Bowser, my new four legged buddy.

Rams

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Posts: 16684

So many colors to choose from yet so few stand out

Covington, TN

Bowser, my new four legged buddy.

« on: March 15, 2016, 08:31:00 AM »

Some of you may know of or remember my old travel buddy, Jake. His real name was Sir Jacob of Georgetown. Jake was a Bullmastiff and my buddy since weaning and was with me for almost eleven years. While I'm not one to consider a dog as one of my family members like a child, Jake was my special friend and I always took him with me everywhere I could until his later years when travel became hard for him. As I said, Jake was special to me and losing him was hard for me. Never could find a helmet to fit his head!!

While not immediate, I didn't waste a lot of time looking for another "friend". I really like big dogs, Jake weighed around 140 lb. and was a big lap puppy. I wanted something at least his size or larger. I settled on trying to find a Old English Mastiff. Unfortunately, this breed is kind of expensive (at least on my budget). In my search, I found pups with quality breeding as much as $4000.00 and as low as $1,000.00, both values being more than I could afford.

After searching and contacting at least a hundred different dog sellers, pounds, Craigslist, the Humane Society and every other option I could find, I found several possibilities but, most were out of my price range or were some mix of other breeds I find less desirable, A lot of Mastiff/Pit Bull mixes were out there, in addition to Great Dane/Mastiff and Labrador/Mastiff dogs. I knew what I wanted and kept looking.

Eventually, I found one that I really liked and although not a weanling pup, was one that was a great option for me and was a dog priced reasonably that I thought might be within my reach. So, I contacted the owner and made an offer. Didn't get a response so, I moved on and kept looking. Remember, I really wanted a purebred but was considering other options. This dog was purebred but, my offer was not significant enough for the owners to even respond. That was about two months ago so, I had forgotten about it. Time moves on and one day, I get an email telling me that if I was still interested and could come that day, then I could get the dog for my offer. Honestly, this concerned me, something was up but, I was already in neck deep so I might as well take a trip and check this dog out.

Drove to the far west end of Kentucky from Frankfort to find this massive and wonderful dog that seemed to have developed a love to play with chickens, that was the reason he was now available for my price. He had never ate one, never bit one but, loved to play and chase them. When the one he was playing with stopped "playing", he went on to another. Unfortunately, the less active chickens were all dead. Well, I don't have or want any chickens so, I got a new buddy and he got a new home. His name is Bowser, he'll be two in late April, he is a pure bred Old English Mastiff and, is currently 158 lbs. He's taller than Jake and slightly heavier but, will fill out once he's out of his teenage growing phase. His Dad reportedly was over 200 and his mom about 180 lbs. so, he's got a little growing to do.

He is a handfull to handle currently, he was kept in the back yard all day every day regardless of weather and slept in their "mud room" at night if the weather was really bad with a mini-goat of some kind. He rarely got any human interaction because the family that owned him was afraid of his size, not his demeanor. The dumb asses taught him to jump up and put his front legs around their neck and shoulders. Well, with his size, you can only imagine the number of people he knocked down. I'm putting a stop to that behavior and he's coming along nicely but, I still won't leave him alone with anyone who isn't physically able to handle themselves. He's a big dog and has to learn his manners. He's willing but just needs some attention which, he is getting plenty of.

I'm one of those not smart enough (or maybe just not willing to learn) to post pictures here cooldude

but will send a couple of pics to friends on here hoping they'll post them for me.


« Last Edit: March 15, 2016, 08:43:07 AM by Rams »	Logged

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