This is Wally. He was the love of our lives and he died a year ago today. Such a beautiful boy and a reject of course! We got him from purebred rescue (I had gotten another mastiff this way) and he had been hit by a car, thrown into dog prison (the pound) and held for a bunch of hours as required so he could then be put up for adoption without being returned to the people who dumped him. He was so good no one knew his knee was dislocated until his post pound check up. Besides the bum leg he only had one eye. He was an absolute jewel - gentle and giant and very much our dog and no one elses.
This is my favorite photo of him - he picked an Asian Pear off the tree. It was his favorite fruit and yes, the entire fruit is in his mouth! Another funny time was when he had an entire bagel in his mouth and he roamed around kind of whining. Hmmmm Hmmmm. "What's wrong" I thought and when I pried open his giant, soft mouth he had an entire bagel speared on his teeth - he couldn't get it out or chew it! Very funny.
He didn't like to go on couches (even when we wanted him there) but he would put his head on the foot stool to rest it and liked his ears massaged.
Here he makes sure the de-stuffed porcupine isn't moving anymore! He loved to dismantle stuffed things for the squeaker.
Here is a wonderful trick our friend Rob and his wife Jill taught him - how to eat whip cream from a can! At first the noise scared him but a short slow release of the cream shoots it into his mouth from a foot away!
We loved him more than anything. Unfortunately most mastiffs only live 8 or so years on average. He lived over 9 really wonderful years. If you are a dog lover there is a really good book you should read - when I read it I think of many Wally stories. A Dog''s Life by Peter Mayle. Not a sad story at all, it is a dog's life from his own perspective and involves balls, and chickens, farting and sneaking food. A wonderful read!
