This is what I know about Maxie's life. Approximately five-and-a-half years ago an agitated man walked into a veterinarian's office late on a Friday afternoon. He asked them to take his two dogs that were out in his pickup truck. He didn't explain why, but he was insistent that he needed to get rid of the dogs right that moment. The office personnel explained that they couldn't take the animals and told him to go to a shelter on Monday. This went back and forth a bit, each side equally set on their position. Finally, the man went out to his truck, threw the two dogs out into the parking lot and drove off.

The vet office called a local pet rescue agency. Someone from that group came out to retrieve the dogs. The larger dog, a Rottweiler, they were able to capture right away. The smaller dog, a brindle-colored mutt that looked a little like a dingo, eluded them and ran off. The group looked for the dog for a couple of days, finding her after she had been hit by a car in a different parking lot.

The rescue agency paid for surgery and slowly nursed her back to health (she had sustained a lot of damage to her hindquarters). They put her up for adoption and placed her with some breeders who gave her a home until something permanent could be established.

Approximately four-and-a-half years ago, we were looking for a new dog to bring into the house to keep our puppy Radley company. We searched "chihuahua" on a pet rescue Website and found a brindle-colored dog that had clearly been listed inaccurately. We made some inquiries and the dog was brought to our home. She patrolled through the house with a sprightly curiosity, checking out all the rooms. She was friendly as could be and played fetch with a tennis ball tirelessly in our back yard. Her name was Maxie. Shortly after that visit, she became our dog.

She still loved playing ball--anytime we came home from work, a good fifteen minutes of playtime in the backyard was a requirement--although eventually her arthritic back legs would become problematic enough that we needed to severely limit that activity. There were other issues with some fairly unpredictable moments of aggression; she was an alpha dog who could get confused when there was too much activity. With us, she was always incredibly loving. She was one of those dogs who was always nearby and quick to curl up on a lap given the opportunity.

She's been sick lately, so I came home to check on her during lunch. When I walked in the door, she got up to greet me, tail wagging. I knelt down, petted her, praised her. Moments later, she was limp in my arms as I loaded her in the car to drive to the vet. Between our house and their office, she died. We don't know what ailment caused it, and, since the blood work we were having done hadn't gone out yet, we never will.

We tried our best to give her a good, happy life during the time we had her. She was an important part of our lives and she'll be missed.

Tonight Maxie had her third visit to the vet in the past month. In part this was due to a misunderstanding on our part as to whether she needed to go in for an annual exam, but we probably would have opted for a trip anyway. Her appetite has vanished. For all the problems Maxie's had, her appetite has never faltered before, which was always a good sign since a dog that won't eat is a dog that's ill or unhappy. We've even switched her over to wet food, which usually sets off a happy frenzy, but Maxie hasn't been eating more than half of her serving at any given meal. She's lost almost two pounds in recent weeks, not a good number for a dog that's under twenty pounds.

She's been lethargic and has usually needed us to carry her up and down the steps. We've seen other stretches where she's clearly been in some pain, but all of these symptoms are new and very atypical for her.

We need to have bloodwork done. The results should be in on Wednesday.

After several months in Asheville, we finally had cause to find a new veterinarian today. Our plan was actually to visit this new vet next week as Maxie is about due for her yearly rabies shot. We've also been considered that the arthritis in her back legs has been acting up, and last night it came to a head. Once we went to bed, she couldn't stay curled up in one position for more than five minutes, a completely atypical level of restlessness for her. Then she vomited twice, caused, we're fairly certain, by the level of pain she was dealing with. At one point, the pain was so pronounced that she couldn't lie down at all, and she just stood there in the middle of the bedroom floor.

Luckily we were able to move next week's appointment up and we got her in to see the new doctor this afternoon. Not much new or different emerged from this visit. We were told to expect the intensity of her problems to continue increasing little by little as she gets older (our current guess to her age is around ten-years-old) so we'll probably be making periodic adjustments to the medications and supplements we're giving her from here on in. We got some anti-inflammatory pain medication to help her through her current flare-up. Also, this vet carries the brand of daily supplement she used to be on. Our old Florida vet switched to a different one some time ago, and Maxie never did seem to respond to the newer medication as well, so going back to the previous meds is good news.

Unbelievably, we're actually considering acupuncture for her. One of the vets at our new place is a specialist in that sort of treatment. We'll see if it comes to that.

After some frustration on Monday morning, I was finally able to sign a ridiculous number of documents, securing a structure to serve as home in Asheville. Anyone who's ever been part of a house purchase knows that you sign your arm numb during the closing process. Multiply that by three and that's what I had to do as I was signing (using power of attorney) for my wonderful co-buyer who is remaining in eff-ell-ay until she gets a job up here.

The house is very empty right now, and I'm primarily setting up in one of the upstairs bedrooms. It looks a little like a flophouse in here, with a lone air mattress on the floor and my laptop set up on a cardboard box. But at least I've managed to work with the local phone company to get a DSL line set-up, thereby freeing me from the potential wrath of the new neighbors whose wireless I've been pilfering throughout the week.

I'm not sure what the dogs are making of things. Radley's been on one of the hunger strikes he embarks upon when he's most uncertain. He sits by his full food dish for hours, growling at any other canines who are naturally curious about that spare chow. I think he's waiting for his other human to come home. He feels very strongly about the whole family being together at mealtimes. He's a traditionalist, that neurotic little dog of ours.

They've also been greatly enjoying the new smells and have been extensively checking out the backyard. They've even been more proactive than me about meeting the new neighbors.

My friend ccyl (who's an stellar theologian, by the way) once noted that she mostly peruses this space for the occasional dog picture. With that in mind, here's three images from yesterday's long roadtrip:

( bark bark bark )

Driving through the remnants of a tropical storm, it takes ten hours to get from Orlando to Asheville. Driving with three dogs, it takes eleven hours.

Launched at 8:30 this morning from the house in "unincorporated Seminole County" with the new city of residence as the target. The little(ish) Toyota was loaded down with a few meager belongings and three pooches artfully spaced apart to minimize territorial sniping that could be, shall we say, disruptive to the driver. Nola and Maxie were on either side of the backseat, held in place by their harnesses and dog seatbelts with a big box in between them. Radley got to ride shotgun. Maxie was ideal, settling down right away. Nola whined and yipped until we hit the interstate. Radley, with an endless capacity to dredge up anxiety in such situations, engaged in frenzied panting until Daytona (54.3 miles) and didn't completely give up and start sleeping until Jacksonville (141 miles).

Nola, while not house-trained, is apparently (and thankfully) car-trained, and proved to be the most reliable at determining when a stop was needed. She also demonstrated that her vaunted escape artist skills are still intact (when she was a wee puppy, it took us two attempts to get a crate she couldn't climb out of) by either chewing through or breaking her seatbelt somewhere around Columbia, SC. Maxie was the beneficiary, riding unrestrained the rest of the way. She settled right down and stayed put, at least until we got to the hotel, when charging into the front seat seemed appropriate to her.

I will say that the iPod was a godsend (or, rather, a greatfriendssend for this trip. As much as I loved it before, driving that far with only barks for conversation immediately propels the device into the echelon of the invaluable. I'm also pleased it managed to find the one Kiss offering nestled in the forest of 5400 songs to shuffle up and play when I crossed into South Carolina, home state to the greatest coffeehouse franchise of all time.

Meanwhile, my usual traveling companion wore herself out today getting our house ready to be scrubbed clean by professionals and put up for sale (with some emergency help from whiskeyson I hear--thanks).

With any luck, I'll sign the papers to close on the new Asheville house tomorrow (we've been beset by stupid little setbacks that put the actual timing of the close in doubt) and be settled in there with my sad little air mattress by this time tomorrow night.

The new gig starts Tuesday.

These here are crazy times.

So here's how this happened.

We've been talking about it for quite some time. We were hoping bringing a new puppy in might change some of the canine dynamic in our house in a positive way. Our dogs Radley and Maxie have brokered a certain understanding, but they're not exactly pals and certainly not playmates. Maxie is happy as can be with her tennis ball and a human to provide food at specifically set times. Radley, despite his extraordinary lack of social skills, has often seemed like he could use someone to bond with and run around the house. We're set against pet stores, much preferring rescue organizations. Problem there is that they rarely have small dogs. Puppies are even more uncommon. We've checked periodically and even came relatively close to adopting that elusive third dog at a Petsmart showcase of needy barkers once.

This past Saturday, we were both getting our haircuts at the same hoity-toity salon and there was a steady stream of people coming through the doors raving about the adorable puppies a couple storefronts down at one of those upscale pet supply shops. We went over to see for ourselves. I've already shared the end result of that sidetrip.

As noted, Radley is very skittish, highly suspicious of any sentient creatures other than the three he's been living with for the past two to three years, and integrating a new dog into a household with well-established pack rules is a challenge under the best of circumstances, so we've got a long, challenging trip ahead of us. There have been some pretty bad moments thus far, but a couple hopeful ones, as well.

Right now the three dogs have worked out a fragile peace.



We'll see what the weeks ahead bring.

(By the way, our coffee table isn't usually that messy. I guess it's appropriate that both a coffee cup and a Chuck Taylor tennis shoe are represented. It proves it's actually where I live.)

Some photos from our Thankgiving in Georgia, due to popular demand.

Well, jupiterjuniper asked to see them anyway.

( pix through here )

First and foremost: thanks to everyone who expressed some concern over Maxie. She's doing much better today. She's visibly sore, but she's bounced back much more quickly than she has from previous flare-ups so things are looking good.

And because someone needs to bring this to your attention...a student orchestra making a valuable contribution to the arts.

We've got a pretty miserable dog around the homestead. Maxie yelped when she jumped off the bed this morning and now she's suffering with the extreme pain that erupts in her hindquarters every once in a while. She's doing pretty well when she gets herself comfortable and stays still for a bit, but anytime she gets up to move the whimpering and trembling starts up again. Hopefully the fact that she's been able to curl up and settle for extended periods means she'll be able to sleep through the night without attacks of pain so bad that she's crying and climbing up to the head of bed to get closer to us, which happened on previous occasions when her pain got this bad.

Trying to find some happier news, someone in Vermont has been reading my wishbook.