The Verdict Is....

We're getting a dog. Yes, we're getting a Bullmastiff. I think we've even decided on a name. This decision comes after visiting breeders, and reading tons of stuff on the internet. Good Lord I've been reading. We visited two breeders, one close, one not so close. The first one was good. His dogs were well tempered, well behaved, very friendly, and as playful as a 145lb dog can be. Actually, you can see him...


The collar in the picture he has since out grown so he currently doesn't sport one. He's a wicked fast dog, but because of his size he's a little clumsy. Think of him as the Arnold of dogs. We had heard about the amount of drool these guys can produce. It was insane the stuff we heard about keeping drool towels on you at all times and making sure any house guests have drool towels because everyone near the dog needs them. These dogs didn't drool a bit. So problem solved there. The mom we didn't get to play with much because he was too worried she'd run off. But we did get to meet her...


She's pretty. We hope our dog is that color. Speaking of color, you can get these beasts in red, fawn, or brindle. The brindle is kinda like a black camo almost. I like it, but the wife hates it. So we're hoping for a red or fawn. I think brindle is unlikely in this litter so we're in the clear there.

Now on to the name. We're 99 percent sure it's going to be...Tumbler. That's the name we both agree on. Part of me still hopes that the wife has a change of heart and says "Hammer isn't such a bad name. Let's go with that." But I'm not holding my breath on that one. I know you're all thinking "Since you and your neighbors drink so much rum, why not name it Morgan?" Simple. The dog in the first picture is a descendant of Captain Morgan the show dog. Just about every male from that litter was named Morgan. It's a cool name, and would have great meaning, but it's a little overplayed.

The other breeder just made us both sad. This old lady had four types of dogs in a series of kennels on her property behind her husbands shop. English Matiffs, Bloodhounds, Bassetthounds, and Bullmastiffs. Something about this place just seemed wrong. The lady was nice, but she was too honest with us. She had a puppy in the most recent litter that only weighed three quarters of a pound at birth when the rest of them weighed four pounds. The runt got ran over when her husband drove up to the kennel to see her. No one saw it. Red Flag number one. Number two is that they were seven weeks old and had round worms that she couldn't get cured. Yeah, Red Flag Two. They had another puppy out of a previous litter that had some sort of disease. Picture a six week old puppy with a football sized mass in her stomach. Not a miniature football mind you, a full out NFL regulation football. Yeah. Red Flag number three and we were out. Nice people, don't get me wrong...they just didn't have healthy dogs. I can't see bringing a dog home that may not enjoy a full quality of life.

Anyway, that's all from your favorite bookstore today. The dog should arrive in February so the preparation begins now. We've picked out a dog house that will likely involve rum, a rumrunner, and power tools. It's a do it yourselfer. I know the instructions don't call for it, but Rum is always a necessity when dealing with directions and power tools.