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    A Short Story About a Tall Dog

     
    We had Diesel downtown two Saturdays ago and a toddler, with mom in tow, asked if she could pet him. I said, "Sure." She walked up to this dog, who is a foot taller than she is and touched him on the chest because that is about all the higher she could reach. He gently put his face against her face and let her touch his face. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Diesel really is a gentle giant.
     
     

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    My wife is about 5'8" so this is what he looks like next to a person.

     

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    The only dog I know that could make a tree look small

     

     



  • GOOD NEWS !!!

     

    Diesel found his forever home. He had a visit this morning and the family decided to keep him. I will miss him being around but that is the price you pay for fostering dogs. I set out initially to keep Diesel from being euthanized and to find him a permanent home and it was successful!!

     

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     DIESEL

    Two weeks ago on Wednesday, I was looking at dogs on the internet and came across Diesel.

    Diesel is a great Dane - Mastiff mix and was in a small shelter that isn't open to the public. He was scheduled to be euthanized on Saturday so I was already short on time. I started making phone calls and found out that Mastiff Hope Rescue also saw the posting and pulled him out of there. The bottom line is, Diesel needs a forever home and we can only foster him for a while.

    If you know of anyone who would like a very large dog, please contact Mastiff Hope and talk to them. You don't have to live in the region to adopt this dog, there have been adoptions to Pennsylvania and other points on the map that aren't all that close to here.

     

    SO, What about this dog?

    The best way I can describe Diesel is that he is 150 lbs of love. He's very people-oriented and he is a very gentle soul. He will lean against you like a horse but that isn't too much of a sacrifice. He measures 33 inches to the shoulder so he's a pretty tall boy. He is good with children and other dogs and he completely ignores our cats.

    He doesn't have a lot of experience being on a leash and we've been working with him on that. Using a Halti is very helpful although he doesn't like it very much. He is not neutered but will be before he is adopted; Mastiff Hope will cover the cost of neutering.

    He came to be in a shelter because he chased sheep. He didn't harm the sheep, he just chased them. The sheep's owner over-reacted and got law enforcement involved and they seized Diesel and put him on a 10-day hold the same way they do if a dog actually bites someone. By the end of the 10-day hold, his family couldn't afford the fine and boarding costs so poor Diesel went to a shelter. It is infuriating that this dog almost lost his life for doing normal, everyday dog stuff. I'm sure chasing sheep is fun and I intend to try it one day. Well, probably not, really.

     


     

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    Below is a shot of him next to Ziva, our Rottweiler-hound mix. Ziva is not a small dog so this helps to illustrate the size of Diesel.

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  • Would you think I was totally insane if I bought one of these?

    1935 Rudge


  • I logged on quickly to leave a note just in case there was anyone out there scanning the obituaries for me. I am still here, just too busy to spend much time on the internet.

    Currently, my goals are to ride my motorcycle at every opportunity, bring death and destruction to the Bermuda grass in the yard, keep the dogs from eating the rabbit that's taken up residence in our wood pile, and pick up one of my basses every day and actually play it.

    In early August we're heading to Illinois to visit Kayla, Darren and the kids. At work we decided that we need to take a week off - that is, at least seven (7) days in a row and just NOT come to work. It's a matter of sanity actually.

    Have a fabulous weekend!!

  • Anyone who has a cat already knows that they are crazy. Personally, I sometimes wonder what I did for entertainment before I got cats.

    Case in point: below is a photo of our cat totally obsessed with a beam of light on the side of the refrigerator. Really, what else needs to be said?



  • The new motorcycle. As I mentioned earlier, it is a 2008 Triumph Bonneville, 865 cc.  It looks and feels almost the same as my old Triumph Trident 750. The similarities are uncanny. My neighbor stopped by on his Street Bob last week and could hardly believe that it wasn't a considerably older motorcycle.


  • This past week, the entire yard exploded with flowers. Below are Siberian iris, peonies and iris. The small tree is a purple smoke tree, it's quite spectacular in the fall.

     

  • I am still alive and well, just not posting anything.

    I haven't had much internet time because of other things competing for my time such as playing music, yard work and repairing a section of fence that was mangled by 80 mph straight-line winds last week. I actually got grass to grow this year, hopefully it doesn't lead to delusions of grandeur. I used to suck at growing grass and nearly gave up ever thinking it could happen, then suddenly, there it is!

    Does anyone have an opinion on this:


    I may go buy it tomorrow...

    It is a 2008 Triumph Bonneville, 865 cc

  • The Kansas Jayhawks 
    National Champions!!!

    Congratulations coach and team, what a year!

    It's been a weird year for our teams, I mean that in a good way though. First, the Jayhawk football team won the Orange Bowl, then the NY Giants won the Super Bowl.If that wasn't enough, the Jayhawk basketball team then wins the national championship, it's surreal. It would be too much to ask that the Phillies have a good year. Perhaps the Cubs will win the World Series!!??!!