Maggie and Beau
Today there was Maggie, the liver-colored Newfie.
My boss's daughter looked at her and said, "Look mama, a bear!". It's true, Madam Margaret is a bear of dog size proportions. She is a large canine, barely fitting in our largest crate, unable to stand fully upright and properly express her excitement at hearing her Dad's voice. You know that Dashboard Confessional song with the chorus beginning with, 'Your hair is everywhere'? This applies to Miss Mags. Three runthroughs with the ShopVac and there are still tumbleweeds of Maggie fuzz rambling about the shop.
Karen (her groomer) said "You do not walk Mags up the stairs, she walks you." I took this to mean that because she was so huge, she would be dragging me up some 20 odd metal steps in order to get to her Dad all the faster. When the time came for her to go home, I cautiously opened the crate and slipped her collar over her head, fully expecting a Newfie explosion any moment. Clipping her lead on, I stood back and watched as she quietly, calmly walked out of her crate, took the leash in her mouth and gently led me up to her waiting Papa.
Maggie has an older brother named Beau who I met for the first time about two weeks ago. Beau is at the tail end of life, and loving every minute of it. Nobody bothers to put him in a crate when he comes to get cleaned up, he simply hangs out in the corner of the shop, flopped over on one side, drooling a Great Lake between his paws. A great lump of slobbery love. To top off his puppy dog eyed personality, Beau is afraid of stairs. He will not climb them either up or down, and must be carried. It is no small adventure to carry a 200 lb ball of fluff. However; Beau is always grateful and rewards his bearers with a wagging tail and every kind of doggie expressions of thanks that he can think of.
So that is the tale of Maggie and Beau, the liver-colored gentle giants.
My boss's daughter looked at her and said, "Look mama, a bear!". It's true, Madam Margaret is a bear of dog size proportions. She is a large canine, barely fitting in our largest crate, unable to stand fully upright and properly express her excitement at hearing her Dad's voice. You know that Dashboard Confessional song with the chorus beginning with, 'Your hair is everywhere'? This applies to Miss Mags. Three runthroughs with the ShopVac and there are still tumbleweeds of Maggie fuzz rambling about the shop.
Karen (her groomer) said "You do not walk Mags up the stairs, she walks you." I took this to mean that because she was so huge, she would be dragging me up some 20 odd metal steps in order to get to her Dad all the faster. When the time came for her to go home, I cautiously opened the crate and slipped her collar over her head, fully expecting a Newfie explosion any moment. Clipping her lead on, I stood back and watched as she quietly, calmly walked out of her crate, took the leash in her mouth and gently led me up to her waiting Papa.
Maggie has an older brother named Beau who I met for the first time about two weeks ago. Beau is at the tail end of life, and loving every minute of it. Nobody bothers to put him in a crate when he comes to get cleaned up, he simply hangs out in the corner of the shop, flopped over on one side, drooling a Great Lake between his paws. A great lump of slobbery love. To top off his puppy dog eyed personality, Beau is afraid of stairs. He will not climb them either up or down, and must be carried. It is no small adventure to carry a 200 lb ball of fluff. However; Beau is always grateful and rewards his bearers with a wagging tail and every kind of doggie expressions of thanks that he can think of.
So that is the tale of Maggie and Beau, the liver-colored gentle giants.