Guess I don't need my alarm clock anymore

Nope ... not since Gabriel moved in.  I have my very own furry alarm clock sitting out in my kitchen.  He wakes me every day between 6-6:15am without fail :o)  and when I say every day I mean EVERY day ... he apparently doesn't know the difference between the weekdays when I HAVE to get up early and the weekends when it would be nice to sleep in alittle :o) but that is ok .... even when I am dragging myself out of bed I stagger out into the kitchen and there he is waiting for me ... sometimes he is sitting sometimes he is standing ... but it never fails when he sees me suddenly his tail starts to wag and he can't wait to smother me in kisses :o)  But you know what I do find fascinating is how only I seem to be able to hear this alarm NO ONE else in the family can hear it?  And if for some reason I am not there to "shut off" the alarm it doesn't seem to "howl" until other family member "chose" to wake up????  Interesting.

A few things about Gabriel ....

I bet you didn't know ....
Gabriel's favorite food is a swiss cheese & chicken omelet (yuck)

Gabriel loves to just sit on top of Heather ... not next to her ... on top of her :o)

Gabriel loves to swim .... but he will only "swim" when the rest of us are swimming otherwise he will just go in the pool far enough to cover his paws

Gabriel LOVES his backyard ... he would stay out there exploring for hours ... and everytime he goes out there he acts like it is the very first time he has ever been there LOL

Gabriel loves to go for rides in the car .... as soon we open the car door he hops right in the backseat inbetween the girls :o)

Gabriel loves to go for a walk ... if I ask him if he wants to go for a walk he will run to the gate and just stand and wait :o)

Gabriel loves to roam the house ... though sometimes he needs a reminder that roam the house doesn't mean "run" through the house LOL

Gabriel still loves to swallow socks and other "material" things .... oh boy :o(

Gabriel will only sleep in his own "gated" area ... if he is allowed to roam the house and gets tired he will stand by his gated area and wait til I let him back in and then he will quietly go lie down and go to sleep :o)

Gabriel loves a cold beer (yea thanks Scott)

Gabriel loves to howl along when Kaitlyn plays the harmonica :o)

Gabriel loves his white "horse" blanket ... it is the only blanket he hasn't chewed/ripped :o)

Gabriel loves to "lean" on me :o)

Gabriel loves to have his ears cleaned (weird one right?)

Gabriel loves to have a bath but only the part where he is scrubbed up with soap ... the rinsing part is another story .... he hates that with a passion :o(

Gabriel loves his bones he will play with them for hours :o)

Gabriel is finally starting to act like a true "mastiff"  it has taken nearly 2 years but he has, for the most part, calmed down and is much easier to handle .... though on occasion he will still knock me off my feet ... and falling on a 43 yr old ass hurts alot more than falling on a 20 yr old ass .... I'm just sayin LOL

Hey Rachel Ray ...

When Brittany came to live with us I swore we would only feed her only dog food ... no table food.  Of course that did not work out the way I planned and basically she ate what we ate (mixed with her dog food :o) 

When we decided to get another mastiff again I swore (and Scott swore)  this time we would stick to our guns and he would only eat food made specifically for dogs.  Well that last all of about a week? Apparently neither of us are very good at sticking to our guns especially when it comes to the dog.  Part of the fun of owning mastiff is their enormous size ... to me the bigger the better ... now don't get me wrong I do not want my dog to be overweight and unhealthy but I also do not want a skinny puny mastiff either .... so when Gabriel suddenly decided he didn't like his dog food anymore we figured what better way to persuade him to eat it than to put some "people" food in his bowl along with his dog food and see what happens.

Well wouldn't you know it worked! Somehow I knew it would since that was the exact same thing we did with Brittany (you know the thing we swore up and down we would not repeat).  Anyway I started to notice as time went on that this boy is much more intelligent than I give him credit for and that he is pretty much "on" to my little game.  He has decided that when I feed him the table food mixed in with the dog food that he is going to beat me at my own game and only eat the table food!  And damn you know he will spend a good amount of time in that bowl picking out only the table food and he leaves behind all that dry food LOL!  Well I actually shouldn't LOL because when he does that I end up throwing away the food and his food can be kind of expensive so when I look back at all the food I have thrown away over the past 16 months it kind of makes me NOT LOL!!! 

So here is where Rachel Ray comes into play ... normally what I like to do for him is mix a can of  "wet" food in with his dry food that seems to entice him to eat more than just the plain old dry food.  But like I said he has pretty much decided that he isn't liking this and he is not going to eat it which in turn not only makes me waste the dry food but now the "wet" food as well and that stuff is not cheap! So a few weeks ago I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items when I happened to walk down the pet food aisle and there in front of me were these neat little plastic containers with Rachel Ray's picture on them (hmmm who knew she made dog food???) anyway I picked one up and immediately looked at the price and saw that they are $1.99 each holy moly!  But for the heck of it I splurged LOL and I bought him one.  I couldn't wait to get home and give it to him to see if he liked it.  When I opened the container I thought it actually looks like people food .... now I wonder if this stinker will realize that this is actually dog food? (it actually looked so good I was worried Scott would think it was HIS dinner and end up making a sandwich out of Gabriel's food LOL)   Well you know what he LOVED it!  I mixed it in with his dry food and he gobbled it all up!  So now this is mostly what I have been buying for him.  Though it can be alittle more expensive I have been lucky to find a few sales so when I do I buy extra.  I still feed him table food here and there but since he seems to like this I will stick with it until he decides to turn his nose up at it!  The girls get a real kick out of it too because the names on the containers are so funny .... Gabriel's favorite seem to be the Chicken Muttballs and the Chicken Paw Pie LOL!!!  So thanks Rachel Ray for thinking of our fine furry friends and making this food which seems to be keeping my boy satisfied :o)

FINALLY ..... it's "showtime"

So let's see I think I left off at the "bath from hell" .... which even though it was a horrific experience for all involved LOL it turned out well and I had a nice clean, coconut smelling Gabriel to show for it! As I said the show was on Saturday, March 24 so that morning we woke up bright and early to get ourselves ready ... we had to be at the show ring around noon and he was scheduled to in I think around 1pm. So I made sure I got together everything we needed (treats, towel for wiping away the drool, water bottle, water bowl, Xanax LOL (j/k) and I think maybe a bone I honestly can't even remember). After packing up our bag I realized I didn't really like the leash we had been using it was much too long and I needed him to be as close to me as possible since we were going to an enclosed area loaded with strange people and dogs and I wasn't sure how he would react. I also figured I would be doing most of the hanging on to him since Scott had already threatened us for a month how he wasn't going and how could I even think of entering him blah blah blah (SHUT UP already Mr. Negativity) - so since mostly likely it was just going be me, and the girls and Gabe's I decided he needed a nice new "short" leash so we headed over to Petco quickly and bought him a new leash, a nice big knuckle bone for afterwards and ok I will admit I also bought him these organic "calming" drops which supposedly help calm a dog down in stressful situations. A few drops on the tongue is supposed to do the trick but with that boy I'd say maybe half the bottle would have to be used LOL! So anyway as we were driving back home now to pick Gabriel up my cell is ringing like crazy and hmmm guess who it was .... Scott ... you know the one who wasn't coming ... well suddenly he was coming LOL! I knew he would ... he likes to threaten us all the time and when he sees that quite frankly we really don't care he suddenly puts HIS tail between his legs and comes along LOL!

Gabriel was really good in the car and luckily it only took about 20 minutes to get there. As soon as we got out of the car I started to get really nervous because there were ALOT of other dogs milling around as well as people and of course Gabriel suddenly became very intrigued with everyone and everything and that in turn causes him to "pull" extra hard as we are trying to walk him on his leash. But we did keep him pretty well under control ... I had some baby carrots in my pocket that I would stick under his nose when he would pull too much ... it didn't help all that much but hey I had to try something!
When we finally checked in we headed over to a quieter area and hung there and just let him get comfortable. After a little while we headed over to the ring where the mastiffs were being shown and met up with the others from our "group". That is when we found out that the person that was supposed to actually "show" Gabriel for us was not coming ... uh oh once again panic sets in. Luckily Eva remained calm enough to find someone else to show him for us (but that was not until Scott decided HE would be taking Gabriel in the ring to which we all said a simultaneous NO!! LOL) I don't think he realizes that there is a certain way of "showing" the dog and you don't just go in and run around the ring like a lunatic LOL! Plus to top it off this was Gabriel's very first time so we had no idea how he would act so for him to go in with Scott who also had no idea how to act LOL it would not be a good thing. So anyway Eva talked to her friend John Horn who I also know from our Mastiff Club and he kindly offered to take him in the ring. We owe him a huge thanks too because he was soooo good with him - he practiced with him on and off until it was time to go in and you know what I loved the most was how he kept talking to Gabriel and kissing him and just being so good with :o) and of course Gabriel responded by doing what John wanted (most of the time :o) When it was his turn to go in he ended up going up against only one other dog in his class who turned out to be his brother Gibbs! Gibbs of course did a wonderful job and he stood and walked and just did everything he was supposed to do. Gabriel on the other did "most" of what he was supposed to do but there were a few stumbles along the way along with the fact that Gabriel is an expert at "sitting" LOL and unfortunately sat a few times when he should have been standing. But that is ok because for the most part he did wonderfully for his first time and we were so proud of him!!! He ended up with a 2nd place ribbon which is pretty funny when I tell people because they think oh wow really that is so good but then I tell they there were only 2 dogs in the competition so that kind of puts a new "light" on his 2nd place win LOL! Scott, however, decided to tell his parents that Gabriel took 2nd place out of 30 other dogs LOL and them being down in Florida and having no idea about shows anyway believe him LOL!

Anyway after Gabriel was done we thought we would be leaving but since he was being so good we decided to stay and watch the rest of the Mastiff competition. Once it was over everyone headed out ... by the time we got home poor Gabriel was beat ... but he stayed awake long enough for me to give him his knuckle bone - his prize for being so good! So that's it pretty much our first show experience was a really good one ... not sure when I will enter him again ... I would have like to put him in one of the big ones coming up in May but I don't think we are going to be around for it so I guess I will just have to wait for the next one! Hopefully this time he will get a "real" 2nd place or maybe 1st (wishful thinking) .... I was kind of bummed there was only him and the other mastiff because when there are only 2 they automatically take 1st and 2nd ... it would have been interesting to see if he would have placed if there was more competition. But oh well maybe next time :o)!!!

Finally found some time to talk about Gabriel's "show" experience (Part 1)

I have been meaning to come write about this for the past few weeks only I haven't had the time but now I do so I want to tell you all about Gabriel's very first show experience :o)

I am going to back up alittle and start from when I got the email from Eva encouraging me to enter Gabriel and how I immediately emailed back saying I would love to only I was alittle "concerned" with his possible behaviour at the show since Gabriel is what I would like to call "spirited" at times :o) I will never call him "bad" because he is a dog afterall and there are no bad dogs only bad owners and I don't want anyone to call me a bad owner either so we will leave it at "spirited" LOL! (of course Scott will tell you he gets "crazy" because I do not "discipline" him ... so if anyone can tell me exactly how to discipline a 160 lbs puppy feel free and obviously Scott hasn't figured out how to do it either because he ascts the same way for him) Anyway she emailed me back and told me that is ok to bring him anyway and that he would be fine (and for that I want to thank you Eva :o) so as nervous as I was I decided what the hell and I registered him and paid my fee and then stressed for the next 2 weeks LOL!

The actual show was on March 24 so the day before I decided that Gabriel definitely needed a bath afterall what judge wants to "judge" a stinky dirty mastiff :o) So I texted Scott a few times during the day asking him to give Gabriel a bath (afterall it is the least he could do since he was home right?) I also had to take Kaitlyn to soccer practice from 5-6 and I knew by that time it would start to become cooler outside and honestly I didn't think I would feel much like giving this moose a bath so Scott should do it. Apparently he did not seem to get my memo and when I got home from work Gabriel was still "unbathed" so again I asked him to please give him a bath while I was gone .... why I thought that would really happen I have no idea but I really thought I would come home to a clean smelling fluffy dog but once again NOPE got home to a stinky pup and a sleeping husband .... that did not sit too well BUT I figured I gotta do what I gotta do so with Kaitlyn's help (she held the shampoo bottle) we headed out to the backyard.

I had Gabriel on his leash and Kaitlyn brought me the hose ... as she approached us I could feel the leash tighten up and poor Gabriel looked as if he was staring down the barrel of a shotgun. I tried to calm him by petting him and talking softy to him as I turned on the hose but apparently someone else had been using the hose before me (eh hem I am looking at YOU Scott) and didn't bother to turn it down a notch (and of course I deserve a swift kick for not checking this BEFORE I gave Gabe's his first spray) well the darn water came out full force and he came up off the ground which nearly knocked me off my feet! I quickly dropped the hose (which continues to spray by the way WTF? I thought when I release the stupid sprayer it is supposed to STOP spraying guess we will be needing a new hose nozzle) anyway I dropped the hose and once again tried to calm my poor frightened boy who was now hellbent on getting as far away from me and that damn hose as possible.

Luckily after a few tense moments I was able to calm him down so we could try this again. Which we did and it actually worked out well I was able to get him nice and wet and Kaitlyn went ahead and did her job of squirting the shampoo on his back. We scrubbed him up really nice and clean and I actually thought things had taken a turn for the better, that is until I picked up that darn hose to rinse him off and then all hell broke loose. With all his might (160 lbs of it) he just took off, suds and all with me attached to the leash screaming my head off! Honestly I can't even tell you how the heck I didn't end up on the ground but somehow I remained upright and was able to get the leash unwrapped and off my arm so he could just run a-muck through the yard ... full of suds! He ran and he ran and then ran some more .... while I stood there soaked and full of suds crying LOL! Oh and Kaitlyn she was crying too .... not really sure why she was crying but I am thinking it was because she probably thought I was going to be dragged off into oblivion by this crazy beast LOL!

Anyway ... after all that craziness he finally calmed down enough for me to actually catch him and try once again to rinse him which I did and thank goodness for that because by the time all was said and done he and I were both exhausted and smelled like coconuts LOL!

As for Scott .... hmmm .... he has gotten very good at "sleeping" through any kind of turmoil lately ... but not to worry he got a good "shalackin" once I was able to get myself into dry clean clothes :o)

(to be continued)

I swear it wasn't me .....

Now that Gabriel is older (15 months) it is alot easier for us to leave him for longer periods of time ... though we rarely do this since Scott works nights he is home all day while I am working and the girls are at school so if the pooch is home for a few hours at a time that is a really "alot" though there are times on the weekends that we will go out for a good stretch of time and I am happy to report upon our return we usually find a very tired Gabriel just waking from a nice long nap and nice dry floors (no accidents woohoo!) But it was not always this way ...

Last Father's Day Scott had the brilliant idea of going to Lake Wallenpaupack (sp) because he used to go there as a kid and every once in a while has to relive his youth and forces us to go along for the ride (which we usually protest BUT since it was Father's Day we just kept quiet and went along with him even though we would have much rather have gone to the boardwalk and called it a day).

So around 9am we shove off but not before we took Gabe's out to let him roam and do whatever it was he needed to do out there. He had already been fed and he still had some dry food left in his bowl along with a bowl full of water in case he needed snack or was thirsty. He was "secured" in his area with the baby play-yard gate attached on one end to the crate and on the other end stuck in between the trunk and the desk .... his crate was also left open for him to go in and out ... we had always done it this way for Brittany (although she never actually went in the crate) she was always fine when we left her because she was afraid of the gate so we didn't even have to tie it to anything she just wouldn't go near it. This guy, however, is an entirely different "beast" as we kind of already knew but were going to be made VERY well aware of over the next few hours.

From what I can remember it takes maybe about 3 hour or so to get to the Lake so I am thinking we got there around noon ... we had a nice day but it went alittle longer than we had thought .... as we were eating dinner I suddenly started having major anxiety thinking how Gabriel has been known to "push" on the gate and even sometimes stand up so that the entire gate (even though it was tied to the crate and stuck inbetween the desk and trunk) would still fall down. So now as I am eating I am getting sick to my stomach and decided that we needed to leave NOW! So we headed home all the while I am silently praying please G*D let this buster still be behind "bars" when we get home.

Around 10pm we pull up to the house ... hmmm things "looked" ok from the outside and I was relieved to see that Gabriel was not looking out of my living room window .... though my relief was shortlived when Scott opens the front door to a bunch of stuffed animals that were not there when we left that morning and yells "oh geez he got out!" Oh boy he got out alright ... he got out and made his way through each and every room in the house and when I say he made a "mess" that is an understatement! He went through every garbage can (needless to say there were alot of interesting "poops" in the backyard for the next week or so) he also ripped up every loose piece of paper or whatever he could get his paws on ... he also decided to rip up a few of the girls stuffed toys and rearrange all the shoes in my closet ... there is alot more that I can't even think of that was out of place but I will tell you WHO was not out of place and that was Gabriel ... that little son of a gun was fast asleep in his cage .... we still laugh about that because after all that chaos he caused he must have been tired LOL! Either that or he figured if he was in his cage sleeping peacefully when we got home we wouldn't think it was HIM that made all that mess ... I mean how in the world could it have been him if he was asleep in his cage like a good boy??

Well needless to say after that incident we had to pull out the big guns ... he no longer sleeps in his crate .. nope there is no room in there for him with the 2 cinder blocks .... the trunk is now filled with cinder blocks as well ... I want to see him move that gate now LOL!!!

Anyway ... I do have to say how proud I was of myself that night because I didn't flip my lid .. unlike some people (eh hem Scott) ... I just went and got the vacuum and the garbage bags and cleaned up ... after all it wasn't Gabriel's fault :o)

Oh my!

Not sure what else to say about this except OH MY! My fine furry friend has now decided to treat our pool cover as his very own trampoline! When we first covered the pool I felt such relief thinking good now I will not have to worry about him going by the pool and trying to go in and getting all wet, etc. My "relieved" feeling has lasted most of the winter up until this past weekend when I looked out the window and what do I see but Gabriel walking slowly along the edges of the cover. So I quickly called to him and he was good and came off and I figured ok maybe it was just a fluke. Until Heather called to me later on and I looked outside and there in the middle of the pool was Gabriel just standing there LOL ... he knows he shouldn't be out there because now when we catch him we immediately yell at him and he comes off quickly but it seems he just can't help himself. One thing I will say is he walks very slowly and carefully not that it makes much of a difference but the last thing I need to see is him steamrolling across the pool LOL! I also need to give a shout out to whoever it was that came up with the idea of the "safety cover" because it truly does work ... I have always wanted to test it myself and walk across it but I have always chickened out ... but thanks to Gabriel I can now feel safe if I ever have a need to walk across the pool LOL!

"Living the dream"

The other day we decided to take Gabriel to the beach. The weather has been so unseasonably warm for this time of the year we figured why not enjoy it cause who knows there could be that unexpected snowstorm right around the corner. So we all got into the car and away we went. Gabriel LOVES to ride in the car .... he got the hang of it right from the get-go ... he makes himself comfortable in the backseat right in between the girls and once we get rolling he strategically maneuvers his way over to the window and waits until we roll down the window for him to stick his face out. He rides along with the wind in his face ... he eyes are squinted and you can tell he is just lovin every minute of it! On this particular day as we were driving and he had his face out the window out of nowhere Kaitlyn blurts out "Look at Gabriel ... he is living the dream" .. Scott and I just looked at each other and started laughing ... but then I started thinking about what Kaitlyn said and suddenly I felt alittle sad ... sad for all those unwanted dogs and cats ... sad for the ones that people abandon just because they "don't want them anymore" :o( I guess some people just don't realize that these are living, breathing, creatures who rely on US to take care of them. Why would you buy a puppy or kitten and then just decide hmmm you know what this is too much work see ya???

When I think of Gabriel sleeping on his nice warm blankets (I have tried buying him those nice comfy dog beds but he just ends up tearing them to shreds), eating his specially made omelets (I know I am nuts most people DO NOT make their dogs omelets LOL), running around his yard happy as can be collecting sticks, being constantly petted and hugged and kissed ... I guess Kaitlyn IS right ... he really is "living the dream" (in a dog's world LOL)

I'm a "crazy dog person" .... and I know it!

It's ok I don't mind ...

I talk to my dog like he is person and I could swear he understands my every word....

When I come home from work I will greet him before my husband LOL ....

I have several nicknames for him .... Gabes, GabriAlice, "Little Bluebird", Buddy and my favorite "Giblets" ....

I like to have my quiet time with just him and if I could just sit and pet him for hours that would be ok with me :o) .....

At least 4 out of 7 days week I make him a cheese omelet for breakfast ...

I love that he loves me unconditionally ...

I love that I can yell at him or tell him NO and he never holds a grudge ...

I love that he is so big but he still gets scared and will come running to my side so I can protect him ...

If I could I would have a houseful of Mastiffs ... I don't mind the drool or the fur, etc ... when Brittany died I felt such a void in my house and my heart ... now Gabriel is here and though he will never replace her he has filled that void ... he keeps me on my toes and he has knocked me off my feet on several occasions but that's ok. He gets carried away and forgets that he weighs well over 150lbs (that is 'guestimate' but we will find out the true weight at our next vet appt) but still tries to sit on my lap :o) I know most people can't understand how I can let such a "big messy dog" live in my house but most of those people are not true "dog lovers" because when you are a true dog lover you can look past all those little inconveniences and realize that benefits of owning a dog far outweigh the negatives.

I treat my dog not as a pet but as part of my family.

I remember my good friend Maxine once told me when she dies she wants to come back as my dog LOL ... that was one of the nicest compliments anyone ever gave me :o)

Came across the letter

We always new we wanted to get another puppy after we lost Brittany. I really thought I would need to get one ASAP after she died because I didn't think I could stand not having a dog in the house ... but when she died I just couldn't bring myself to "replace" her that quickly. So we decided to wait and take maybe a year or so "off" from having a dog ... we needed a little break after having Brittany for 10 years plus I just thought it would be disrepectful to her memory and I really needed that time to just grieve for her ... afterall she was my best pal and I still miss her terribly :o(

We lost Brittany in February of 2010 .... we found out there were pups on the way in late September so we decided that we would like to take one from the upcoming litter. So when the little pups (well as little as a mastiff pup can be LOL) were born we were so excited but we didn't tell the girls ... they knew we were planning to get another dog but they didn't know the puppies had actually been born. We wanted to surprise them at Christmas but the way things worked out Gabriel was not ready to join us until early January. So I decided that even though he was not physically with us on Christmas we would still give him to the girls as part of their "gifts". We let them finish opening all there wrapped presents and then I brought out the envelope. As I handed it to Heather I had to turn my head because I was already tearing up (I know I am a sap LOL) When she opened the envelope and saw the picture both her and Kaitlyn's mouths dropped ... I don't think they really "got it" but then we told Heather to read the letter out loud:

Hi Heather and Kaitlyn.

My name is Gabriel and I am your new puppy! I know you have been waiting a long time for me and I wish I could have been under your tree on Christmas morning but I am still too little and I have to stay with my dog family alittle while longer.

Mommy and Daddy have known about me for the past few months but wanted to keep me a surprise. Remember the day Grandma picked you both up from the bus? Well that was the day that Mommy and Daddy came to see my family and decided I was the one that will be coming to live with you. (Of course Daddy has been dying to tell you about me but he knew if he did he would be sharing the dog house with me!)

I am very excited to meet you and here are a few things I thought you should know about me:

When you meet me I will be only 8 weeks old so that means I am still a baby and hopefully I will still be "light" enough for you to hold, however, I may be alittle bit squiggly at times so it might be best for you to sit down while holding me. If you are really lucky I just might snuggle up and fall asleep right in your lap!

If you feel the need to play "dress up" with me, please remember that I am a boy so try to go easy on making me look like too much of a princess.

A word of caution, I might also be a bit on the "nippy" side since I will be testing out my little teeth so if you have any toys (or fingers/toes) you really like you may want to keep them in a safe place away from me since I won't be responsible for my actions.

I will also just be learning that when I need to go to the bathroom I am supposed to do that outside – but be prepared I may not be able to get outside fast enough and there may be some "poop" or "pee" accidents so be careful where you walk – if you do see an "accident" please notify Daddy immediately (notice I said DADDY).

Mommy and Daddy do plan to try to "crate train" me, but there may be times that I am lonesome and I might cry alittle. When that happens you can feel free to join me inside my crate to comfort me, just make sure Daddy doesn't lock you in!

I am going to miss you when you are in school but I promise to meet you at your bus as long as it is not raining or too cold.

I will also try to con you into letting me sleep on your bed – but trust me this is not a very good idea – if you don't believe me please refer to Mommy's blog entry "Brittany's Bed". While having a little pup in your bed is a lot of fun having a 200 lb dog who snores and runs in his sleep in bed with you will lead to many-a-sleepless night.

In my early years I will be quite energetic, even acrobatic at times but always be sure that if I start to get crazy you will need to calm me down so I don't hurt myself or the person standing next to me.

As I start to get alittle older I might start to become somewhat "grumpy" and alittle more "cautious" with strangers but that is to be expected. This will most likely happen around the time you start to bring home your first boyfriends. I will be there to "screen" every boy that walks through the door and will be especially ready to welcome those who try to sneak in through windows. I believe it will be around that time that Daddy finally realizes having another dog my size come to live with you was actually a great idea afterall (despite a few inconveniences – chewed shoes, slobber, furballs and a few dead shrubs). He will then turn to Mommy and beg for her forgiveness for ever doubting that when it comes to knowing what dog is right for our family MOMMY KNOWS BEST!

I will be your best friend and protector. I will love you unconditionally and I will ALWAYS be happy to see you. I will be there for you through thick and thin and all I ask in return is for your love and affection (and maybe a bone or two and I have a feeling I am going to love icecream and probably pizza). So enjoy your Christmas and your time off from school and I will see you on January 8 when you come to pick me up!

One more thing, I will try my best to control my slobbering and snoring (but no promises as slobbering and snoring are part of my charm afterall).

Love, Gabriel

When she was done there was not a dry eye in the house ... except for Scott who thought we were and still are NUTS LOL!

To show or not show

THAT is the question ... the question I keep asking myself because THAT question raises another question .... to neuter or not neuter.

When we first decided to get another Mastiff I was pretty determined that this time around I was going to at least try to show him. When we first brought Gabriel home he was so darn cute and I could just picture myself running around the ring with this really handsome well-behaved dog and we would collect all our Best of Breed ribbons and next thing you know we would be at Westminster bringing down the house LOL .... climbing out of our limo the next morning while a crowd of adoring fans waits to see us on Good Morning America or whatever show it is that the Westminster winner goes on. But now I don't know if that will be happening anytime soon .... while he is still extremely handsome (ok I know I am nut but he really is a good looking boy) we have some work to do on the "well-behaved" part. I do know part of the problem is that I don't have as much time to work with him as I had hoped. And he does listen problem is he is now nearing 14 months which I believe to a dog means he is full-blown puberty. And you all know how that story goes LOL. I am not sure what he is thinking half the time he is good boy other times he thinks I am a potential"girlfriend" which he feels the need to "hug me" (like Heather and Kaitlyn would say LOL) I just get worried that if I get him in the ring that he might also find other potential friends that he feels the need to "hug" or he might try to "hug" me right there and how embarassing would that be LOL! So I think for now we are better off sitting out the next few shows and just go to cheer on our other Mastiff friends :o)

So anyway this also has me wondering if I should really start to think about possibly having him "fixed" ... if I am going to show him he has to be "intact" ... but like I said I am not sure now what route we are going to go so I am kind of starting to think about the other option because I am hoping that may calm him down a bit though I know alot of what I am reading tells me that it does not always calm them down. Plus the fact that Scott is completely again this. Why? I have no idea I mean it is not like I am asking him to go get neutered LOL! He keeps telling me he has finally "grown into his balls" and he will not allow me to have them cut off - he says "over his dead body will that dog get neutered" and I say "don't tempt me" LOL!