The Full Max

Max may be 17 years old, partially deaf and blind, but the old cattle dog is living proof that there is life in the old dog yet.  For Max has been lavished with praise by Australian police for taking care of a three year old girl while the two of them spent a scary night alone in the bush.  It seems Aurora disappeared from her home in Queensland after going for a wonder.  Her disappearance sparked a search involving more than 100 emergency workers and volunteers in a race against time to track her down.  Little did the search team know, but they had a little more breathing space thanks to Max, the old family dog, who had not only followed her into the bush but had also stayed with her during the entire 16 hours that she was missing.  And good job he did for in the bush temperatures during the night can drop to as low as 15c.  Thankfully, Aurora did not have to spend a second night out in the wild.  For the following morning her grandmother, a Ms Leisa Marie Bennett, heard her granddaughter calling and relatives were able to find the girl some 2km from her home.  “I shot up the mountain and when I came to the top, the dog came to me and led me straight to her,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.   Apart from a few minor scratches, Aurora emerged from her ordeal unscathed.  The Police believe Max had a lot to do with the happy ending and have even named him an honorary police dog.  Inspector Craig Berry said, “At three years old, I would imagine that the young child would be very scared and frightened through the night and very cold.  You can hope the dog was good company for the child and kept her warm. It’s a positive outcome.”  Sounds like Max deserves the Maximum praise.