Max

-
All dogs are called Max. Have you noticed? Truly, all dogs are.
So when we got our new dog from the animal shelter his name was . . . . Right, his name was Max.
The first thing we did was rename him, and now he has been Tazi, or Swiepo for a long time. These names have their problems too, but at least they are not common.
A few years after we got him, Tazi ran away in the woods near our house. I crisscrossed it various times: no dog. I went home, went back to the woods and called his name: “Tazi!!!” and went home again.
Then I got a phone call from a vet nearby. The dog had been crossing a road and had been hit by a car. So they had brought him to the vet’s practice. Not much wrong with him, could I come and pick him up.
The vet asked for his identity papers. From his tag he did not know what his name was. So he had just tried a few on the dog.
“Buster,” he had called, “Rocky, Max!”
Bingo! Tazi had looked up expectantly.
See? All dogs are called Max. Even our own.