Max and the Great Escape

Just a quick memory to share. I had a Collie doggie when I was a teenager and I called him Max after Maximilian Schell, the German film star. I have no idea why I chose that particular actor apart from liking the name Max. Anyway, I digress. Back to the memory. So, I would take Max on regular long walks through the woods close to where I lived. To get to the woods I had to walk through a built up area not dissimilar to the bronx meets Damascus meets Baghdad. This area was/is called Grangewood. So one particular afternoon I put a lead on Max and we happily trotted on towards our objective, the lush green woods of the ‘Gollies’ a wooded area surrounding a local golf course. We had been walking through no man’s land for no more than 2 minutes when it happened. A large Rottweiler came bounding towards us from out of a front door of one of the delightful residential properties on the estate!! It’s teeth were bared, salver hanging from its jowls, obviously intent on feasting on Max, and probably me as a desert! Now Max was by no stretch of the imagination a fighter, in fact if he had been human, he would probably have been a conscientious objector. The head of Max swivelled, he barked a feeble ‘please don’t eat me’ bark and started running. I of course had hold of his lead, so I had no choice but to run with him so I tried to keep up with him. I can honestly say I have never run as fast as that before or since. Max was panting and I was panting even harder. I looked over my shoulder as I was attempting to keep up with Max to see the owner of the Rotty swearing and cursing at the dog before planting his foot up the dogs bottom as it ran back into the house.

When we reached the edge of the field that led to the Gollies, I let Max of the leash and he went about his task of having a good time.

Poor old Max. I’ve been thinking about him today and that memory came back to me. If there’s a doggie heaven I hope he’s having a good time and steering clear of Rottweilers.