Maxwell Trucker Smoot

by BC Thomas
(Parker, Colorado)

My husband gave me Max as a gift a few months before our son was born.

For 12 wonderful years, I had the most wonderful dog. Max was the type of dog that just wanted to be near you, didn't matter what you were doing, as long as you were within petting range, he was happy.

He trained us to be good dog owners, and made sure that he protected us and our home.

We noticed a lump growing on his shoulder, and the vet diagnosed it as a fatty tumur back in November 2009.

As the months went by, we noticed the lump was getting bigger. We took him back to the vet, and he again told us it was a fatty tumur.

We decided to have the mass removed. During surgery, it was discovered that the mass was double the size on the inside, and the reason why they could not diagnose it first the right time - it was purely too big to aspireate the core of the tumur. He never recovered from surgery, and passed away.

After everything was said and done, we received a call from our vet - if they would have diagnosed it right the first time in November, they would have told us that Max was going to live 6 - 8 weeks.

We lost Max on April 24, 2009. He loved us so much - he didn't want to go.