My father and his wife were here to help me for several days. With their help, I actually got home at 5:15 Monday with only dinner to make. I thought, doggy time! I let Morrigan, Trojan and Lexus out of the kennel and let them run around like idiots for about 15 minutes, then I put them back in the dog house and let Rex out, off lead. This was his first off lead experience with me outside of his enclosure. He has been coming when I call his name and his good behavior has really raised my confidence in him.

Anyway, he watches me walk down our field road with The Three Amigos, (Morrigan, Trojan and Lexus) everytime we go. He knew exactly what was going on and where we were going. He started off bouncing down the road, tail straight out smelling and peeing on everything as we went. The first quarter mile is all down hill and he was having a grand time. The next quarter mile is across a rolling hillside where we cross three seeps/streams. This was also very exciting and we played in the mud and he enjoyed it between his toes. The whole time he is running into trees and tripping over briars. (Yelping when they hit 'vital' parts.) His woodcraft is slightly below par.

The trip back home is about three-eighths of a mile. We basically make a triangle. The trip back is mostly uphill and through the thickest brush. I discovered an old calf skeleton, (Rex misssed it completely!). I picked up one of the femurs and gave it to Rex. He took it very gently and the dog carried that treasure all the way back to the house! He was really dragging as we finished. He was just tired. When I placed him back in with Roxi, he walked up to her and dropped that old bone at her feet. Well, it was Christmas, Easter and Halloween all at once for Roxi. First she licked his face and then picked up her treasure and proceeded to gnaw the knuckle of that old gray bone. I was proud of both of them. They have really bonded.

Roxi has always presented the face of an outsider. She has always wanted to be the leader but that post is firmly held be Morrigan. Since everyone else tows Morrigan's line, she has been kept at arms distance. With the addition of Rex, Roxi has the friend she has always wanted and needed. With him here, she has the physical and emotional bond that she was never able to have with the others. Its a good thing.

Okay, a couple more pics before the 'Official' pics come in.

Oscar followed by Roxi

And in case you missed it, please remember that while some dogs do love to show, most if not all, would rather be at home in the air conditioning or curled up in front of the fireplace or have a little 'Mini' dog curled up beside their head. Our dogs are working dogs, but also confirmed home-bodies. I believe they are the pinnacle of thousands of years of breeding and bonding. In other words, they have been bred to be companions and to help us in our labors. We aren't capitalizing on any ingrained instinct other than their love as a pack animal. They want US to be happy. We have bred intelligence and a gentle soul into these dogs we call Mastiffs. Dogs like Trojan breeze through shows without it bothering him at all, but I promise you he was happier chasing that deer the other day. For Chocolate it is harder. She will enter a ring for Jennifer although she really just wants to crawl up into Grampa Bob's lap.

So, when you see all these pictures of the show dogs, please don't think that I don't value the dogs who are not being shown. I love them all. From Ace who lived such a short time but affected me so profoundly to Satch and Boomer who may be the luckiest dogs on the planet. I just see the 'work' of the show dogs as a sacrifice that should be honored. When I see an owner or a handler get angry at a judge, or snap a dogs lead, it angers me. They have forgotten it is about the dogs, not the people. I KNOW they have forgetten why the dogs are allowing themselves to be there at all. I think Gary knows. He may correct Os, but he also remembers why Os, a 200+ pound dog ALLOWS himself to be shown.

Okay, you may get tired of all these pictures but they are still going to be posted! Pictures of Oscar in group:

All Eyes on Os

This next one shows Os and CJ standing in front of The Great Norlee Reece and a Great Pyrenees named Snickers. Snick is a nice dog and anyone that has spent any time around me a at dog show knows how much I respect Norlee.

You know the type of weekend I had. The kind that starts on Friday at noon and just keeps going and going because so much is happening?

It started when Jennifer and Sandra called Friday morning just before lunch and gave me the good news about Oscar and Roxi. (It feels like it happened last month!) Regardless, I am so proud of both families. I saw Roxi on Sunday and she is gorgeous! She has an incredible temperment and just eats everything up. I can tell that she is starting to mature. I wish I could tell you more about her winning Best of Winners on Friday but I just wasn't there.

Oscar backed up his win on Friday by taking breed on Saturday! I was in LaGrange with my son at a Cross Country meet. After James ran, I begged the coach to let me go ahead and take him so that we could get to Atlanta in time for Group. What an experience. Jennifer was a wreck. Gary couldn't handle Oscar in Group because his primary client's dog is also in the working group and also took breed. CJ Favre substituted and did well considering he was introduced to Oscar about 15 seconds before they went in! Oscar was looking for Jennifer and then stared at Gary the whole time they were waiting. Jennifer and her dad were having to hide from Oscar because he just didn't know CJ and was a little apprehensive. Then his turn came and he was beautiful! He strutted around the ring with his huge head held high and then an amazing thing happened. Jennifer heard people beyond our little group cheering for her dog. It was magical. It was what she has always wanted for Oscar. Confirmation that he is as great to others as he has always been to her, and you know what? He is. He is a tremendous ambassador for our breed. Oscar is one of the few dogs that you can actually see smile. She loves her boy so much and he did so well.

Meanwhile, Chocolate is quitely pulling in points. There was a miscount on Saturday. We thought there were twelve bitches but there were only seven, so when Chocolate won she only earned two points, not four. Fourteen bitches were registered. I'm actually a little miffed about that. I know that Roxi moved up but for six bitches to be pulled on Saturday and Sunday is extraordinary. I hope they had a good reason. I hope it wasn't because they saw that Roxi and Chocolate were there and that they couldn't beat them and so they left. Chocolate and Jennifer won Winners Bitch on both Saturday and Sunday. Chocolate won Best of Winners on Sunday and earned the three 'cross-over' points.

Between Roxi and Chocolate, our family earned all the bitch points for the weekend: three for Roxi and five for Chocolate. Oscar Earned his second major and then took Breed the next day. In short, it was an outstanding and amazing weekend for Morrigan Mastiffs.

I must also add that Jennifer's mother was up from Florida for this show and got to see all of Jennifer's success. Jennifer's mom does obedience training and her dog won something this weekend although I must confess, I don't know what because I don't know much about it.

Well, we aren't done. When I got to my truck, I discovered that I had left the lights on and the battery was truly dead. I spent an hour and half with the show site's maintenance guy before I abandoned him for a higher life form. Randall (Sandra's husband) came to my rescue. His big Diesel had the power to jump me off QUICK and away we went. We spent the remainder of the evening catching up on all the chores we had ignored from the previous week. One of which was to actually check the mail! I got a wonderful set of pictures of Roxi's brother Satch.

Satch is wonderful, just as that whole litter has turned out to be. He has a rough life doesn't he? He goes to work with dad every day and then home to mom every evening.

One last picture! Heather has to sneak up on Tug to get these. I know I have posted a lot of them but they are SO CUTE!

Dogs are first. Oscar was sitting on 14 points and already has both his majors. He just needed one point. Oscar was with his handler, Gary Sheetz. Oscar and Gary have a good relationship. Oscar is very animated with Gary and shows a lot of expression. Gary knows that Oscar likes to pace and works diligently to keep him out of it. When they started for one of their arounds, Oscar paced. Gary stopped, EVERYONE! He told the judge that they were going to do that again. The judge, Dr. Carmen Battaglia, told the person behind Oscar and Gary to give them more room and not to crowd! Oscar is a big, long dog. Anyway, things went well after that and Oscar won Open Dog and Winners Dog. The major held and Oscar finished with STYLE! (Just like his Momma, by the way.)

Next came RoxiToo in 12-18. Roxie had thirteen points but only one major. She needed a major to champion out so she had to win Best of Winners to finish. Roxi won 12-18.

Jennifer was apparently very excited about her boy Oscar but she made it to the ring and she and Chocolate won Open Bitch, setting up a showdown with RoxiToo.

RoxiToo won Winner's Bitch. Oscar and Roxi entered for breed and Roxi won best of winners and finished on the same day as her Uncle Oscar!

How awesome is that! Two of our clan finished on the same day at the same show! Jennifer was raving about how good RoxiToo looks. I can believe that! Congrats to both families. You did yourselves proud and with such style!

Hopefully I can get Jennifer to write us up a complete story. I have pieced the above together from the mad ravings of two temporarily insane women! Pictures will absolutely follow.

The OsMan Cometh!

Oscar's second major.

Ok, remember when I said Rex had calmed considerably, well, forget it. The boy is a bundle of energy! He literally bounces everywhere he goes. I should change his name to Tigger because he is a wonderful thing! I think this is a transitionary stage. His muscles have really started to develop and he is much stronger but he is still lighter than his true weight so he has strength to spare. He is still eating 12-16 cups of food a day. About twice as much as my other dogs.

He loves to be combed. He will mouth me and the comb for a little while and then just stack himself and stretch out. I guess I shouldn't be to hard on him. Roxi is the real culprit here. She likes to sit on my feet and then push backward until she rolls over onto me. He has learned that trait from her except that he screws it up. He ends up putting his feet on me without putting any pressure on me. Basically he sits-up ... until he falls over. Its ridiculous. Here is this great long dog that is sitting up like a Sheltie and then he just falls over and starts running around in circles chasing his tail. He is so much fun. The best way to describe him is to imagine a giant four year old puppy.

On the health side, his teeth are MUCH better, When I got him, he had these black deposits on his teeth. It was hard but not REAL hard. I don't know what it is. This stuff is coming off and his teeth are noticably brighter. I can scrape it off but I have to get him away from Roxi because everytime I start she decides to get jealous.

Oscar and Chocolate have shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Trojan shows on Sunday.

One more thing, I found his bowl. It wasn't in Lexus' tunnel! Roxi dug it up yesterday. Rex had buried it.

None of the 'Official' Morrigan dogs had shows last weekend but we had some cousins and friends that did real well.

First I would like to congratulate Ron Frushon and Susie Farber for Rodie, CH. Caledonia The Road Is Dark, getting his Championship. I think Rodie is perfect for our Lexus. I don't have his Champion picture but I do have this one from the end of July. Matt and Dena Drozdoff have been handling Rodie so they get Congrats for that, AND...

Dena's Cricket won Winners AGAIN. Cricket is apparently a force of nature that cannot be stopped! You can check out Cricket on Dena and Matt's page:

Fireside Mastiffs

Finally, Heather has sent us another picture of her insane dogs. Tug decided to go into Tank's crate. Tank followed him. Nothing like 360 pounds of mastiff to fill up a crate.

This weekend, James went to Jekyll Island to run in a Cross-Country meet. They left Friday morning and got home Sunday evening. He was very tired when we got home.

Meanwhile, I washed dogs all day Sunday. I washed seven dogs and clipped a jillion toe nails. I scrubbed the kennel with soap and then bleach. In short, I cleaned everything! After I finished, I didn't want to put the dogs out wet because they would have instantly ruined all my work so in the kennel they stayed.

I picked James up and we got home right after dark at about 8:00pm. I went outside and let Morrigan and Trojan out into the yard. I then let the other dogs into their respective runs. Morrigan made her way onto the back porch and looked through the window. I was looking out the back of the kennel as Susie ate directly beneath me. About then I heard the back door open. James stepped through and gave Morrigan a hug and then proceeded to love on her. That continued for several minutes and James turned to go back inside. Trojan came running around the house at break neck speed. His radar must have told him that someone was getting attention and he needed to get there. James stopped, closed the door and then started the whole processs over again. As I watched I suddenly became very proud. I am proud of James for his running and his wrestling and his grades, but in that simple moment, he displayed for me that he is my son and someone I think is so special.

Our intrepid reporter, Jennifer, has informed me that ChocoDiva is following in Momma Morrigan's foot steps as a first rate Possum Killer. Well, maybe not first rate. And the possum may have survived. BUT, it smelled REALLY bad where it pooped on itself. AND, ChocoDiva, being a civilized Diva, didn't much want to touch it after that! It was of course, playing possum. Maybe ChocoDiva needs to come home for a while and take a refresher course? Nah, Jennifer would go crazy with worry.

When Chocolate and Lilly were three months old, I took them to see Susie in Memphis. We met Susie downtown, right beside a set of railroad tracks. When I say right beside, think twenty feet! Anyway, fate had a train pass by at the exact time Susie was looking at the girls. Lilly was terrified and tried to hide under the truck. Chocolate just sat there calm and collected. It was very impressive. She was always a strong minded confident dog. It was a good thing she started strong because she has needed every ounce of that will to recover form her back injury. She isn't as confident as she once was, but as her body has mended, her spirit has rebounded. Now, she is truly a Diva, and as she matures, I believe the young Chocolate will reappear.

Chocolate and Oscar have shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Atlanta. Trojan will be there Sunday. Oscar has an excellent chance to finish his Championship this weekend. Chocolate has an outside shot. Trojan could get to needing only a major to finish.

Well, I got two sets of pictures tonight and boy and I happy! The first two are from Stephanie McDonald and are of her Kenzie at 14 months. She is from the Trojan/Lexus litter and she appears to be the spitting image of her momma. I think she is beautiful.

The next picture is Jennifer and the ChocoDiva winning their second four point major while in Atlanta. Everytime I see Chocolate in the ring I can here the vet saying that I should put her down. I am so glad I got a second opinion!

Morrigan's Tug O War

I am so glad Heather got a camera!

I took Rex to the vet on Friday(9/8). The waiting room was standing room only and he was a perfect gentleman. I weighed him in at a more healthy 168 pounds. To refresh your memory, I weighed him on 8/14 and he weighed 154 pounds. Rex has put on 14 pounds in 25 days! That is a real world weight gain of over half a pound per day! He is SO happy. When I walk into his pen, he can't stand his butt wags so much! He loves Roxie and Roxie loves him. She cleans his ears and dotes on him although she does get a little snippy when he lays in her spot. Last night he even joined in the pack howling. I was so happy for him. He hasn't got it totally figured out, but he was trying like Hell!

He still plays with his food bowl and carries it around. He has actually lost one of his bowls. I have no idea where he put it although I suspect it may be in Lexus' tunnel. He likes treats and takes them graciously. He likes to lay in the shade between the water pool and the fence.

While at the vet, I caught a deer. It is semi-tame and had escaped the vet's enclosure. I guess saying I caught the deer is not quite true. I should say I was involved in catching a deer. Her name is Connie. Anyway, I flushed Connie out of the woods and one of the girls got a lead on her. The deer went crazy and I shouted don't let go. The deer kicked her a couple times and left bruises. When I got to them, I put the deer's head under my left arm, grabbed just in front of her feet with my right arm(so she couldn't kick effectively) and picked her up. She weighs right at 100 pounds and was strong but after wrestling James and my Mastiffs, she figured out pretty quickly that she wasn't getting away again. I carried her back to the clinic and put her in a kennel with an enclosed ceiling. Get out of that! I do fear that Connie's story will have an unhappy ending. What do you do with a semi-tame adult deer?

Back to my friend, Rex. If I were going to guess where Rex's weight is going to level out, I would say between 205-215 pounds. I am guessing he is a 210 pound dog. So far, his back and rear legs have shown the most improvement. I think we are about to see a big improvement in his chest and neck and that his rear legs continue to fill in. He is wearing Lexus' collar and I have had to loosen it twice. His second thighs were nonexistent when he arrived but they have re-developed nicely. I thought he was straight in the rear when I first got him but he isn't. My inexperienced eyes just weren't used to seeing a dog that boney. His movement has DRAMATICALLY improved. I still can't get over him licking my armpits all the time.

I have been SO busy. Prior to and over the labor day weekend my Aunt and Father have were visiting us. We had a great time. I had a very nice birthday and there was plenty of celebrating.

Jennifer and I did travel to Perry on the 2nd and 3rd. ChocoDiva was there for both days and just didn't find her kind of judge. Oscar and Lilly each made single day appearances and both won there class only to be beaten for Winners.

Rex is putting on weight nicely and has been a joy. I would guess he weighs about 165-170 pounds now, up 10-15 pounds since he got here. I think he will be around 200-210 when he finishes gaining. He and I have had two half hour wrestling matches which both ended up with me combing him. He enjoyed it immensely. His coat has changed dramatically in the month that he has been here. It was dry and coarse but now that coarse fur is falling out and being replaced by a dense short undercoat that is amazingly soft. He has learned that he gets more attention when he doesn't jump up on me and has calmed considerably. He gets along great with Roxi and the two have become thick as thieves. They clean one anothers ears and generally seem to have really bonded.

Rex also likes Lexus and Lexus likes Rex. Lexus has dug a 24' tunnel UNDER the doghouse so that she can socialize. None of the other dogs appear to have the mole instinct that Lexus does. I have blocked her way with a 3/4" piece of marine plywood but I can hear her clawing at it so it will yield in time. Maybe we finally have found a purpose for the talons on the end of Lexus' toes! I could rent her out as a subway digger.

The rest of the crew is doing fine. I am making sure that I spend extra time with Trojan and Morrigan because I am spending so much time with Rex. I don't want my sweet boy getting bitter. I can tell that he is growing up. He doesn't like it when 4-wheelers tresspass on our land and scares the bejesus out of the riders. The problem for the bad guys is that he can run faster on the broken ground than they can drive. It has only happened twice and I do scold him, but damn it is funny.

Morrigan is acting like she is a pup again. She and Trojan are constant companions. They wrestle and run and basically love each other. I think I will take her and Trojan to the supported entry in Priceville this year. IF there isn't a wrestling tournament that weekend. Morrigan will be 5 years 8 months.

I am already so busy and Laura leaves Saturday morning for six months in Washington, D.C. I need a Mom Rental.

My buddy Rex and I after our first wrestling match.
(I got slightly dirty!)