Max was only meant to be with us for 3 days which progressed to a week and now 9 years later, he's still here.  The first time I saw him I commented on his eyes - they were dead, what had happened to make him this way?  He was so apologetic and yet, we were sure there was a character hiding in there just waiting to be revealed, but were we the ones to reveal it?

This is his story.

Max had had very little human contact in his first two years having spent them in an outhouse with his dominant brother, so when they were no longer the "in" thing they ended up in rescue.  His brother struck lucky but Max ended up with an older man who believed that in order to train a big dog you used an even bigger stick!  Now bearing in mind that he hadn't lived indoors before then, hadn't been an "only" dog, hadn't been left nor had any type of formal training, he came to us a broken and beaten dog both physically and mentally.  This we believe is to blame for what follows as he is a very sensitive big chap.

His training was a nightmare as we were still rehabilitating Corra our older, seriously dominant girl, you had to really keep on top of her whereas Max had to be cajoled, he had to be treated sensitively in order to try and rebuild what little confidence he had. This took a long time but we did it, the Max we live with today is a handsome, confident big lump with a character second to none, his training however was the least of our problems as we were soon to find out!

At 4 years old he developed stomach problems which led to him producing excess bile, vomiting, depression and through time anorexia, he had to be force fed.  JJ our conventional vet was mystified as none of the symptoms actually pointed to a particular condition so we put it down to a form of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) as it was more a psychological problem as opposed to a physical one.  None of the conventional medications helped not even in the short term as Mick quickly developed an aversion to anything we tried so at 4 years old we were facing defeat, we decided the kindest thing to do was say goodbye.  At this point JJ suggested his colleague Ann who is a Holistic Vet.  He admitted he didn't understand how her "mumbo jumbo" worked but she was having good results and we had nothing to loose did we?   This led on to our first meeting with Ann all those years ago, little did any of us know what was in store for us back then!  She did what they call his "Rubiks" and prescribed a Homeopathic Remedy for him, we didn't look back!  In total, from start to finish,  it took 18 months of force feeding before he finally decided to eat for himself but at least he was eating again. 

At 5 years old he fell and hurt his knee bad enough for JJ to xray him the next morning, he was sure Max had done something serious.  That day was very long as JJ had promised faithfully that I could take him home early afternoon as Max would definitely suffer separation anxiety (as would his mum) so when I phoned and they said I had to pick him up at 6pm I was inconsolable, my imagination went into over drive!  It turned out he had seriously damaged his knee joint which was bad enough but not as bad as first suspected.  He was put onto conventional treatment but yet again he started having problems so we were faced with either keeping him on the medication and run the risk of loosing him prematurely or trying the Holistic approach again - we opted for the latter.

By then Ann had grown to know him quite well, she prescribed more Homeopathy that could be used along with the treatment for his IBS.  This worked well for many years until he started getting older, he also started having yet more drug aversions however, by then Ann had completed her Acupuncture training, she was fully qualified to treat both animals and humans alike so we went ahead with his "needles" and the rest they say is history - I wish!

It was roundabout this time that he started having skin problems - they all started with summer allergies which eventually covered roughly 70% of his skin.  Various tests were carried out to no avail so yet again we were staring euthanasia in the face!  This sounds like such a defeatist attitude but you have to bear in mind that at this point his body was covered in sores, massive great weal's, his under-carriage, feet and haunches were red raw as was his chin, neck and chest area, we couldn't stroke him, grooming him was out of the question!  He was constantly twitching and itching, pulling himself to bits and couldn't get a decent sleep at all.  We couldn't bath him as he was allergic to every type of veterinary shampoo on the market, we even had to water down the most sensitive of shampoo's in order not to burn his skin so as you can see, his quality of life was nil, giving up seemed like the best we could do!  This was also when we discovered that he's a "domino dog" meaning, one thing upsets him and everything he's had in the past comes back with interest!  In amongst all this his IBS was playing up, the antibiotics robbed him off the good bacteria in his gut, we then discovered he'd stopped producing his own Cortisone, it seemed everything was conspiring against us!  We were all at the end of our tether including Ann.  I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as no matter what we tried, it worked for a short while before returning in earnest.

We tried various Homeopathic treatments, some held it at bay in the winter months but come the summer he had to go on to steroids only for him to become intolerant to them due to organ complications!  We then made the decision to try nsaids even though past history had proven that he couldn't cope with conventional treatments long-term but we'd long since ran out of options - again, it was the one last thing we could possibly try and luckily, this is one conventional treatment he "can and does" tolerate - so far!

The last 3 years have been pretty uneventful really (going by Mickey's standards)  apart from his IBS which seems like it's progressed to Colitis.  His knee is well under control due to a mixture of Homeopathy and Acupuncture, his skin however has progressed to being an all year round problem which we manage using a very low dose of nsaids.  We have to check his organ function every 6 months due to his liver being compromised but so far he's doing well - until late last year!

Whilst on holiday he fell on laminate flooring and unbeknown to us, injured his back.  Our first sign of trouble was on route home when his Colitis kicked in so off to the vets for more antibiotics.  A week later we noticed his rear legs seemed very weak as he was having trouble getting into the car, trouble rising and had taken on a very pronounced leg tremble, his Colitis had also returned again so it was off to see Ann and I must say, I really thought this it!  I entered the surgery with a very heavy heart whilst fearing the worst!

Ann was worried until she touched a particular part of his back, he collapsed in a heap on the floor but she was to amaze us once again as she quickly discovered that the injury to his back was right on top of the junction for the nerves which controlled both the bowels and rear leg mobility!  Ann's treatments always fascinate me but I was stunned, just how does she know these things?
She strapped what I can only liken to a Tens Machine to him, inserted his Acupuncture needles and explained that the machine boosts the power of the needles - she was also full of confidence that they "will" work!  Needless to say, he was back up bouncing about like a youngster which produced a big sigh of relief from us.   We were sent home with strict instructions to massage his back and rest him.

I'm glad to say that his Colitis did clear up but the muscle wastage in his back legs was getting quite prominent as was the actual rear leg weakness.  I really was preparing myself for the worst but not Ann - oh nooooo, she's made of stronger stuff!  I mentioned to Ann a Homeopathic Remedy a good friend had mentioned that might help rear leg weakness and muscle wastage, she agreed and admitted that she was thinking along the same lines.

In February (2005) we went for our 6 month check up, Ann was over joyed to see how well he was as the weakness is nowhere near as bad in fact, it's very nearly a distant memory.  She commented that she hasn't seen such a turn around in a dog on this particular remedy, so much so that she didn't even give him his Acupuncture as he didn't need it.  His blood work was well within the normal parameters so we left happy and full of confidence, confident that we still had plenty of years left together, so much so that I told Max he's not going anywhere until at least his 15th birthday!  Ambitious yes, realistic – not sure, possible - maybe, but yet again we had more upset waiting just around the corner.

Max went down with yet another bout of Colitis but that wasn't the problem, it was his other symptoms that caused all the worry!
John had noticed that he'd been drinking an awful lot of water which over the space of 24 hours became worryingly excessive, you couldn't get him away from the water dish at all, he was even lurking about the bathroom something none of our dogs including Mick has ever done.  He was very unsteady on his feet, had started collapsing, kept going to the toilet a lot - the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear, Max has never been one for drinking so much, add to this depression, lethargy, nausea and terrible leg trembling, we were worried!

Yet again, off to the vets we trundled but not before I'd read up on my own suspicions namely, diabetes.  Ann was on holiday (guess even vets need a break) which really worried me as this was looking pretty serious and we'd long agreed that should Mick have to leave us, she'd be the one to help him on his way but luckily, we still managed to see our second in command, the "gorgeous one" as I laughingly call him.  The vet gave him a really good check over, the general feeling as to why he was drinking so much could be due to the nausea and the Colitis as was most of the other symptoms but there was a slight possibility that he might have diabetes however, since he had such a wonderful blood test the previous month, we'd have thought that something would have shown up in that.  This led to the possibility of it being a sudden onset of diabetes, just what I didn't want to hear as that was the one I'd read up on not two hours earlier and didn't like what I had saw!  In fairness, the vet did say it was possible, not definite.  Why am I not surprised - we live our lives through possibilities - nothing is definite where Mick's concerned! 
We headed of home with more pills and potions as well as strict instructions that if he wasn't any better by the weekend (5 days away), we'd have to go back for tests.  Those few days were some of the hardest yet as Mickey was very ill, John had to come and rescue us at one point as he couldn't make it back home from his walk although he did when he discovered John was in the van.  He very slowly began to settle down, I won't say pick up but he was showing signs of improvement, very small signs.  Needless to say we were worried but we gave him time, we always do besides, Ann was due back the following Monday!

A month down the line we've had to stop his antibiotics as he was becoming very depressed and had started being sick but one good thing, he's not got diabetes, seems the vet was right in thinking that it was just a very bad bout of Colitis although it didn't seem that bad on the surface, he has had worse!  He has taken longer to recover from this latest attack so it must have been a bad one but we're getting there.  He is also starting to show signs of his skin problems again but that's normal for this time of year, you can set your diary by him.

Now we've reached the elusive 11 years old, an age I hadn't dared thinking about until recently.  On paper it looks like we've had quite a time of it, it was hell back then, when I say I was very close to a breakdown I am being deadly serious and yet now it really doesn't seem as bad as it was - funny how you forget some things or maybe just adapt!
My one BIG regret is not having him from puppy hood, then maybe things might have been different, then maybe we might have had one of these elusive "normal" dogs and yet, would our lives have been as enriched as they have been?  I seriously doubt it!
How is he?  Well, he's still got recurring Colitis, still got a bad knee, still got skin problems but we're winning the battle against this rear leg weakness which is something!  He's still a big handsome lump, still has a very naughty sense of humour and is still living life to the full. 

I'd love to take the credit for all the above but if the truth be known, I just do what I'm told!  Ann is the one that's kept *all* of us going, even on the darkest days when I've walked in determined to come out alone, it seemed both kinder and easier to let him go but no - Ann refused to give up, she's a pretty tough cookie when it comes to determination thankfully but I bet if the truth be known, she too has had plenty of sleepless nights!  John was the same, no matter how bad things seemed, John refused to accept defeat - goes to show just how mentally weak I was back then but not anymore!  Then we have our friends who pick me up when I'm down and funnily enough, talk me down when I'm up - yep it's a roller coaster ride all right.  However, I mustn't forget the main player here, our Mickey who has taught us  so much, no matter how bad things were he just lay there patiently waiting for better days which he *knew* were just round the corner.  As for what the future holds, who can tell but we can be guaranteed it'll include more detective work, more second guessing, more worry and more possibilities however, we're ready to do battle after all, what's another few years after the last 9?

Name changes - why?
He came to us as Max which both of us (Mick and I) hated so it was changed to Maxie Boy which he seemed to like.  Through time as he grew more confident his mischievous character came out, he seemed to turn into "Mickey," it really suits him.  When he's not so good we call him Mick as he's anything but naughty however, when he's in top form I call him Mickey to wind him up or MaxWELL Woods for obvious reasons......

Ann has always called him a "challenge" whereas we have always called him an "ongoing project," the more ongoing the better in our book, so long as he's willing - then so are we.