Losing Max, the First Romanian Army’s Military Working Dog Hero

Abstract

Max, a six-year-old German Shepherd, was the first military working dog of the Romanian Army who was buried with military honors. Max died in 2015, and the funeral procession was held in his memory, at the “Animals’ Heaven” Cemetery for animal companions. In presenting his case, we have used as sources of information articles, materials that we carefully selected from the Romanian media and from the Internet (most of them with reference on Max’s final year of life), as well as an interview conducted with Max’s handler regarding the handler–military working dog relationship and the emotion management in the context of Max’s death. Further, the current status and the future of military working dogs in Romania were discussed.