I just saw your post. I'm very sorry that you lost your beautiful Max. You never miss them less, but you miss them less often. The hole in your heart never goes away, but you don't think about it as much as time passes. I lost my heart dog, Molly, 13 yrs old, to cancer in June. I lost my two Rotties, both age 8, to bone cancer, one in 2012 and one in 2014. We lost our Australian Shepherd, age 7, to Lymphoma, in 2013. It has been a tough couple of years.
Two strays, a Puggle and a hound showed up at our house and moved in. We rescued two Pit Bulls, and I'm fostering a Shepherd/Plott Hound mix, so our house is still full of dog energy.