Grief Dog Max

Have I officially lost my mind??

Well…. I did it again. I guess I am just saying yes to almost everything right now! It has almost been 9 months since the passing of my beloved Q, and our family is just trying to figure out how to navigate through it all.

My oldest son, Kale, has been begging me for a dog for as long as I can remember. I always brushed off this idea telling him he has no time to get a dog. He does not understand how much work puppies really are. You will be up all night taking them potty, cleaning up messes, listening to them whine, teaching them right and wrong, etc. Not to mention his already crazy schedule, as he is a college baseball player…..if you have a college athlete you know how crazy busy they are! There was absolutely NO way I was going to let Kale have a puppy because we all knew that it would end up being my responsibility. 

Months passed as Kale kept nagging me about the idea of a puppy. I kept telling him “no” because I knew the spring baseball season would be right around the corner.  Well…… that was until Kale was scrolling on Snapchat a few days before Christmas and the perfect opportunity arose… 

Yes… this all happened because of Snapchat. I will let him tell you how everything lined up perfectly

Max ended being our second grief pet for the loss of Q, and Apollo Sky being the first and let me say grief pets are the best decision I could have made for my children.

“So, if you haven’t heard yes, I got myself a dog. Now, there are a lot of responsibilities that come with owning a dog and I understand that. Luckily for me, at the same time, Max happens to be around 2 years old, or at least we think. I will get into that in a little bit. Being a college athlete while at the same time being a dog Dad will not be the easiest thing to do at all, but it will 100% be worth it. A little backstory on me, I absolutely love dogs. I do truly believe they are a man's best friend. My dad also thought the same. Now he did paint a picture that he was over animals and “didn’t want anything to do with them”; he was a sucker for our dogs. He would always play with them and love on them. It was always funny to me to watch that because he would just completely contradict himself. I remember when I was younger, we had a dog named Tuffton. He was my dad's best friend, that is for sure. That dog Tuffton was always with him, along with the things my dad did. My dad always took him fishing and would take him on the boat. Overall, Tuffton was an adventurous dog that fit the place of a man's best friend—thinking about all that made me want to get a dog as well. (also, for the fact that we just got Apollo and I was a little jealous because I really wanted a dog)  Fortunately for me, I was scrolling on Snapchat and came across someone's story that was selling a Shih Tzu. So of course, I contacted that person without talking to my mom first and said I was 100% interested. Also I had happened to get lucky and win $500 on a scratch-off and was wanting to spend a little of my prize money haha. So once the person contacted me about the dog I learned more about this Shih Tzu. I found out his name is Max, he is around 2 years old, and he is a very chill and loving dog, he also is potty trained. So I immediately took this information and threw my sales pitch together to convince my mother to get this dog. I told her that he needed a really good home (like us). Max’s current owners at the time were unable to take care of him because they were getting older and in need of nursing home care, making it incredibly difficult for them to take care of him. So after a little while of convincing, my mom told me “Kale, this is a lot of responsibility. But you are 20, and I trust you. If you really want Max you can get him, just know it is a big responsibility and he will be yours.”  I was pumped. I told her “of course I am gonna take care of him, Max is gonna love his new home. This makes me super happy. It makes me feel good because I am able to give Max the love he deserves and a good home for him. In a way for me, this is my chance to kinda be a “dad” while still figuring out how to handle the challenges life faces at me. But now I have Max by my side to do that with.”

-Kale

How could I ever say no when everything seemed to line up so perfectly? Hearing Kale talk about how Q was connected to Tuffton (Our first dog) made my mama heart just swell up. I remember Q’s soft spot for our pups and how they were truly a man's best friend. After all, they did what best friends do, went on adventures together. One early March morning Quintin thought it was a brilliant idea to bring Tuffton fishing and right when Q hooked his first catch of the morning Tuffton decided to jump in those icy midwestern cold waters making a quicker fishing trip than he desired. I can still remember him pulling back in with the boat super frustrated but then laughing as he helped Tuffton out of the truck. He even showed Tuffton how to snow sled down the epic new hill with all the kids in our forever home.

 Quintin LOVED that dog and the day we had to say goodbye to Tuffton he assured me he would stay with him and urged me to go, as he wanted me to always remember Tuffton in the best way possible. He did the hard stuff to protect me from the pain. He even brought him home and buried him in our backyard in a box with fresh flowers he bought himself, with a handwritten sentiment “family dog” covered in gold duct tape to signify that he was “golden” the best dog ever.

 For anyone who knew Quintin, knew that Duct tape was his first love! ha…TRUTH!   He even named the next family dog “Ditto” as she was Tufffon’s mini me 

and then encouraged me to bring that mini me Ditto to see my dad days before his passing, saying “Bring Ditto, your dad will love her. Pets are so healing Lori”, I write this with a massive lump in my throat as the last picture I took of my sweet father was one of him cradling Ditto with the most content look on his face. Sigh….Q just knew! (pic of papa dan)

 Q would always tell me that his one goal in life was to be as happy as a dog with his head out the window. I mean picture that, it’s truly the best! Reminiscing on this made me teary-eyed. I miss Q, and I felt like the Lord speaking to me by telling me how much Kale really needs this dog.

 I believe nothing is a coincidence and that everything is God’s plan. Max the dog has a gut-wrenching story of never having a permanent home and come to find out we are his third home. He’s potty trained, he has the sweetest disposition, AND he is a Shih-Tzu?! I mean COME ON this pup adoption couldn’t have been more meant to be. Throughout his childhood, Kale has always had such a big heart. I knew that from the moment we met Max,  this dog would be absolutely perfect for him as navigates the grief of his amazing father. So of course…… I said Yes! I don’t know a mama who wouldn't have said yes to this sweet boy, ahem “young man”. 

This is Max! He is the sweetest and most loving dog ever, you can even see it in his eyes! He and Kale are already best buddies, and it warms my mama heart to see Kale just light up when he is around Max.  I truly have not seen his true smile like this is a really long time. 

This first week has been an adjustment for all of us, but slowly, Max began to fill a space in our hearts we didn’t know needed filling. Kale would spend hours with him, taking him for a walk, and playing with him as he gets the zoomies. He’d curl up beside him at night in bed, offering a gentle, comforting presence. Kale began to smile more. He began to laugh again. His healing, though slow, is happening.

Max didn’t replace Q. He didn’t take away the pain. But he became part of our new family dynamic—a reminder that even in the hardest times, love and companionship can find their way to us when we need them most.

Looking back, I’m so glad I said yes to Kale’s request. At the time, it felt like just one more thing I didn’t think I could manage. But now, I see how much Max has given him. He’s not just a dog; he’s a bridge to healing. He’s a constant reminder that love, in whatever form it takes, can help us move forward, even when life is at its hardest. Max was a little fur baby orphan in need of a “fur”ever home and this widow opened her home in hopes he would add a little bit of laughter and healing to her hurting family. He has already done that and  my hope is that Max loves us as much as we love him and that maybe just maybe we could together fulfill a role that was absent in all of our lives because of saying yes to Max.

Saying yes wasn’t easy. It meant embracing something I wasn’t ready for, something that would require more of me than I thought I could give. But in saying yes, I gave my son something more valuable than I could have imagined—a source of comfort during his grief, a friend to help him cope, and a companion who makes the world feel a little less lonely.

If you're a grieving parent, or a mama who's feeling overwhelmed, know that it’s okay to hesitate. It’s okay to say “no” at first. But sometimes, the hardest things turn out to be the most healing. And sometimes, a dog is exactly what a grieving heart needs.

If you want to stay updated with all of our furbabies with daily hilarious content make sure to follow our CrazyBusyFurBabies here! Welcome to your forever home Max, you are so loved!

Have you ever made a decision that you weren’t sure about, but later realized it was the right one? Share your story with me in the comments below.

You can hear me share about Max and his exciting adventure HERE!!