My daughter has 5 dogs and a cat. Louis Vuitton, a miniature dachshund; Lily, a chihuahua; Lola, a chi-weenie; Willow, a husky/wolf cross and Dakota, a K-9 German Shepherd. I will be sharing the stories of each of these during this blog challenge but today C is for Charlie.
Charlie is the newest member of our family and we are just getting to know her so don't have a great deal to share or many funny stories yet.
While my husband and I were visiting a friend, she shared how she needed to find a home for a 10-month-old Burnese Mountain Dog. She was beautiful, goofy and already very large. Strictly as a joke, my husband gave our daughter a quick call and said "Have I got the dog for you!"
"Sure, dad. Like I need another one."
"I thought your two big ones were getting pretty old and I know you want a dog for keeping wildlife off your property."
"I can barely feed the ones I have. But thanks anyway."
The next day she called to tell us she talked it over with her husband and because Dakota and Willow are almost blind and have arthritis, maybe it was time.
Arrangements were made and they picked up Misty, the mountain dog.
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| Charlie en route to her new home |
She was high strung as she had been in a kennel and had a few homes in her young life. She was about half her full grown weight, 80 pounds. Opening the back of the SUV, she bounded in with great anticipation hoping this was her new family.
Traveling back home, my two-year-old grandson announced that this new dog's name was 'Charrrrlie', named after one of the characters in Thomas the Train videos and spoken with the best English accent this little guy could manage.
They have now had Charrrrlie for a couple months. She loves everybody and every animal she meets -- including the cat, Tommy. Tommy is not thrilled with this new family member but Charrrrlie will win him over in time.
.JPG "Charlie at home")
Charlie has not learned boundaries or manners and has become quite the challenge. She sees dinner on the dining room table and immediately believes it is for her and dives right into it as she is eye level to the table top.
She has no idea how strong she is or that the weight of her leg on the cat might not be welcome; it does not matter. She loves everyone and assumes everyone loves her. The cat has other ideas.
Even though she weighs about 80 pounds, she is still a puppy and has puppy accidents. She had to pee one day and stood by the kitchen door waiting to be let out, but couldn't hold it. She peed and shook her large body at the same time, spraying everyone and everything in the close vicinity. She was also in heat so we put a pair of men's underwear on her.
We decided to tie her up by her bed while we cleaned up the mess and within minutes, we turned around and there she was - just standing there with her leash in her mouth that she had gnawed through effortlessly and men's underwear that got all twisted around her 'ankles'. The look on her face said "Did I do that? Gotta love me, huh? Love me, huh?"
Charlie has some health issues and we are hoping she will improve rapidly as we have grown to love her and her idiosyncrasies very quickly. The property she lives on is 11 acres and completely fenced but she can jump over the fence effortlessly to visit all the neighbors, who are constantly bringing her home, smiling! (the dog that is!!)
What kind of experiences have you had with Burnese Mountain Dogs? Are they easy to train? I know they are gentle giants!
A is for All the Dogs, B is for Babe and tomorrow will be D is for Dyeing Hair.
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