Beverly Elgin-Barton and her family have been heartbroken since their little dog, Max, disappeared.
Elgin-Barton said Max might seem like he is a normal dog to most people, but the Chinese crushed powderpuff dog is more than that.
She said Max has been with them through some rough times.
“This dog is a joy-spreader and my heart is really broken right now,” she said.
Elgin-Barton and her family are asking for help finding Max, who has been missing since Aug. 11 after he darted out during a rainstorm. She said Max was last seen near the Airport Grill at 1301 Bettis Academy Road in Trenton.
Max, who has been serving his purpose beyond his dog duties, has been there when she and her first husband divorced and when he died, as well as when her eldest daughter had surgery for scoliosis after a car accident.
“To say that I am in love with this dog is an understatement,” she said.
Elgin-Barton said she first met Max after her late husband Russ Elgin took their daughter Amanda Elgin to get pickles at a flea market.
Amanda said she remembers the day she met Max and loved his crooked smile.
“We all fell so in love with Max,” she said.
Once Amanda and her dad brought Max home, her mom fell in love with him too.
“Max not being there has torn her apart,” Amanda said.
Elgin-Barton said each year on the anniversary of her husband’s death, she and her daughters would sit around and cry, but Max would be there to cheer them up.
“He would always do the unexpected,” Elgin-Barton said.
Max is even more important to her daughters because it was one of the last things her late husband gave them before he died.
“That dog is the last little bit of my dad,” Alina said.
“He was from the start with my dad, my mom, with my sister, he has been a part of all of our family’s lives,” Alina said.
Elgin-Barton said Max is one thing her mom remembers while she is staying at a memory-recovery facility. Before her husband’s death, her husband was going to write a book about his and Max’s travel adventures.
“He is not a normal dog and there is a connection, he understands everything,” she said
Elgin-Barton thinks someone could have picked up Max and she wants him back because he needs his medication.
She has searched wooded areas, put out flyers, contacted local business owners and had gone to various animal shelters to look for him.
She and her family hope that he will return to them soon.
“Once he gets back, he is never going to get lost again because I am going to get him one of those thunder jackets and hold him tight,” she said.
Elgin-Barton is offering a reward to anyone who would assist in bringing Max home.