A true rags-to-riches story, Max the Elephant Dog overcame abandonment and solitude to find himself a big -and we mean big - family. That’s because after spending his first two months alone, Max was adopted by the Houston Zoo to become a companion dog for our Asian elephants.
Max, who gets his name from the Asian elephant scientific name Elephas maximus, is a mixed Terrier who really enjoys greeting Zoo guests. He is very affectionate and can be a bit lazy at times (what dog isn’t?), but rest assure that he serves an extremely important role with Asian elephant training.
To the elephants and zoo keepers, Max acts as a companion animal, running and playing in the elephant yard under keeper supervision. Max also acts as a crucial stepping stone in the process of learning to train elephants. Before teaching our Asian elephants certain behaviors and actions, new keepers must often train Max to do the same thing. Once they have perfected behaviors with Max, they are ready to pass these lessons on to our pachyderms.
An important lesson to take from Max’s story is that there are thousands of abandoned and sheltered dogs looking for good homes. Adopting a dog has a tremendously positive impact on the dog itself, their owners and families, and in this case, on elephants and zoo keepers.
Max is a special dog here at the Houston Zoo, but remember that he’s not the only one. We also have Anatolian Shepherds that cohabitate with cheetahs and some amazing African wild dogs. Max is just another example of how the Houston Zoo lives up to our mission of being a top-tier conservation organization.conservation organization.
