We've had a wonderful dog in our family for the past thirteen years. Maximillian Spot Fifield (Max) was born near Moscow, Idaho, September 3, 1994. He died November 4, 2007 in his sleep after a wonderful day playing outside with Mom and Dad.
When Sara insisted that we HAD to have a dog, we found an ad in the paper for purebred (no papers) German Shorthaired Pointer puppies. They were six weeks old and ready to go to homes. We drove out to the farm where he was born and he chose us, crawling into our laps. We loved the white circle around his nose. On the way home we named him. Sara wanted to name him Spot, but everyone else wanted Max, so we used Spot for his middle name. Mom went to work teaching him tricks and trying to help him learn some obedience. Everone else just played with Max. He especially liked attacking Sara's boots and chewing up Dad's ear protectors (2 pair). His favorite game was holding a rope nailed to a board and twirling around so that the board came back and smacked him in the head.
When Sara insisted that we HAD to have a dog, we found an ad in the paper for purebred (no papers) German Shorthaired Pointer puppies. They were six weeks old and ready to go to homes. We drove out to the farm where he was born and he chose us, crawling into our laps. We loved the white circle around his nose. On the way home we named him. Sara wanted to name him Spot, but everyone else wanted Max, so we used Spot for his middle name. Mom went to work teaching him tricks and trying to help him learn some obedience. Everone else just played with Max. He especially liked attacking Sara's boots and chewing up Dad's ear protectors (2 pair). His favorite game was holding a rope nailed to a board and twirling around so that the board came back and smacked him in the head.
Mom was determined that Max would be an outside dog, but that only lasted until we moved to North Dakota two years later. He then became an inside family dog, and never did go hunting.
Max was a very smart dog. He knew how to sit, lie down, roll over, turn around, speak, whisper, salute, shake hands, hold a treat on his nose (or any other place including in his mouth) until told he could have it, pray, crawl on his belly, and some others I can't think of right now. He even learned a new trick in the last year of his life - to bring his empty water bucket into the kitchen to be refilled. Max was smart enough to know when he should obey and when he could get away with being sneaky - like going into the kitchen (off limits) and sniffing for tidbits on the floor.
Max loved birthdays - especially his own. He also loved Christmas. He knew how to open presents with his teeth, without too much harm to the gift inside. In fact, he loved opening presents much more than actually playing with the gift. He knew when there were presents up on the
piano, and waite
d anxiously for the day when it was time to open them.
Max was a very smart dog. He knew how to sit, lie down, roll over, turn around, speak, whisper, salute, shake hands, hold a treat on his nose (or any other place including in his mouth) until told he could have it, pray, crawl on his belly, and some others I can't think of right now. He even learned a new trick in the last year of his life - to bring his empty water bucket into the kitchen to be refilled. Max was smart enough to know when he should obey and when he could get away with being sneaky - like going into the kitchen (off limits) and sniffing for tidbits on the floor.
Max loved birthdays - especially his own. He also loved Christmas. He knew how to open presents with his teeth, without too much harm to the gift inside. In fact, he loved opening presents much more than actually playing with the gift. He knew when there were presents up on the
piano, and waite
d anxiously for the day when it was time to open them. 
1 comment:
Great Pictures! I think we'll all miss Max, but we'll remember the good times.
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