"The Lion of Dogdom"

"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

My heart aches today

I miss her SO much :-(

Don't run!

That was one of my famous sayings when anyone was around Brittany :o) Don't run!!! because you see if you run she will think you are playing with her and she will chase you LOL! Which unfortunately can be pretty scary for a little kid I mean let's face it being chased by any dog is scary but when you have a 170lb dog coming for you that makes it just alittle more upsetting. So whenever the girls would have playmates over or we would have parties I would always from the get-go let the kids know not to run or Brittany will chase you. Unfortunately I couldn't warn everyone especially strangers coming down our street. I remember one incident that still make me chuckle when I think of it though to the kid that was on the receiving end I don't think he thought it was funny at all. For some reason we had Brittany out in the front of the house on her leash - now I wrote a little ways back about how Brittany was never good on the leash which makes me think there had to be a good reason she was out there I just can't think of what it was! Maybe we had just gotten back from somewhere I honestly can't remember but at one point we (Scott and I ) were sitting on our front steps and Brittany was sitting right next to us and Scott was holding her leash - and when I say holding I mean he had the leash around his wrist which he should have known was a no-no cause like I said many times before Brittany loves to chase squirrels and whatnot and if she sees something and you are not prepared you are going for a ride. Well that particular day it wasn't a squirrel or cat that caught her eye but this little chubby kid coming down our street on rollerblades. All of a sudden I saw her ears perk up and she straightened up and before I could say "grab her" she was off and running and unfortunately Scott was attached to her and he was off and running on his butt LOL! and that poor little chubby kid - well I never saw someone rollerblade so fast OMG that kid looked like he was skating for his life and all along I am yelling as loud as I could "she doesn't bite don't be scared"!!! OMG just thinking about that now makes me laugh cause honest I would be scared too if I saw a dog that size coming for me but Brittany was just so happy go lucky and goofy and all she wanted to do was chase the kid down and probably kiss him up when she caught him - luckily it never came to that once Scott was able to gain control she never even got out of the driveway. But lesson learned never "assume" it is ok to just leave Brittany's leash lightly placed around your wrist LOL!

I have to say in Brittany's defense she was never aggressively chasing anyone to hurt them, most likely if she ever did catch anyone it would be to kiss them uncontrollably LOL. And as you can see I said "if" she ever caught anyone because she never did - that big old lug would usually tire out by the time she got to the end of our driveway LOL!

The sun is finally shining

and best of all the temp is supposed to be in the 60's the rest of the week! Spring is here (hopefully) One thing I hate about March is how the weather can play tricks on you - one day it might be 65 degrees and then the next day it might snow! Now that spring is approaching it got me thinking about how Brittany loved to be out in the backyard. Especially if it was a nice sunny warm day she would just lay out there in the grass (well that was way back when we didn't have our pool) the whole yard was grass and she would go find a nice spot and lie down. She also loved to chase whatever little critters were in the yard as well. And she was relentless! I remember my neighbor had this little white cat who we affectionately named "stubby" - we named him that because for some reason he had no tail! Anyway Stubby used to like to frequent our yard and for some reason even knowing there was a dog back there never seemed to bother him. Though I must say most time he would come in the yard was when Brittany was safely tucked away in the house and most she could do was jump back and forth by the back door barking and carrying on because you see Stubby not only liked to frequent my yard he also had a habit of sitting right next to my back door LOL! Anyway I remember one day when I came home from work Scott told me he had let the dog out in the yard and I guess Stubs decided to take a walk over not realizing the dog was actually out there and next thing you know the chase was on! Scott said it was the funniest thing he never saw that dog move so fast but she chased poor Stubs right up a tree he said all he saw was the cat holding on to the tree stump with all 4 paws spread wide open and the dog standing at the bottom looking up wagging her tail and every once in a while doing like this side-step thing! He said it was the funniest thing but he did feel bad for Stubby because the poor cat was probably scared out of his mind so he went out there with the leash and had to drag Britts away from the tree! From that day on I don't think I have ever let her out when I knew there was a cat in the yard. Some dogs can't be bothered by cats but that wasn't the case with Britts she LOVED to chase them. I remember always being worried when we had the pool covered that Britts would see a cat and go crazy and just trampled right across the pool cover - luckily that never happened!!!

Brittany and the rain

It is supposed to be a terrible weekend. Today the rain is supposed to start but then tomorrow it is supposed to get really windy and just rainy and flat out horrible. Days like these always remind me of when Brittany was a pup and she would need to go out and it would be rainy. She would trample through all the mud and the puddles - she loved it. Then she would come back in the house and I would right behind her wiping up the muddy pawprints. As she got older though she didn't like the rain and much and if it was really bad she wouldn't even go out - poor girl I guess she would just hold it til the rain stopped LOL! When she did go out though she would come back in and every single time that stinker would shake herself off and my door and wall would have little rain sprinkle spots. I miss those spots :o(

Just my dog

"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog." - Gene Hill

Missing Brittany :o(

It's been alittle more than two weeks and I would be lying if I said I was feeling better. I miss her SO much :o( When I am at work it is easier because I can do things to take my mind off of her but being at home is torture. Everywhere I look I "see" her :o( That sweet face. Oh how I would give anything to be able to hug her and pet her one more time :o(

Milkbones anyone???

Spring is in the air - at least I hope it is! The lousy thing about March is it is a major "teaser" month - one day it will be warm and then the next we could end up with a foot of snow!

Anyway I was thinking back to our first spring/summer with Brittany. Seems like it was so long ago (well I guess 10 years is a long time). It wasn't that easy back then because we didn't have our yard completely fenced so poor Britts couldn't really enjoy the yard like would have liked her to (at that time anyway - we eventually did get the entire yard fenced but that wasn't until about 4 years after Britts came to live with us). Anyway our yard is quite large so I could actually send her out there and just keep an eye on her - see our yard was partially fenced but the part that wasn't fenced was on the sides of the house so if she went straight back she was fine. So most of the time when I would send her back there she would just wander around and if I would call her sometimes she would come and other times somehow miraculously she would loose her sense of hearing :o) So Scott or I would stand there like idiots yelling her name and there you would see that hunk of fur scurrying and sniffing out all the interesting parts of the yard. One thing about Brittany she LOVED her yard - every time she would go back there it was like the "first" time she'd been there. She would have to walk slowly and sniff every part of the yard. Then there would be the times she would be walking slowly and then heaven knows why but she would suddenly sprint across the yard and when she would run it was so funny because for some reason her butt would kind of go "under" and so would her tail and we would see her run by with her ears flapping LOL! OH well getting back to us trying to get her to come in - yes it was not easy to get her back in when she was busy back there so eventually one of us (usually me - are you surprised?) would go back and collect her (if I could catch her that is) and bring her back in the house. Now honestly this didn't bother me all that much most times but when it was rainy or chilly I would kind of NOT really want to have to go back there and chase after her so I tried to think of something that might entice this little stinker to come to me that way I could get her back inside without having to get wet or cold or whatnot. So thinking thinking hmmm what does Brittany love - I though maybe if I squeaked one of her toys and called her that might do the trick. Nope she didn't bite! Then I thought hmmm maybe if I "knocked" on the back door that might get her curious enough to come see "who was there" and nooooo that didn't work. So now what - what did Brittany LOVE that I could use against her LOL! Ahhhhh now it came to me - MILKBONES!!! OMG that dog went bonkers for Milkbones. So I decided what the heck so one day while she was way in the back of the yard "inspecting" Scott and I stood at the back door and called her a few times - she looked but of course went back to what she was doing UNTIL she heard a noise - a noise only SHE would know and that noise was the box of Milkbones shaking shaking shaking!! OMG when I tell you that little stinker ran like the wind it was SO cute so as soon as she came close enough we held out the bone and lured her back in the house. And that is all it took - after that we did this whenever she wouldn't come back in on her own - and it worked! Brittany liked many different types of people food but the one "dog" treat that she always loved all her life was Milkbones - so much so that we always bought the gigantic box from Costco.

And she knew that box was hers. We would put it up on the counter and she would stand by the counter and just look up and stare at the box - then she would spin around a few times and then look at it some more until finally someone would notice this poor starving pooch and come and give her what she craved LOL! They say Mastiff aren't one of the really "smart" dogs but to me this one was pretty darn "crafty" LOL!

A few things about Brittany

Even though Brittany was such a big dog she was pretty much scared of her own shadow.

Brittany loved the snow - when she would get out here in the yard she would go crazy - she loved to run and bury her nose in the snow and make tunnels and then she would appear at the backdoor with her "beard of snow" - she did this every time she would go out in the snow!

Brittany loved all kinds of food - but a few of her favorites were chicken drumsticks (seriously that girl would turn into a "beast" when you gave her a drumstick LOL) PIZZA - OMG her mouth would water so much there would be a puddle on the floor! Ice cream - oh how she LOVED ice cream. Whenever I would notice her not really eating her dry food all I would have to do was put a scoop of ice cream in her bowl and BAM all the food was gone! And another favorite of hers which some might consider odd was the apple. Brittany LOVED apples! I am not a huge apple lover (unless they are used in a pie :o) anyway when I was pregnant with Heather I craved apples - and they had to be sour - the sour-er the better :o) So every day I would sit down with and peel my apple and my pal would be sitting right beside me and we would share an apple :o) I miss sharing my food - I think it is partly because of Brittany wanting everything I was eating that helped keep my weight down :o)

Brittany loved to be near us - she never wanted to be alone - if we were all in one room you could be sure she would be there too :o)

Brittany was EXCELLENT with the girls - she loved them - she never snapped or showed any aggression EVER. She did, however, love to steal their toys :o)

Brittany loved to drink out the toilet - therefore, all toilets were kept closed at all time :o)

Brittany loved to steal shoes, she wouldn't ruin them (not all of them anyway) she would just carry them around and when she would lie down she would place them between her paws.

Brittany LOVED to chew on blankets - that was one of her fetishes - if she got a hold of a blanket you could kiss that blanket goodbye :o)

Brittany was HORRIBLE in the car - that poor dog just didn't know how to ride in a car like a dog - you know how you see dogs sticking there heads out the window and taking in the cool breeze - well not this dog - this poor thing could never seem to get herself comfortable on the seat and she always seemed to be falling off or spinning around - hence the reason why she seldom went in the car LOL.

Brittany was also not too good on the leash - she pulled alot and if she saw something she wanted you were going for a ride. And believe me I went for plenty of rides LOL! Another reason why once our yard was completey fenced that is where Britts pretty much spent her outside time.

Brittany loved the pool - only she didn't really like to "swim" she just like to walk in the pool up to her neck and then sit there :o) when she would actually swim she looked so funny - I would tell the girls she looks like the Wildabeast crossing the river full of crocodiles LOL!

so there are just a few things I wanted to share about Brittany. Those few things are the things that made her special :o)