My dear friend loves life in a large way and I was thrilled when she tentatively asked me to ride shotgun with her up to Ohio to pick up a new family member, Carolina, a four year old American Mastiff. Carolina had spent her life as the foundation brood bitch on an immense farm. She was being retired from "breeder duty" and needed a forever home. My friend was their first pick. A great match if I ever saw one. Cathy hails from the Cumberland Plateau where she lives on a very large farm with her herd of exotic warmblood horses, her other American Mastiff, a humorous and tolerant husband and a small band of cats and birds.
Being a TTouch prac, I towed along my "kit" on this adventure "just in case". After all, a 200+ pound animal that spent the bulk of her life in an immense barn, in an immense kennel and not well socialized....well, I had some concern and wanted the very best for this dog and her new family right from the get-go. No 200+ pound dog was going to make a drag-along out of me or my good friend....and honestly, it's what I expected to be addressing with this large dog.
This breed and this gal, Carolina, totally blew me away. She reminds me of a Clydesdale in that her size is balanced beautifully by her quiet, tranquil demeanor. She never once pulled on her lead, not even a little bit. Carolina was calm, relaxed and completely compliant. Ha! The joke was on the TTouch practitioner....this dog is just fine!
Other than a huge reluctance to get into her new vehicle (and who could blame her....the "in" was a big jump into the back of a Volvo wagon instead of a step-in to a huge van), she had no issues with anything. She traveled just fine and slept most of the way if she wasn't resting quietly. No signs of stress were associated with this dog.....at all.
Carolina arrived to her new home late, after I was dropped off at home. Waiting for her was her new housemate, Chunk, a younger American Mastiff from the same kennel and boy was he ever thrilled to meet his new pal! Despite the attempt to separate these guys at first, Chunk made his way over to Carolina who was amazingly gracious and patient with her new young friend as well as politely parental when necessary.
In all my years of dog doings, I've never met a breeder dog who was so well emotionally balanced and level headed. What a stellar dog Carolina is and I'm thrilled for my friend!
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