Meet Max, Keswick’s Facebook Famous Pooch
By Sarah Sinclair
Photography by Kerry Irving
Meet Max, the nine year old English springer spaniel with a very important role, as ‘Canine Ambassador for Keswick’.
You might recognise him as the star of some spectacular photos taken by his owner Kerry Irving. Kerry’s photos have catapulted Max to social media stardom and caused him to become something of an icon for the Lake District.
When I caught up with Max and Kerry, of Keswick Locksmiths, they were on top of Latrigg, a place where they spend much of their time. That is, when Max isn’t busy meeting fans who have flew in from Hong Kong and replying to messages from the ever increasing followers of his Facebook page, ‘Max out in the Lake District’.
Inspired by his love of photography, when Kerry first started posting photographs of his dog on the ‘Love the Lake District’ Facebook page, he had no idea what a hit Max would become. Kerry set up his own page; ‘Max out in the Lake District’ in June this year and in this short space of time, Max has become a great ambassador for Keswick, his hometown and the most dog-friendly place in the UK. He now has an international fan-base stretching as far as Brazil and Australia and has attracted visitors to the Lakes, with fans from America and Hong Kong, travelling across the world to meet him.
Kerry said: “I thought we’d maybe get two or three hundred ‘Likes’. Now people expect to see photos of Max every day and we are constantly receiving messages from people wanting to meet him.
“It is quite time consuming – I get up at 5am and spend half an hour answering the 180 Facebook notifications, then after work there’ll be another 100 and then last thing at night I’ll check and there’ll be about another 100. It does keep me very fit though, as I’m always out with him.”
At the time of this interview, Max’s photographs were in all top five places in the Countryfile Dog of the Year competition, the results of which will be announced very soon. In recent weeks, he has also been photographed for the Kennel Club Dog Friendly Campaign, has been filmed for Japanese TV and alongside legends such as Sir Chris Bonington, has signed 10 books which was auctioned to raise money for Freedom Wizards. The charity helps people with limited mobility get access to the kind of places Max loves so much, using all-terrain wheelchairs.
Pop into Alternative Gift Shop in Keswick and you will find Max’s face printed on a limited number of cushions, part of a new idea Kerry is trailing out. It would seem that Kerry could be set to make quite a profit from brand Max, but while commercial success may be inevitable, for Kerry it is the personal aspect of ‘Max out in the Lake District’ that inspires him.
Kerry said: “I didn’t really start this to make money. If it covers my costs and I can raise some money for charity, I am happy. I want to try and fundraise for local charities.”
“There are people who can’t get to the kind of places we go to because of disabilities, who follow the page and love Max. One guy got in touch having recently lost his son, he’ll message every day saying ‘Feeling a bit down today, loved this photo of Max, it has really cheered me up.’”
He continued: “The best thing about it all is that it makes people happy. There are so many bad things happening in the world it’s just nice to do something to make people happy.”
So, what does Max think about his newfound fame?
Kerry laughed: “He absolutely loves it, he loves having his photo taken. He always knows what I’m doing and will start posing in front of the camera.
“He’ll have to start charging appearance fees – 10,000 gravy bones.”
One thing that becomes clear, from talking to Kerry and Max, is that behind this social media phenomenon is the unconditional love and unshakeable bond, between one man and his dog.
Kerry added: “Max didn’t have the best start in life. The idea behind the page was to try and give him a better life.
“At the end of the day, Max is a top dog.”
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