Meeting Max - Life Changing Loyalty

Max waits for James at Coffee Worx, happy to be working on a day out in Rangiora.  

Source: Supplied / Deb Riach.  

James and Max are best friends - a regular Bert and Ernie pair, or maybe Shaggy and Scooby Doo. But, Max is a service dog, trained to provide James with physical support, companionship, and security. 

A Loburn local, James Riach is 24 years-old, and Max Riach, his loyal, golden retriever service dog, is seven. James has cerebral palsy, a congenital neurological disorder which affects movement, muscle tone, and impairs muscle tone and balance. He uses a wheelchair to get around, and Max helps him with just about everything the chair cannot. 

James first met Max in 2019, when he was leaving high school, and he said applying for a service dog was a rigorous and scary process. Applying for Max took months and Max’s training took years - but he was certainly worth the wait. 

Max is a charity dog, owned by Mobility Dogs NZ, and Deb Riach, James’ mother, explained after their initial, written application, Mobility Dogs wanted to meet James in person. Deb told Canta the charity then carried out “an in-person assessment of James, to assess his needs, and the sort of person that he is.” 

“Very, very kind people will give money to the charity, to allow someone like James to have a dog”, Deb said. She told Canta that James and Max are “partners in life,” and in it for the long haul. 

After the in-person assessment, Mobility Dogs try and match a dog to a person with a similar personality, Deb said.  

She told Canta Max is completely in-tune with James.  

With Max's training almost perfected, Mobility Dogs then had to train James. Deb and James flew up to Auckland to spend two weeks at a dog-training-facility, where James was trained on how to take care of Max.  

Deb told Canta: “It’s definitely not like having a normal pet.”  

Max’s food, weight, training, and care is prescribed by Mobility Dogs NZ, and maintained by James. 

James and Max in the backyard; Max in his working uniform, ready for a day out.  

Source: Deb Riach.  

Before he was paired with James, Max’s two years of training involved being with a puppy handler for six months, and even being trained in a prison programme for a year, said James.  

Max knows 50 different commands and almost twice as many words, but he has definitely never heard the term ‘camera-shy.’ Max is as photogenic as they come, and James and Max have even featured in a Lotto New Zealand advert, which James told Canta “Max really loved”.  

But Max’s stardom began when he was just a puppy, and in 2020, he was featured in the TVNZ documentary ‘Dog Squad: Puppy School’, which was filmed when he was training, and even followed him to prison.  

James and family got a chance to see Max when he was still a puppy, which was “very exciting” according to Deb, as he came to the Riach’s as a two-year-old teenager. 

Max is off-the-clock when he’s not wearing his official green uniform, but he still supports James, and – mostly – follows his directions, although he’s “far more sensible when he’s working”, said Deb. 

When he’s working, Max can go to movies, on planes, and ride the bus. He’s even allowed to stay in a motel, and according to Deb, Max has “never really been alone”. 

According to James, even when he’s at home and not in uniform, Max can take laundry out and put it in a laundry basket, as well as being able to open doors and cupboards, turn light switches on, and help James’ take his jacket off and get undressed.  

“He can pick up anything I drop and give it back,” James said.  

Max takes his job even more seriously when he’s in public. “My favourite place to take him is the mall … [Max can] carry my McDonalds through the mall,” James told Canta.   

Max is on a very particular diet to keep him healthy. He’s weighed every month, and only gets treats as part of his training, but “he’ll do absolutely anything for a saveloy or deer liver,” James said.  

Thanks to Max, James can stay at home alone and keep his independence. Deb told Canta - James has more confidence, and Max has made a huge difference as a friend and companion. 

Max the ‘super-dog’, all ready for Halloween in his matching costume. Source: Supplied / Deb Riach.  

Max helps James talk to people that he wouldn’t normally, said Deb, and she told Canta that Max also helps others to feel more confident approaching James.  

“They might not talk to a person with disabilities normally, but because of the dog, they feel like they can.”  

According to James, “my friends absolutely adore him.”  

“We love Max, and he’s such an important part of the family,” Deb said. The Riach’s will keep Max as a pet when he retires, and although he will lose his public access when he leaves working life, he will still be able to help James around home.  

James is convinced that with a bit more training, Max could open the fridge, and get a bottle of beer, but according to Deb that theory has not yet been tested.   

One thing all the Riach’s can agree on: Max is a very good boy.