Maximus meet Fluffy. Fluffy, go home.

I am sitting in the living room, hear this funny high pitched sound, and look outside in the backyard. Maximus is going crazy at the back fence, and there is definitely something alive back there on the other side. I am thinking, raccoon, squirrel, or something else he is trying to kill. So I go out there to get a better look, and to my surprise, this is what I see on the other side of our back fence:



Meet Fluffy. Fluffy is famous in our neighborhood for getting out of his backyard and roaming the forest. I have heard his owner calling him many times (that's a whole story in itself), but I have never actually seen the famous fluffy until today.



Maximus had a wonderful time playing with fluffy, even thought it was through the fence. You could tell they desperately wanted to play with each other. They would just run back and forth about a million times and stop and sniff each other, get real close, and then run to the other side and do it again.

This was cute and all, but my favorite part was how fluffy, this tiny little dog, went right up to the dog next door (who is really scary and barks constantly at EVERYONE) and gave the "big scary dog" a run for his money. Fluffy sure knows how to bark, and scared a dog about five times it's size all the way to the other side of the yard. This was pretty funny, and Max (who didn't bark at all through the whole thing) just stood there totally still, in great suspense as this happened,obviously rooting for fluffy. What can I say, Maximus is lover and not a fighter, but even so I think he enjoyed the show almost as much as I did.

Puppy play date: maximus and maggie

The faceoff


Please let us in...pllleeeaasseee.


We are very thirsty.


MUD FIGHT!!!!! They got sooo muddy.


This is our "normal" picture.


Say goodbye!

Snow Day Bloopers

learning how to fly

Maximus vs...Llama?

Picture yourself mowing the lawn in the middle of your suburban neighborhood one normal afternoon. Suddenly you hear this crazy noise in your direction. At first you think it is some really strange dog trying to bark and failing miserably...no, no that's not quite right...what IS that sound? It is getting progressively louder, so you stop the engine and turn around to find a huge sheep starting at you from the other side of the fence going "BAAAAA" as loud as it can possibly yawp... and that's how it started.

So my parents' next door neighbors have a llama. A llama. Not to mention many many goats (including one very scary goat), sheep, chickens, and guinea fowl... oh, and a dog. It seems every time I look over in their yard, somehow there are more animals than the time before.

I don't know HOW they bribe the city code enforcement officer, but you know you are over the limit when you have to seriously consider charging admission to your backyard. They have such a large chicken coop that they sell eggs on a regular basis...naturally. They have gotten pretty famous, and there is a constant stream of families clearly not from our neighborhood that come to feed, pet, and stare at the number of zoo animals that seem to be growing at an alarming speed. Personally, I'm hoping for ostriches next.

My absolute favorite is when someone comes to our house and tells us all about our neighbors' pets with absolute certainty that we nor anyone else has noticed them before. I mean really, when you drive down your street everyday to find a huge goat and a few sheep casually grazing on some tasty shrub in the front yard...

Since my parents live in a neighborhood of missionaries who have lived in just about every country, this is somewhat but not extremely out of the ordinary; with the exception of the very VERY short time that the neighbors tried having multiple roosters (which caused serious problems for obvious reasons), there haven't been many complaints.

Now that you have a little background, you can imagine how Maximus is tormented by the animals he cannot play with only feet away. In his defense, I'm quite sure the prospect of chasing chickens to his heart's content is almost unbearable. He would get so excited at times I really did fear he would drive himself mad...or attempt to clear the fence and impale himself on the metal wire. Not being keen on either of those outcomes, we decided to start taking him to visit...on a leash. It is without a doubt his favorite part of the day, and has been quite intriguing to say the least.

Last year for our youth group Christmas service, I took my youth to the dumpster behind a hotel to help them imagine what a modern-day stable might be like. This year I know where I'm going.


Maximus wanting to "play" with the Chickens very badly


Cute baby goat


Scary goat


Partial family photo


Funky Chicken


Kissing his new friend goat


Llama llama llama

"Running" through the forest with Max

(my status tonight on facebook)

'running through the forest with Max'
now imagine what you think that would look like.

Idealism: Me gracefully running with Max by my side as the wind whips through my hair, and the birds chirp in the distance on a cool spring evening.

Realism: Me being pulled by Max at an alarming speed through the forest down a very narrow and steep path full of rocks, mud, and what seemed to be an strikingly large amount of holes just big enough to be unavoidable. At this point there are several things going through my mind as I slip and slide several feet in the mud while being dragged down a particularly steep hill: Max is A LOT stronger than I thought a 31 pound puppy could ever be. How long can I realistically keep up this pace? I am going to get an awesome workout, and finally, where are we? These thoughts distract me from the fact that I seemed to have picked up quite a bit of speed going down, and the next thing I know, Max, who is sprinting as fast as he can pull me, naturally comes to a complete halt to smell a shrub. At this pace, there is no stopping me, however, and in mid-air as I fly over him, I wonder: How did this happen?

In spite of all that, the entire time I couldn't stop laughing. I was almost wishing someone were watching this so at least my comedy of errors could be a form of entertainment. Truth be told, I was having just as much fun as Max was having. In retrospect, the only part of the ideal description that was true was the part about the wind whipping through my hair, which it did... but so did the bugs...through my teeth. Maybe next time smile with my mouth closed. Though it may sound crazy, I will definitely be doing this again. If I knew that all I needed for hilarity to ensue was my dog, his leash, and a big forest, I would have done this a long time ago. I'm canceling my membership with L.A. Fitness. I mean really, what more could ever I hope for in a workout?