Max was a loyal and energetic French water dog (Barbet) who loved to swim, chase squirrels, play hide-and-seek, and vigorously guard the front door. He was born on March 5, 2004 and joined our family as a puppy two months later. He enjoyed frequent trips to Vermont, where his beard would turn white with icicles, and once ran down the entire slope of Stratton Mountain. He brought us much happiness and remained in good health for 10 years, easily surviving potentially toxic run-ins with Advil, chocolate, fire starters and HotHands Hand Warmers.

It was a terrible shock when Max became sick in the summer of 2014. The diagnosis was Splenic Histiocytic Sarcoma. Max was relatively lucky—he underwent surgery and, with the help of chemotherapy, recovered from the initial tumor and far outlived the vets’ expectations.

Max died peacefully on October 21, 2015, and we miss him every day.

~Liz & Gary Schonfeld