A dog named Max was surrendered to a local shelter in California after living his “whole life outside.”
Max was 9 years old when he was given up to a local shelter in July over unspecified housing issues. “There was no adoption interest, and his time was up at the shelter so he was given a euthanasia deadline,” Diana Turner, Max’s foster, told Newsweek via email. “He needed a rescue or foster to step up to save him.”
The pup’s plight was featured in a TikTok video last month by @adoptapet, with the video explaining how Max had been “let down by humans” before having spent his “whole life outside” up until his rescue.
That rescue ended up being Oakland Animal Services, with Turner agreeing to foster Max. “We were fostering two puppies that got adopted when Max’s deadline came up, so we decided to take Max into foster care to give him more time to find a fur-ever family,” Turner said. “We lost our senior German Shephard mix in 2020 and liked the idea of helping a senior dog.”
A foster stay can make a huge difference to the wellbeing of a dog like Max. The hustle and bustle of a busy shelter can sometimes prove too much for some new arrivals. It can be a huge shock to the system and something entirely alien to anything they knew before. Foster care provides them with an opportunity to adjust to their new life in a calmer, more focused, home setting. The special care they get from a foster carer is crucial too.
In 2018, a study in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science highlighted how just 15 minutes of one-on-one petting was enough to boost the wellbeing of a shelter dog. A foster stay represents the most obvious extension of that scenario.
From the moment Max came into Turner’s care, she could tell he had not lived the kind of life most senior dogs his age had.
“He was not house trained, and it was clear he did not know how to behave in a home environment, so we believe he spent his life living outside,” she said. “It appears he was not socialized with other dogs and doesn’t know how to properly introduce himself to dogs. Max also didn’t have good walking skills on leash, so we don’t think he was walked in his previous life.”
Turner enrolled Max in small-group play sessions at Oakland Animal Services which, though ultimately cut short due to lack of staffing, helped him to improve his dog social skills to some degree.
A dog named Max was surrendered to a local shelter in California after living his “whole life outside.”
TikTok/adoptapet
“He learned to walk nicely and after four months he finally started sniffing on his walks,” Turner said. “He does get excited if another dog barks at him or if he sees a cat run by, so we practice avoidance and have learned which dogs are ok to walk by in our neighborhood.”
Turner had only been fostering for the shelter for a matter of weeks when she took on Max and admits she had “no idea” it would take him so long to get adopted.
But having that period to adjust has proven to be a blessing in some ways. “Max came out of his shell after we brought him home,” Turner said. “He was labeled as low energy at the shelter, but he ended up being medium energy after a few days of settling in. Given this, he was likely shutting down at the shelter and was reported to not have much interest in leaving his kennel. “
Now fully house trained, Turner has no doubt that he would make a “great house dog” for the right person. “Max loves going for walks and easy hikes and occasionally does zoomies around the yard,” she said. “He enjoys plush squeaky toys and will chase after them, but he isn’t a ‘fetch’ dog. He loves to train for treats and is very food motivated. He enjoys food toys and puzzles, likes to find hidden treats around the house and he is catching on to playing hide and seek with me.”
Best off as a “solo pet,” Turner said Max is a “sweet and loving” dog whose ideal home would be “in a quiet neighborhood with a family who will let him live indoors.”
The search for that home continues.
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