Owner Desperate To Find Missing Dog, Maxx: 'He Is My Best Friend'

AQUEBOGUE, NY — An Aquebogue woman is desperate to find her dog, Maxx, who went missing Friday night.

According to Lisa Douglas, Maxx went missing from her yard on Hubbard Ave. in Aquebogue round 8:30 p.m. Maxx, a gray Miniature Schnauzer, weighs about 20 lbs. and has a docked tail and a white patch on his chest. He is older, has difficulty seeing at night, is allergic to poultry and grains, has a small cyst on his chest and growths on his abdomen, and has missing teeth.

Douglas has had Maxx for 13 years: "Yesterday was actually his 14th birthday," she said.

While Maxx is chipped, when he was let out at night before bedtime, his normal routine, he never came back inside. Douglas believes he must have gotten out through a small hole in the fence, previously unnoticed, where a branch had come down. His collar got stuck and left behind when he slipped through the fence, she said.

Normally, Maxx is just out for about five minutes and when he didn't come right back in, she. called for him. Normally, he'd stand still and bark because of his poor night vision, but last night, Douglas heard nothing.

Maxx is "like a little old man," Douglas said. "He's very quiet. He can't see well but he can still bark and chase squirrels and blue jays and all the things he likes to chase. And he can still hear a cheese wrapper — that's his snack of choice."

Still, he has joint pain and does not move quickly, so if called, Maxx will likely come. "He is very friendly," she said.

Douglas was out searching Friday night until 1 a.m. and went back out at 5:45 a.m., as soon as the sun rose, frantic to find him.

"He is my best friend," she said. "He has seen me through everything, both the good and the bad. My son left last year, to move out, and this dog has literally saved me." She added, "We are so heartbroken."

Douglas filed a report with Riverhead Town Police. If you see him, call police at 631-727-4500.