Max the Great

My old girlfriend Sophie (also an Airedale) introduced another great Airedale to my Mum and thus to me. His name is Max, and he is one great dog. Mum's starting to call him Max the Great. Not only was he huge in size, his personality was also big. Max is 75 - 80 lbs, compared to me, I'm only 62 lbs. He is also more of a top dog, and I willingly shared my food bowl and drink bowl with him, including all my toys and treats (like my buffalo mojo knuckle bone). Max came in, accepted my Mummy as Alpha, and saw me immediately as Omega. Fine with me, I just love having guests over. Max looked pretty different before and after he got groomed. According to his human Mum, he acted differently too. He started just walking proudly around and acting all handsome and confident. Who says we dogs don't know when we look good and feel good?

Before getting groomed though, Max got to hang out with me in my yard and get to know both me and Mum. He's a real cool dude. 7 years old but still pretty cool.

Max checking out my backyard and all my toys strewn everywhere

Fuzzy butts

Anytime I have guests over being groomed by Mum, I get to hang out close to her and keep an eye on things. I just love being next to my Mum. I get to go on a 'Climb' which is really MY treadmill, and I lay down there and watch everyone and keep everything in check.

After bathing and drying, Max started to feel much better. He became more alert and his whole demeanor started to get happy. He also became more relaxed since he got used to Mum's handling, and voice, and of course, whenever he was good and compliant, he got treats. I got some too, since I was being good on my climb, and I didn't even need to be leashed in and the garage door was wide open.

Max was very well behaved on the grooming table, and he normally hates the salon groomer, but now that he's found my Mum, I'm quite sure he's going to be coming over often. He seemed to enjoy spending time with us, even with the forced air dryer blasting loudly, and he even tolerated the dremel on his nails. You know, we terriers just hate having our feet touched, but Mum was being very patient and careful, to make his grooming experience an excellent one. Mum says, trust needs to be established, and a good relationship can blossom from there. The most crucial thing is that we want to make every experience as positive as it can be. I do my best to calm all my doggie friends and I think I do a good job.

After all the grooming, we just played and got to hang out in the yard again. That's real nice.

Max looks much happier now if you ask me... and so handsome too.

Max having a sniff on my buffalo mojo bone, and deciding he really liked it. So he just took it.

Hey Max, can I have a turn too? That's my bone, and I'm just sharing it with you for now...

Max also just 'took' my other treat chew thing, but I let him. He is welcome to my home anytime. Hey Mum, we need an Airedale party some time...

Hugs,
Kimi

Parade at Snoqualmie

Last Saturday, my training school participated in a summer parade, and this time, it was held in the town of Snoqualmie. Only 10 of us participated this time, at our last parade a month ago, there were 20 of us. Thank goodness the weather held on for us, the grey clouds were there, but it didn't shower down on us.Mum and I, in our matching Cascade K9 t-shirt/training apron and my bandana.

Going through our fancy drill sequence with weaves, sits and downs in motion.

Mum and I have a lot of fun at these parades, mostly to practice our obedience training commands, and also to expose me to new situations, and meet new people. External stimuli is very necessary to challenge a dog mentally, and enhance a dog's all rounded life, so Mum does her best to involve us in new and challenging situations.

Me and my best school buddy, Sasha (leonberger), and her human Vicki. To read more about Sasha's breed, click (http://leonberger-hunde.org/breed.html).

My school's drill team.

Hugs,
Kimi