To Richard, the only one on earth who understood me.

Please let me heal your broken heart like you healed mine when you adopted me.

You adopted me when no one else wanted me. They said I was unpredictable and unadoptable because I bit people. I was too much of a liability to be adopted out. 

Yes, I know they said I was mean, vicious and couldn't be trusted but you, Richard, saw it wasn't anger driving me to bite. It was fear. 

The tone in the house is so different now. It's hard to believe how one 8 pound miniature pinscher could have such an effect on a house but since he passed away in the morning of December 9, it's so much quieter now. Sure, the other four dogs make plenty of noise when they hear something outside but since Max died in my arms, it's not the same around here.

There's no one to charge the baby gate that separates the living room (our one "dog-free" room) from the kitchen when I walk through it. How proud he was when he managed to rush by the closing gate and enter the forbidden room.

Do I look like the type to have allergies. I didn't think so. But I do have allergies. My skin itches. Even scratching doesn't relieve my itch. It only makes it worse.

I think I started itching when I had to eat dry food while on vacation last week. Or it could have been the pollen and heat that started this itchy rash on my tummy.

I just love my voice. It makes my mommy and daddy pay attention to me. I like to warn them of danger whether it is a squirrel or the man in the uniform that drops off boxes at our front door.

My human mom and dad picked Brooklyn for my name. I don't think it was because they rescued me from New York City's Brooklyn borough or even because my dad was raised in Brooklyn. I think it was because of my CONFIDENCE, my good attitude and always pushing the limits. All attributes of most of us native born New Yorkers. Whatever it was, I love my name.