Welcome and thank you for taking the time to get to know about our Great Pyrenees puppy Maximus. My name is Summer and I am the proud and lucky mom to 4 fur-kids and 2 Tiny Humans, plus some guinea pigs and chickens. I'd like to take this time and tell you about our latest rescue Maximus and why we started this fundraising campaign. 
Maximus had a pretty rough start in life, he was found with his brother in the parking lot of a Walmart...malnurished, mangey, scared and in overall poor health. He was rescued by Great Pyrenees Rescue Society and found his way to our family. We have two older rescue Pyrenees (Isabelle and Griswold) and he bonded with them and our senior German Shepherd (Leia) immediately. He has spent the last 2 months learning what it means to be a loved member of a family. We noticed he had issues with his back legs right when we rescued him but figured it was puppy gangliness, stress and poor nutrition. We've spent the last 2 months getting him healthly and he looks amazing except his legs keep getting worse. He is currently having a hard time getting around and can barely walk which is definitely not normal for a 7 month old puppy. 
We saw an orthopedic specialist, at the recommendation of our veterinarian, and he told us disasterous news. Poor young Max has a plethora of issues. His rear right leg and hip are in dire need of surgery.  X-rays and an MRI show that his cruciate and mcl ligaments are severed, his patella (knee cap) is on the side of his leg (45 degrees from where it should be), and he has severe hip dysplasia and needs his "hip cup" rebuilt. The worst and most odd issue is that he has a bent femur bone; possibly a congenital malformation. The surgeon said he was amazed at Maximus's good spirits and demeanor considering the huge amount of pain he has been in since puppyhood. Max is a lovebug with a good and tender heart and I feel like this sweet boy found his way to us for a reason. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, the surgeon said that with these surgeries he has a good chance of a normal and relatively pain free life; possibly coming out of it with only a small limp. If we decided to forgo treatment he probably has a year or less before his rear legs are completely lame. We love this sweet dog with all our hearts and he has been through so much in his short life. Maximus's growth plates are not closed yet and we have about a month until the surgeon would do these surgeries to repair his ligaments, femur and hip; this gives Max the best chance at a full recovery. My goal is to raise half $7,500 of the estimated $15,000 surgery and recovery costs. We appreciate any help  and mostly ask for love, healing vibes and positive thoughts as we start down this road. We would love to share our journey with all our friends and invite you to check in on Maximus, his Pyrenees siblings and Tiny Humans on Instagram:
@izzygrizzymaximushow 
And on mom's Facebook page:
Summer (Philpot) Shaw
I have spent my life rescuing animals and I think every animal deseves the best life possible. Maximus is a valued member of our family and we cherish every moment we have with him. We are so grateful for all of our friend's support and all the friends we've made in our wonderful pet loving social media community.  I work with Great Pyrenees Rescue Society, where we got Maximus, and any funds that exceed what is needed for Maximus will be donated to Great Pyrenees Rescue Society to further help their efforts in saving these wonderful fluffy dogs.