Max

He's so big.  The same size as Jory was, but a month younger.

I told Alpha Male, if we'd been in this situation while Jory was alive, that Max would have been Alpha's dedicated puppy.  And Jory would be sitting on me. 

"*I* am the dog!  Well, you are a dog, too.  But I am THE dog."  Alpha laughed.  "And Max would grow up to be twenty pounds heavier." 
"JORY wouldn't care!" :) 
"I know.  But this 65, 70 pound bully, and Max would grow up with it so he wouldn't mind.  'Sure, you're the boss.'" 

A few hours before, Alpha had narrated some of what Max can be thinking.  (While he was whining and trying to get comfortable.)  "I've got to figure myself out.  I'm a dawg, clearly.  But what does that mean?  What am I capable of?"
The precursor to "Dog is good.  Dog is treat."  He's going to get there.  :)

Max actually kind of stinks at eating.  ^^  "How did you get so BIG eating this bad???"  He's got these huge gaps between his puppy teeth, and his nose-tongue aim is off.  I poured water in his food so it is soft, and that helped a lot.  He still flips a lot of pieces out with his tongue.

Now I remember why I got over-involved with Jory's puppy struggles: they really were struggles.  Now I know that he'll get big and capable.  I'll be more patient and let him figure his own way through puzzles.

It's pretty neat- Jory demolished his trachea in three, five minutes tops.  I was ecstatic it lasted so long.  Max may take a few weeks!  This makes braided heart jerky a great investment.

Max has, in typical dog fashion, taken his greatest shining to none of the toys, but my empty, crackly water bottle.  :)

Oh, he doesnt like walking.  It is scary.  He is Very Concerned and whines for us to all return to the car.  He does, however, enjoy having the car door open while his butt is firmly plunked down in his crate.

Speaking of, this sof-krate 2 is perfect.  30" is great for his size, he likes parascoping his head out the top, and when car shifts make him wobble, he's flopping against the padded seats or my feather pillow.  We have left the side by me open, he doesnt really come out, but I can pretty him, and he was scratching at it when I thought we were ready to close it.  He also likes to rest his muzzle on the bottom zipper.  His first Awkward Pressure.  So proud.

So much of him is like Jory.  Halo, their shared mother, was the inverse spit of him.  Same face, but Jory had luscious long fur.  I think he got that from daddy.  Same barks, but Jory's was deeper with more growl mixed in.  Jaren got her to lean against his leg while being pet, and wiggled her front leg, his test for Jory's puppy hugs.  It's good if they take their weight off the outside leg.  Halo had the same face expressions when she wanted things, or was checking us out.  She even stepped on Jaren's balls like Jory did.  It was a little shocking, honestly.  I thought he was quite the unique character.  In the world of dogs, yeah.  But I suspect his biggest differences will prove to be preferences and situational.

Halo barked and growled at her lady friends if they rebuked her children.  Beth said that she hated that.  She was a good mama, playing with them, running around with them behind her or attached to her fur.  It reminded me of Wilson dangling from Jory's neck.  :)  Times three!

I definitely missed out picking Jory up in flagstaff.  It was really cool to see how they were both raised.

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We stopped at a wood fire oven for dinner.  They had out door seating, so max friendly.  Little did I know, they let us bring him inside!  The waitress was smitten, but max was not having it.  First he was shy, then she accidentally stepped on his tail.  Not meant to be, haha.  They were all very nice, someone brought him a mozzarella, another a piece of their fancy dog biscuits.  Max LOVED the pizza crust.  I indulged us both by sharing little pieces.  He was wandering around Alpha Male on his leash a lot, thinking about whining, but I had a little moose toy and he dove at it.  Eventually he settled on a spot between my chair and the wall, facing the kitchen doorway.  A good vantage point, with access to the Giver of Yums.
The way out was a gauntlet of strangers, and since home eta is now midnight, Alpha picked him up after 30 seconds of coaxing.  "If we weren't on a schedule I'd make you face your fears, ya goober."
Max was happy walking on the grass back to the car, snapping at his moose.  He seemed... Kind of like he wanted to pee but too distracted. 
We stopped about a half hour later for everyone to have a pit stop.  He rolled on his back so I couldn't snap the harness on.  "REALLY?"  That was fast.  Well played, puppy.  Alpha took him to grass while I went inside, and he decided to forego whining, then immediately weed for several seconds.  This is magical to us.  Jory was a marker; Influencing Land and Winning Walks.
Max good right into his crate and whines for thirty seconds before settling in.  The winner is without fail.  Despite clearly preferring it's safety to wandering in the dark.  Pretty amusing.
I had a mourning period between the restaurant and potty.  They lavished about Max, but had no value of who was lost before.  Instead of showing a picture of what he will resemble, all four of us could have been there.  Jory would have whined about us sitting still until the snacks came.  I keep reliving our last morning.  He licked my face to wake me up, I was so tired.  This time I tried to remember what passed between us to express or strong relationship, and our adventures in Minnesota.  I held his ashes, listened to Burn it Down, and found the last pictures of Jory on my phone while Max napped.  He was alive and I wanted to copy a movie over.  "I know my dog is cute." Delete delete.  I need them back off my laptop.
Max has scabs from puppy teeth on his back.  I hope they heal fast.  He's also finished his soggy food.  Yay!