this gloriously beautiful and loving mastiff found us; we just can't keep her. We have potentially identified her breed as a cane corso or mix and the Online Mastiff Community Forum directed us to you to see if she could find a home. she is about 13 months old, 80 pounds, 22 inches at shoulder, yellow eyes, reverse brindle coat, and is now spayed, chipped, current on vaccinations, licensed and has a well loved collection of squeaky toys.
her pictures are at this website:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=hsbn1be.5rig5v4y&Uy=-4m94xp&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=198497666591_269372782210&localeid=en_USwe live in merced, ca; it is a lousy place to be a dog; so many people just dump them after using them for fighting or after foreclosure or when housing benefits run out. we live next to an orchard, so lost dogs find their way there and it is a favorite dumping spot. we take them all in and find their homes or a home and keep the screwed up ones. we found two large males on 6/28, called them ralph and waldo, then her on 6/29, logically called her emerson (emmy). they were all locked outside, because our five little nutjobs were terrified of them. the three musketeers were best buds for about a week, then we found the boys' owner. we tried, but never found her owner. we got dozens of inquiries from people who were not good matches, and several who clearly wanted to use her for fighting. the neighbor down the street keeps a mastiff chained outside 24 hours a day and completely ignores it, and wanted her for breeding. it's a hard town to find a good home for a big dog, but everyone who met her wanted her.
we placed her with a good family and it all worked well for awhile, but then their daughter went to college and they made a planned move to an unfenced 20 acre ranch. they kept her in the house when they were home, and said she was well-mannered in the house, except for chasing the cat, and already housetrained. they put her outside when they went to work. they work a bizillion hours, so emmy wandered and got picked up by animal control. they did not license, chip or spay her and it took them a week to check with animal control, so it cost a fortune to get her out. they locked her in a kennel, and she figured out how to get out, and got picked up again, again a small fortune to get her back. they said they loved her, and even the animal control officer fell in love with her, but asked us to take her back because the next violation would be a misdemeanor.
she is really smart and loves to play. she is a huge flirt with everyone who comes over. she has never tried to leave our yard and only barks if someone in the orchard gets too close to the fence. she has a once a week playdate with a border collie/lab mix and a rott/lab mix. we play fetch and "chase me" with her and taught her goofy stuff like sit, down, kiss, shake, rollover (she stops halfway and waves her legs in the air at this point). she takes us for walks (my husband is a disabled veteran and i have physical limits that her size and strength exacerbate). we took her to the first obedience class offered last week. the instructor fell in love with her, so we talked with her afterwards. she put us in touch with a bullmastiff rescue person, who also fell in love with her. she said she has to figure out her breed so she can put us in touch with the right rescue group, and also said emmy might be a "dudley", which is undesirable. she is so beautiful and loving; there is nothing undesirable about her. my vet thinks she could be a mix, possibly lab. she has met up with children at the parks, and wants to kiss them all; they love her, too.
the five little dogs are locked in the house all day. emmy is in the yard all day and the garage at night. we worry what will happen when it gets cold and rainy; our yard becomes a mud factory and we do not go outside unless absolutely necessary. we love her and feel real despair over the decision to find her another family, but we are not a good fit for her either and want her to have the best home possible.
