Mastiff Blog
- TDarCheek
- TDarCheek
- smmastiff
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» TDarCheek - Our journal begins...
Hi everyone,I thought it would be interesting to start a Mastiff Blog (web log) on the day in the life of a Mastiff 
I'm sure many of my posts will be familiar to those of you who have a Mastiff in your home. And to those of you who are interesting in bringing a Mastiff into your home, maybe some of the things I write will help you make your decision as to whether or not the Mastiff is the right dog for you and your family.
I have 2 English Mastiffs, Chesty (who is nearing 2 years old) and Macy (who is nearing 9 months old), as well as Clyde who is half English Mastiff and half Great Dane and is 8 months old. All of my dogs live in the house with me. They have a fenced-in back yard, but they don't like to be left out there. They stand at the back door and cry if they've been out there more than 15 minutes LOL
At the moment, it is 11:30 a.m. here in Tennessee. They normally nap from about 11:00 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. That's what they're doing right now. Macy is curled up on the couch, Chesty is on the floor in front of her (they race to see who ends up on the couch and who ends up on the floor) Clyde is asleep in the recliner. Yes, he's too big for it - he's already slid off into the floor once. Macy and Chesty will sleep straight through unless the kitty jumps on them, but Clyde will wake up 3 or 4 times for a mid-nap snack
While they're napping, there will be lots of snoring... and yes, farting. It's a Mastiff fact - they're gassy LOL If you feed them low-grade food or table scraps, this gets worse Macy is dreaming now, and her little legs are running like crazy. The kitty is attacking her feet. (Hey, if you don't want to be attacked, stay still, says Petey.)
Our excitement for the day will be when Daddy comes home from work. He gets beat to death with tails the moment he walks in the door, as everyone seeks attention and a rough romp with Dad - we can't romp rough with Mommy like that.
Tonight, we'll all watch a movie and eat a couple bags of popcorn together. Clyde and Chesty sit and catch popcorn that is tossed to them - Macy looks at us like, "Why are you throwing stuff at me?" and "Oh hey! There's a treat on the floor - how'd that get there?"
I'm hoping for Chesty to be nice to the little ones today. He's in his teenage years and has become a grump! He paces back and forth in front of the food bowls, growling (this is called "guarding"). He's the only Mastiff I've had that's ever done this, so it's a learning experience on how to deal with it. For now, we put him in time-out in the back yard each time he begins growling at the younger ones. Researching this tells me that he'll hopefully "grow out of it" by the time he's 3.
More tomorrow - bath day
If you'd like to share your daily Mastiff experiences, go right ahead! I'd love to hear from you!
Love & Hugs,
Dar
-- posted by TDarCheek
» TDarCheek - Always running behind...
Good morning everyone! Well, I've been running behind for a week now The puppies didn't get their weekly bath, so Chesty is smelly LOL The boys got to go for rides with Daddy this weekend - THAT was a treat (and very funny). Macy stayed home with mom and got loaded with snacks, then slept all afternoon while the boys worked off their energy.Chesty is still guarding the food, oh, except for the kitty, who gets to eat with him - go figure
I got a great book in the mail called The Nature of Animal Healing, the definitive holistic guide to caring for your dog or cat - by Dr. Martin Goldstein (thanks for the cool gift, Lily!). A few pages into the book, I realized Chesty has ear mites - probably from sharing his food bowl head to head with the kitty LOL
Clyde was discovered out in the front yard this morning - I reckon this means that he can now jump the fence. Don't worry, Mastiff parents! Clyde is only half English Mastiff - the Great Dane half of him jumped the fence One good thing I learned from this is that he won't run off if he isn't on a leash - we were wondering about that.
It's getting cooler here in TN, and Mastiffs LOVE cool!! I've got to keep an eye on Chesty and see if the cooler weather calms his muscle spams down - he's a big fella, and when it's too hot, his front legs cramp up. Haven't been able to figure that out. I give him potassium, glucosamine, and gallons upon gallons of water, and never leave him out in the heat. We're almost convinced that it's his nerves - we'll see?
Now off for feeding time! Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Love & Hugs,
Dar
-- posted by TDarCheek
» smmastiff - mastiff kill
I stood upon the balcony of my domain , and threw the cool of the morning mist , I gazed out across the green carpeted grounds that lay before me .My heart filled with both awe and remorse , as my eyes took in the site of my mighty mastiffs.
They stood in the morning haze looking proud and fatigued. The fluid from their most recent kill covered their bodies and dripped from their mouths . The female mastiff then lay herself down in sheer exhaustion beside the mighty and powerful male, both content and drained from the exertion of the kill . Defeat would not have been an option for such powerful animals . Their prey had no chance , for the mastiffs had learned and developed their skills in the hunt , regardless of my efforts to end their lust for needless destruction.
I am sure they felt pride in themselves , But I felt remorse, remorse for what once was and shall never be again.
Torn into pieces, its long, sleek ,serpent like shape no longer resembled its once true form. I called to my protectors and they tuned to me. Their eyes searching mine, wondering if I too would feel the pride of their kill or if they would feel the scorn of my harsh words .
They watched me closely but I did not speak , The only though that came to me was
“nuts, my husband is going to be so pissed off about another destroyed garden hose”
Island West Mastiffs http://mastiff25.tripod.com/
-- posted by smmastiff
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