Look what Max Found

A few months ago I adopted a 5 year old, 84 pound German Shepherd from our county animal shelter and every morning early Max and I take a walk around our neighborhood. Max loves our walks and thanks to Max and a year of reduced carbohydrates and sugar I've managed to drop 35 pounds making this 69 year old lighter than I was when I was 20.

In the photo above Max is very intently watching a young squirrel build what is probably her first nest in one of my centuries old oak trees. Max has also managed to run off the groundhogs that have plagued my gardens in recent years. You can read about that in How to Rid Your Garden of Groundhogs. It is a great guide to all the things that don't work. Only if and when Max learns to climb a tree will the squirrel have to worry.

If you look beyond Max you'll see a white planter and a rectangular planter that are both filled with Water Cabbage which I use to provide shade for the fish in my pond, water filtration, and as material for composting. Basically all you need to grow Water Cabbage is dirty water. Fortunately it will not survive the winters here in my part of North Carolina so it doesn't become invasive.

Max has amazing intellect and problem solving skills. While he does suffer from some separation anxiety he's getting better the longer he lives with me. I spoil him a lot but mostly he remains well mannered and likes almost everyone he meets which is good because he occasionally escapes and goes for his own runs around the neighborhood despite 6' fences around my backyard. By now most of the neighbors know Max isn't a threat and he always returns within a half hour or so.

My best friend Max is also very observant, always picking up on things that weren't there the day before. For example, on July 5th we found these things all over the neighborhood.

Here's another view.

The washer looking thing is made of cardboard and about the size of a quarter. The white thing appears to be made of clay. Because I found several of each laying in the street near trash that was left behind from the July 4th fireworks that were set off all over the neighborhood I'm assuming these items also came inside the fireworks, but who knows?

Most every morning Max and I find things that shouldn't be there. For example, the other day Max found an entire pizza and at it before I could take it away from him. I was very concerned at the time but as it has been several days I think he's okay.