When I start telling Max stories, often people's response is that I should write a book. Well I don't have time for that but I figured I could blog about them occasionally. Max was my first German shepherd and first male dog.

One of my favorite stories happened when he was very little. He was 8 or 9 weeks old. He was 7 weeks old in the above photo. I was in the kitchen and he was exploring one of the back bedrooms. Then I heard him screaming. I stepped into the hall and he was running toward me still screaming. He was looking behind him and running full force toward me. I knelt to the floor and he jumped safely into my arms. He was already very vocal and was making sounds as if to tell me what had happened. I did get an idea. I asked him if something was after him, chasing him. Oh my, it seemed there was something that was indeed chasing him. He was very distraught. This was the beginning of the drama with him. I asked him, "is this what was chasing you?" while showing him his own tail. He screamed and jumped. It was indeed what was chasing him down the hall. I was trying very hard not to laugh. It was extremely hard. I had to tell him that it was his tail. It was attached to him. It would forever be attached to him. I was there to protect him. He finally calmed down. He did remember it though. When I told the story back to him he would make this sound as if to say "awe not that story again" and seem embarrassed. He learned that Momma could calm his fears. Momma was safe. And Momma would protect him. The beginning of a beautiful very close bond between us. I seemed to understand him and he understood me.

So many times we misunderstand situations. We have a Heavenly Father that is our protector, calms our fears, is a safe harbor and desires a close bond with us. All we have to do is jump into prayer and scripture. He is always with us. Do not fear. Can you picture yourself jumping into our Heavenly Father's arms for comfort?

I am extremely grateful for the ones in my life who have taught me how to grow, stretch my comfort zone, laugh, and give me support. I am also thankful for a hair clip side gig that allows for many jeep trips, and it is the perfect way to contain the crazy jeep hair into beautiful hair. Here are the links if you are interested in the Jeep Jewelry www.gatewoodsjubilee.biz. or you can go to www.LillaRose.biz/Gatewood for that amazing hair Flexiclip.

The jeep hairclips are available with this Google form or at a show. To get a free video of 9 easy hairstyles and a chance to win a free Flexi Sport, register here: MuddyDogJeepBlog . For more styling videos you can check out my YouTube channel Gatewood's Jubilee .

A Max, German shepherd Puppy Story -something is chasing me