Max Well O'Bryan

Family dogs are essential to a happy family. I always had one (there are a few side stories about Scruffy and Rosa Pearle that I could insert here, but I will spare my parents the additional guilt such stories trigger), so when I had kids, I knew a dog was a MUST. Our families first dog was a boxer and Robbie and my first child, Gabbie. Unfortunately, Gabbie jumped the fence the summer after Tate was born and found her way to a widow on Lookout Mountain. There was a huge sense of loss for Gabbie, but when we finally located her (two years later...another CRAZY story that I will spare you), we decided she was best to stay where she had brought joy to a woman who had none. In the meantime, I found Max.

A friend of mine from college had a litter of boxer pups. When I found out he had a brindle male, I decided to surprise Robbie with a great birthday gift. Unfortunately, Robbie was still heartbroken and loyal to Gabbie and didn't quite...how can I say it...CONNECT. Much to my discontent, since Max's arrival (right before Lily's birth), he has primarily been an outside dog. At first, it was to spare our toddling children from being knocked over by a toddling dog. Then, we moved into seller's mode and decided scratches on the new floor from a hefty dog's paws might not be a selling point. Maybe it was the cold weather, maybe it was the need for some normalcy in our lives, maybe it was one too many times finding my kids staring out the back door longing for their "best dog Max" or maybe it was just the Lord's way of answering Max's prayers, but the past few weeks, Max has found his way into the home. Of course, it wasn't soon after, that Robbie started noticing significant scratches to the beloved floor. Hence...the picture below:

Yes...they actually sell dog shoes at PETCO. Now, we have a high stepping, not so smart, extremely loved member of the family who is right where he should be...laying on the floor by my feet.