doggie! She was so cute too! She was about 1/4 my size and sat between my lady and the man. SHE was going to decide my fate? Well, I'd been coached by WG to always be on best behavior so that's what I did. I sat in front of her and didnt move, letting her sniff me and check me out. I prayed I didn't stink! She didn't seem to care either way to be quite honest. But the people said she liked me so that made it all OK.
OK? OK? This was way better than OK to me. I was going to a forever home, finally. The volunteer said great, we'll need to take him to be fixed and then you can bring him home.

FIXED? What the heck was wrong with me? If something was broken wouldn't I know?

So instead of going home I was brought back to my cage...again. Why does this keep happening to me? Back in the cage WhiteGold was seeming very happy...humming almost. I don't know that I'd ever seen him that upbeat. He said he too was going to a forever home. Isn't that the best news ever? Maybe we'll be neighbors even. He said this family came back for him, they'd met him the other day while I was sulking. They took him for a walk and told him he'd be treated like a king. I was so happy for him. But I did want to ask about this fixing thing, maybe he'd noticed a part of me that was broken. The cage door opened then though and 2 volunteers came....one to take him to his new people and one to take me to be fixed. I sure hope this is no big deal.

Saturday 8:05 am

Hi Again! I am stuffed like a happy puppy right now. We had a big turkey dinner today. It was a feast I tell you, a feast! Everyday up here we have so many things to do, to eat, to see, that it's just as amazing as what you'd expect of Heaven. We walked off our meal with Fred. We walked about 100 miles or so. It goes on forever, the green grass is so soft, it's like floating. Lady & I started rolling around in the grass and that started everybody else (well, not Fred) doing the same. There were some birds flying by, they sang to us. Just a perfect day in paradise. It never gets old. Fred whistles alot, he knows lots of songs. He's always smiling. I guess it's easy to smile since he doesn't have to use leashes on all of us. Can you imagine what that might look like? Now, back to the story...where were we? Oh yea, promises.

The volunteers came and took me and WG for walks. I wonder if this is Saturday? WG hasn't said. The volunteers said they'd miss walking us 'cause we were a good challenge for them.

Are they not coming back either? Where's everybody going? We went back to our cage and

hung out. WG gave me more insights into how life could be, what great things were coming my way, all sorts of stuff like that. He had faith that my lady was coming back. Not that I knew what faith was. Words were all very new to me, I spent all those months with nobody speaking to me at all. But WhiteGold was so calm, so sure of what he said that I knew he was right. I would really miss him. Maybe he could come with me? I asked him about that but he said things don't work like that. He said I deserved my very own people and that he'd be fine. What a gentleman, huh? The day passed, nobody came. WG said it wasn't Saturday yet, but that it soon would be and that I should get a good night's sleep so I'd be ready. Now there was no way I wanted to but I did nod off at some point. Morning comes early here. Lots of workers and volunteers show up to feed us, walk us and have us ready for visitors by 8am. I don't want a visitor, I want to go HOME.

At 8am I watched that door. Any minute now, any minute now. Then the door opened and 4 men came by, then some short people (WG said children is what they are) and then....my Lady.

She really did come back! I am So out of here. Yippee. She said to the worker, 129A. HUH?
What's that? I found out I am 129A. I'm not Max? I liked Max better. She said hello to me, called me Max and said she had someone for me to meet. Then she said she'd be back but she'd send someone in to meet me. Now what? I was scared now. Who could be coming in? Very soon a very tall fellow with dark hair appeared in front of WG. He said Max? The volunteer said, no, no Max is the Other dog...great, this guy goes for the handsome fellow and leaves me in the dust!

He poked his head in towards me and said, So you're Max? I've heard alot about you. Do you want to come home with us? I nearly pushed the cage door out, screaming yes, of course I do, you silly, silly man! He then had the volunteer put me on a leash...and said first you need to meet somebody else, who has the final say in whether you come home with us. Be nice, be yourself, he said...her name is CelieNudge. WHAT? WhiteGold never warned me of this kind of torture. First he gets an opinion, now a CelieNudge gets one? What is a CelieNudge anyhow? What kind of name is that?

A Promise is a Promise...right?

I'm back. Today was party day up here. Actually everyday is. It's Heaven afterall so what's not to celebrate? MinMouse was in charge of the festivities, as usual. She really is in charge. I wonder if God has to get her permission for stuff too. I had never met her until I got here. I was handed a rulebook. She authored it, of course. Rules in Heaven? Fred carries his book with him at all times to help us all stay on the right side of her majesty! She can be quite intimidating, even if she is a cat. The crew here is great. There's lots to do and we all stay together all the time. When I got here I knew Winnie and Mickey and Celienudge. They knew all the others and I was quickly part of their group. Oscar is chief dog, Bubba....well he's a story unto himself. Then there's Lady and Tiger and Queenie and Smokey. Smokey is smokin' hot!!! I may be in love! Tiger and I have jumping contests. If we had a trampoline there'd be no telling how high we'd jump. On the cat side of our crew, besides the Queen of the Universe (Minnie), there's Winnie and Mickey and Katie and Tina and Sara. Fred is very fair with all of us. That's pretty special 'cause Fred didn't know me before Heaven. He's our person and although he's got a ton of people friends here he never leaves us. Alright, now that I've finished my ice cream sundae it's time to get back to the story of ME.

My new Lady person and the volunteer were talking, filling out papers. I was pushing myself through the cage door, all ready to roll. Then they started talking to me. My lady said she'd be back. WHAT? She said she would be back on Saturday at 8am to bring me home. What's a Saturday? I'm ready now. She's not ever coming back is she? She did say she promised. I must ask WhiteGold what that means. I was so sad, I curled up and sulked. Other people came by,

they even talked to WG and me. I didn't move, I didn't care. People can't be trusted. Those people started talking to a volunteer and they filled out paperwork too. What's on that paper? What makes the people leave after they fill out those papers? I thought this was a nice place but now they're sending people away? WhiteGold wasn't upset at all. What is wrong with him? He said it's all good. How can it be good? I didn't want to talk to him so I pretended to be asleep.

Later on he asked if I wanted to talk. No I did not! He did though. He told me that there are things I need to learn...like that there are days with names. HUH? A day is a day and that's that. He said today was Thursday and it would be Saturday soon. Just hang in there he said. I asked what a promise was. He said you should only make a promise if you're going to keep it and that if the lady promised to come back she would. So either WG is crazy or there was still hope. The only thing to do now is wait for Saturday. I hope it's not too far from now. Promise...I hope she keeps hers.

Finding My Forever Folks

Sorry to get back so late. Fred and the crew and I went on a train ride this morning. Fred loves trains, don't know why, but we love Fred so we all go where he goes. Bet you didn't know there were trains in Heaven huh? It's all here, almost. Back to the story of me that needs to be told:

So the van drops us all at the Shelter. What a big place! I never saw so many people or dogs.

It was quite shocking, scary some might say. I was poked and prodded and all sorts of things by somebody called Vet. Don't know the guy but he was nice about it all. People spoke to me. To me....my gang guys never spoke to me like this. Maybe running off was a good thing afterall.

After the Vet fellow I was taken to a big room. It was huge and there were 140 dogs there and all in cages. OH NO. Not cages. I hate cages. I was taken to my cage and found someone else in

there. This is not good, not good at all. Bad things happen with cellies I've heard. This was one BIG guy too. He was a pure white golden retriever. But he was old so maybe I'd be safe huh? I got in and was shaking like a leaf. I curled into a ball in my corner, not wanting to cause trouble. There was lots of noise in this big room, lots of barking. After a little bit though the noise stopped. The cellie just looked at me and said it's ok, relax. I was more scared now. He said that this was a good place and that nobody would hurt me here. I asked him how he got there. He explained that his forever family passed away so there was nowhere for him to go but here. He

sounded sad but strong. I had no idea what a forever family meant. He told me these stories, glorious stories of love, petting, belly rubs and all important...FOOD. Lots of food, on a regular basis too. And he said he got tons of kisses everyday from his people. He had people! I had

no idea it could be good to have people. He said they sat with him, rode in a car with him, took him out for long walks everyday. This was too good to be true I'm sure. But I couldn't help but listen and want to believe. Finally I asked how do I get my own people? What if I didn't deserve to have all this? He said I'd do just fine, to not be afraid. I slept that night better than I ever did.

I had dreams of walks, kisses, and wondered what love would feel like. I didn't want to wake up.

In the morning the workers came and brought us food and water...room service! Wow, this is a nice place! They took us out for walks too, although it was because they didn't have inside bathrooms for dogs. So I enjoyed my first walk and hoped for more. WhiteGold (my cellie's name to me) said that people come during the day and wonder about, looking for their lost dogs or looking for a new dog to take home. That sort of scared me...what if the gang guys came and I had to leave with them? WhiteGold spent the morning telling me more about his life and things that would help me in my life. It's hard to explain how much his experience meant to me. To be so loved for so long sounded more and more like what I wanted. But what if nobody picked me? Our cage was in the first row. We saw all the dogs get their walks as they had to pass us coming and going. There were some beautiful dogs, way nicer looking then me. They seemed to know how good looking they were too. They walked with confidence, not fear. Me, I had been called mangy, I had scars on my legs from the stuff done to me. Who would want that in their forever dog? It scared me to think I would be here forever. But if WhiteGold stayed that would be good. He didn't think he was going anywhere due to his age. That seemed wrong, he was so kind and gentle and really handsome too! If I was a human looking for someone I'd pick him right away.
A bit later a volunteer came and took some of us for walks. This was some place huh? I felt really special with these kind people doing all this for us. While I was gone though it seems a person came looking for her dog. Oh no, did I miss my person already? WG said when I got back that she looked really sad, like she'd lost her best friend. She went cage to cage and spoke to all the dogs. The entire room was silent, nobody wanted to bark 'cause that might scare her off. She had made it to the door at the other end of the room, I heard the door open and I started to cry. OK, sure that makes me sound like a baby right? What would you do if your forever person may be leaving with never having seen you? The door shut. I cried again. But then...I heard footsteps. She shut the door but from the inside. She walked, very slowly across the room. The steps would stop and I'd wimper and then she'd start again. I know I should have kept quiet but I just couldn't. All of a sudden she was right there in front of our cage. I jumped about 4 feet in the air, I was so excited. (yes the cages were that tall, it really was a nice shelter). She looked me straight in the eyes and said: MAX. I didn't know what that meant...what's Max? WG just looked at me and smiled, his eyes tearing up. Max...that must have been a good word I guess. Right then the volunteer came back in, returning another dog from his walk. She looked at the person and said, It looks like you found your dog...the lady said I guess I did! And with that...I had a person! I was a Max. I was going home. I jumped up and down over and over again and they just laughed and laughed. WhiteGold just said I told you so, Max!

There Once was a Dog...blah, blah and blah.

My name is Max. It's also been common to call me Fido. I had a wonderful life. Truly I did.

I always meant to write my story and it may be late, but I only just figured out how to get online up here...Heaven frowns on computer usage you know. I died in March of 2010. We'll get to that llater though, much later. I have many tales to tell. I managed to get through to the ripe old age of 11 years, 10 months. I hear that's pretty good in doggy years. The beginning of my story will show you that it's very impressive I lived that long. I was born in 1998, in the 909. I was born into the gang life, whatever that means. My mom was a gang dog, when she gave birth all of us were given to fellow gang members at a very early age. I was tied to a tree by a chain, and that was my first memory of life on my own. It may not sound harsh to be living outside in California but it gets really, really hot in Riverside and water was scarce. My owner thought it would be fun to keep it just an inch or 2 out of my reach all day. He wanted to toughen me up. He never named me. I was just dog, mangy dog, or some other names I don't want to remember. He would bring me inside sometimes, there he'd cage me for hours on end. I wasn't exactly having a great upbringing but I didn't know that...Yet. One day in taking me off the chain to go in, his friend came by and left the gate open. I had a split second to think...bam, I ran and ran and ran. I had no idea where I was going, why I was going or what I would do next. After a few hours of wandering the streets a nice looking van stopped and gave me a ride. I saw other dogs inside and thought this could be fun. We went to a place called the Riverside County Animal Shelter. Cool.

A place for homeless dogs, who knew?