I did a post a little while back about Boss and I thought I'd do another on him since he recently met a lovely couple that he is going to go and live with.
Boss's story.
Boss is an 18 month old French Mastiff or Dogue De Bordeaux. He is an absolute gentle giant and one of the most lovable sweet dogs I have ever met.
Boss came to me around 6 months ago when his owner contacted me asking if I could look after him for a short time. I thought Boss would only be here for a couple of weeks but as that came and passed he was still here and I hadn't heard a lot from his dad. Before he came to us Boss had been living out in the bush in a tent with his dad and then between different houses of friends. He had a fairly unstable start to life but he is a very nonchalant dog.
When he first came to our house we didn't have a fenced yard for him and there is a lot of wildlife around so I was nervous he would try and chase them or just wander off and get hurt, because of this he had to be tied up on a long rope when I wasn't around. I hated doing it but figured it was only a few weeks so it wasn't the end of the world.
We had just recently gotten a tiny little puppy ourselves and I was a little nervous introducing them at first. When I went to pick him up he was playing gently with a cat so I knew he was fairly sweet but you never know how animals will react in new situations. Our puppy was around 2 kg at the time and Boss weighed in at 55 kg so even if he just got over playful he could easily of hurt her.
He was Soooo gentle, he slowly sniffed her and let her sniff him, he seemed excited but he contained it well. We introduced them slowly over a few different occasions and each time he was just beautiful and gentle.
Eventually we started letting them get a bit silly with each other, at this point Boss is still only around one year old so still a puppy himself.
Aghhhh please dont eat my puppy!
When they would play Boss would lie down so as not to squish her and roll on his back, Sassy would run around him biting and chewing on his pawns and face and he would swat her away and super gently with an open mouth put his mouth around her. They were funny to watch with such a size difference but both Lydia and I immediately felt comfortable letting them play together and it was obvious he was a big sweetheart.
Naturally there was a couple of minor accidents where he would stand on her foot or she would roll under him and get squashed a little but nothing more than a quick yelp and back at it! After 6 months I am perfectly comfortable letting them play unsupervised as Boss has proven time and time again he has no intention of hurting Sassy.
Massive genitals too
Boss's favourite activity is to chase!
He likes chasing rabbits which I have been trying to teach out of him, but he is just as happy chasing a ball, a stick or Skeeter (my mums dog) and Sassy. We often take them to my mums house and let them chase each other around. Skeeter is a Belgian Shephard (The same breed as featured in the new film with Channing Tatum, also the same breed that helped take down Osama Bin Laden.) so she is fast and agile, Sassy still manages to outrun her and outmaneuver her and then big Boss usually brings up the rear huffing and puffing away.
He is surprisingly fast for such a large heavy dog but he cannot turn a corner to save his life so the other dogs can easily get away from him. On the odd occasion he does catch them he basically just corners them and puts his mouth on them gently. Sort of like saying got you!.
Originally Boss was meant to be an outside dog. For one the first time I brought him inside he tried to urinate on a few things, I believe this is because he's an un-desexed male and he wants to mark his territory. Secondly because he's a bit smelly and dirty and does not like a bath. When I say doesn't like he basically broke the chain when I tried to wash him at the local dog-wash trying to get away and we gave up for fear of him hurting himself.
I was quickly able to convince Lydia to let him inside (in a limited space of course) so long as he didn't pee on anything.
He did well!
Shortly after I was able to convince her to let him on the couch footrest as a bed so he could sit near us when we watch tv, and then in the last week I've managed to sneak him onto the couch for snuggles with us. I mean how do you say no to that face?
Cheeky
Boss seems fairly healthy, he did have one bout in the vet that wasn't cheap because he drank some dirty water and caught Galeria. He recovered perfectly and is otherwise in good health. He has a tear in his ear from when he was young and another dog bit him and ripped his ear but it doesn't bother him at all now.
sad boy at the vet
He is very tough and when he does hurt himself he forgets almost immediately and goes back to whatever he was doing. He is also a giant sook though (Recently I discovered "sook" is an Australian term but it means to cry or whinge or complain, generally about not much.) and will sit there giving you the sad eyes making whiney noises until he gets what he wants, usually cuddles. Or food.
Recently I spoke to his dad and it didn't go very well, he still is in no position to take boss back and is living somewhere they wont allow him, he doesn't have enough money for himself let alone Boss and it was decided I would find him a new home. I thought his old owner would put up more of a fight but he seemed to accept that Boss deserves better. He deserves stability and a family that can be there for him, provide for him and when he gets older and sick, afford vet bills.
French Mastiffs have surprisingly short lifespans with an average of only 5 years, the breed comes with a myriad of health problems from joint and bone issues to breathing problems and everything in between. Even living a healthy life Boss has a very good chance of requiring expensive veterinary treatment at some point and I can't imagine someone letting him pass simply because they didn't have the money.
Food???
We began searching for his new home and contacted a few people we know, with not a lot of luck and me refusing to take him and leave him at a shelter we posted on facebook to our friends and family.
We got quick responses and lined up for Boss to meet 3 separate possible homes.
The first was a disaster. I won't go into detail but at one point while the children were running feral around our yard the parents told us that their middle son had burnt down their last house and set his brother on fire.
I immediately crossed them off the list and we tried to get them out of there as soon as possible.
The second was a lovely young girl from our town who was looking for a new dog after a year, Boss seemed to like her, she seemed gentle and caring towards him, stable and just all around a lovely woman.
The final family Boss met was a couple and they just adored him, he seemed to be quite happy with them as well and kept coming for pats from the man and cuddles from the lady. They also live in the same town and had recently decided they wanted to get another dog after their last one passed 3 years ago. They showed us lots of photos and even had a tattoo of him on her leg.
They had a large backyard with large dog proof fences and they worked different hours so there would almost always be someone home with Boss. At first they wanted us not to get him de-sexed but we insisted as I really don't want him used for breeding. There is enough dogs in shelters that can be adopted. They seem fine with it and we have basically said yes to them.
Boss will be having surgery on Wednesday to remove his balls and after his recovery will go for a trial stay for a few nights to make sure everything will work out well, if all is good I will take him back for a night to spoil and cuddle him and let him play with Sassy before we take him to live at his new forever home.
After being with us for 6 months now he has really grown to be a part of our family and it's going to be incredibly difficult for all of us to let him go, and the same for him. It's the biggest reason I didn't want him going to a shelter, I want him to go straight from one home to another so he doesn't think we have just dumped him at the pound. I want there to be someone there for him when we leave and he is confused.
Sassy, Lydia and I will all miss him terribly, as will my mum and Skeeter. I truly wish I was in a position to give him the home he deserves but being the beautiful soul he is I know he can have better and I want that for him. The couple also agreed we could visit anytime with Sassy for a play and to see how he is going and I told them if for any reason they can't keep him at any time in his life to contact me and I will make sure he is cared for.
I will miss you a lot big man
I think he is going to be happy in his new home though and live the best life he possibly could. As possibly the sweetest most beautiful creature I have ever met that makes me very happy. He deserves nothing less.