My name is Max
I am a Golden Retriever
The lady who owned my parents knew nothing about “clearances” or “being a reputable breeder” or that she was being irresponsible by allowing my birth.
She was a nice lady, as far as I remember. She didn’t know anything about K9Data. She didn’t know that my mom and dad were way bigger than Golden Retrievers are supposed to be. Or that they were way curlier than was acceptable. She didn’t know about these “breed standards” that she was supposed to go by. She just wanted to sell some puppies to families who would love them. She wasn’t doing it for any other reason.
My human mom tells me often about the day she first met me. She says I climbed up in her lap and put my head on her shoulder and that was that, she and my human dad signed some papers and gave the lady and her son some money and then a week later, they came and got me and took me to this big house that’s my home now. She tells me that she was really lonely and really sad a lot, that her family had turned their backs on her, and that when she got me, her world opened up and things got a lot better for her. She tells me all the time how much she loves me, and she takes me lots of places and she gives me good food and treats, and she takes me to the vet when I’m sick or when she thinks I might be. She buys me LOTS of toys, too.
I love my life. Mom says that Golden Retrievers get some bad diseases some times and she hopes I don’t get them, and that I live a long long time. She says that the lady who owned my mom didn’t worry about maybe passing on some bad genes and stuff to me, but she says I shouldn’t worry because all my family has been healthy for a long time.
Still, she doesn’t have a lot of money and when she got me, it was pretty much a spur of the moment thing. She wanted to own a dog, not lease one. She didn’t do research and spend hours on the internet learning about Golden Retrievers. She’d met a Golden Retriever named Jesse and she fell in love with him, and decided then and there that she wanted a Golden of her own some day. She just loved Jesse, she didn’t know anything else. Mom often follows her heart and then her brain takes over later. Once she knew I was coming home with her, she got lots of books and read a lot and talked to people on the computer, too. When I came home, she says she was really scared, but she was gonna be the best puppy mom she could be.
I think she did okay, and she still does okay. She does better than okay, she does great. I’m a good dog. I go to the nursing home and visit our special lady, and lots of other people and they pet me and smile. I can feel their old hearts get just a little lighter and that makes me happy. I wag my tail a LOT.
And my mom. She was so sad and so lonely. Cuz of me, she met her best friend, and then she met more friends, and we go to lots of places and take rides and go on what she calls adventures – which really just means we got lost and found our way home, but she tells Dad about them and makes me the hero every time. And they laugh together and that makes me feel happy.
I love Dad, too. He was sad and lonely till Mom came along. And now he says that I made them a family.
But according to some, I should not have been born.
I think those people are pretty stupid
Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues 
