Creative Corner

Centennial Committee

Mr. Jeffrey Paul Helsdon
Chair

Ms. Dale Maddox Geddis
Honorary Co-Chair

Ms. Marsha Sheppard
Finance Subcommittee Chair

Ms. Sharon Pflueger and Ms. Tammy Rabold
Merchandise Sales Subcommittee Co-Chairs

Ms. Shani St. John
Media and Publicity Subcommittee Chair

Ms. Michelle Kramer
Website Chair

Ms. Jann Selleck
Servicemark Subcommittee Chair

Dr. May Jacobson
Foreign Dignitaries Subcommittee Chair

Ms. Meghan Munter
Special Projects Subcommittee Chair

Mr. Ray Carlisle
World War II Subcommittee Chair

Ms. Maria Ciski
Service Dog Subcommittee Chair

Mr. Jeffrey Paul Helsdon
Homeland Security Subcommittee Chair

Ms. Sherry Beck
Event Subcommittee Chair

Ambassadors
Peggy Boos
Lora Van Epp
Nicole Glasser

Executive Committee Members
Dr. Sam F. Burke, Jr.
Dr. Anthony DiNardo
Ms. Ellen Hanley
Ms. Robin Kelley
Dr. Carmen Battaglia

MAX THE RESCUE

By "Max" and his mom Victoria

Hi Everyone!

My name is Max. I am 8 years old and my family decided they didn’t want me any more. They turned me over to Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus. When I first came into rescue, they called me Maximum Overload because my previous owners let me free-feed. As you can see from my ‘before’ photo…I was huge! You can also tell by the look on my face that I was not a very happy boy. I’ve have been with my new mom for a little more than six months and look at me now!

When I first moved in with my new mom, I had a hard time walking. It was tough to even walk a couple of blocks. The second day in my new home, I fell down the stairs. Mom was worried that I was going to break a leg on the way down, but lucky me…I didn’t. Don’t worry; I am much better on the stairs and I can walk forever now. When my new mom would take me for a walk, people would ask her if I was getting ready to have puppies; that’s how big I was.

At first I thought my new mom was starving me! She only lets me eat twice a day, and believe me, it is not anywhere near the amount of food I was used to eating every day! And, now that I am a city-boy, I go for several walks a day. That is really good exercise for me. My new mom was also worried because I was drinking so much water and my skin was really dry, so she took me to the vet and he did some blood tests. It turns out my thyroid level was really low, so now I take medicine every day to get it under control. I am feeling so much better and it is helping with my weight loss too.

Since we live so close to Lake Michigan, Mom takes my new sister and me to the lake and the dog park several times a week. I think the lake is kinda dumb, but my new sister is a lab and she loves to swim. At first I had a hard time even walking on the sand cause of my weight, but now, I can run with the best of the dogs. Mom says I can run like the wind…I think she is being kind…it’s more like a stiff breeze! It’s fun to go to the lake and the park because I get to play with other dogs and meet lots of new people. Here is something I figured out when meeting new people. All I have to do is walk up to them and lean. When I do that, their hand automatically comes down and scratches me behind the ear...how cool is that? These people were really easy to train too.

I have lost 21 pounds so far…I still have another 10 pounds to go. Mom says that once all the weight is off, I am going to look like a real stud muffin! Personally, I think I am looking very studdly right now. All I know is that since I have been losing weight, I can have a lot more dog fun! It took a couple of weeks for me to be able to get up on the couch (don’t worry…Mom says it’s OK), I can roll over and I can wrestle with my sister.

When I came to my new home, I was supposed to be a foster dog. Mom had just lost one of her dogs to old age and she wasn’t sure she wanted another dog, so she decided to foster for IDR+. Well, as soon as I walked in, I knew I was home, so I started working on her right away. A few dober-leans and then a couple of dober-kisses was all it took. I made sure I let my new sister Cindy set the house rules. It only took her a couple of days to know that I was just the dober-gentleman that she needed in her life. YIPPEE! I am home! I am the first Doberman that my mom has ever owned and I guess I have done my job well because now she says that she will always have to have a Doberman in her life.

Mom does home visits for IDR+ and now I get to go with her to meet potential adopters. How’s that for a cool job? Mom is also working on my training so that some day I can be a therapy dog just like my sister. Mom says that I would be a good dog to visit hospice patients. I am not sure what that means, but mom says that all I would have to do is be my loveable self and I will be able to bring some joy to these patients.

As I said, when I first came into rescue, they called me Maximum Overload, but don’t call me that now. Mom says that I am One Max-In-A-Million!

Max

You can click on any of the titles below to read the essay:

The Doberman and Cowboy · September 11 · Max the Rescue · Paws Claws Scales and Tails · Winter of 2006 · Mesu · The Eggnog Doberman · Dolphie