Watering the, um, Lawn

For those of you have newfs or other large dogs, you know that the lawn can take quite a beating from the over abundance of urine flow. I learned a little late that I have to water the lawn area every day where he tends to use more for his potty breaks. This dilutes the huge amount of nitrogen so that I don't get as many burn marks in the lawn.

Today it was so hot for Sailor, so my wife Donna let him out of the house while I was watering and from this video you can see that Sailor's coat sucked up most of the water that he wasn't lapping up. He was having the time of his life and sure tickled us to watch. Hope you enjoy the video as well.

Tonight will be spent in front of his fans so he dries out before morning. Then, a big grooming job tomorrow. He won't like that much as he hates to sit still very long. haha. Hope you have a memorable Memorial Day weekend and remember those who have fallen in the defense of our nation, as well as all our loved ones who have gone before us.

A Sailor's Morning

This morning at 4 a.m. our big boy came over to my side of the bed and with his softest, woof, told me it was time to go outside. Imagine waking up to this huge black nose stuck right in your face and this soft uff, uff waking you out of a sound sleep. Wakes me with a start, but also a big smile at how gentle this mammoth dog can be. So, I climb out of bed and stumble to the door, helped along with this huge nose pushing at my butt, and frying pan size feet catching the bottoms of my pajamas. It literally is a stumble towards the door.

I love this pup. He is so tall now that I don;t even have to bend over to pat his back. His head is up over my waist, and those feet! Wow. If he ever grows into them, I will have a VW beetle sleeping at the foot of our bed. He will be 8 months old in a few days and is just now developing his muscles well enough to really run and jump around as he plays. What a happy dog he is, but his courage is definitely more like the lion of the Wizard of Oz than the actual beast. Very brave if he is standing right next to me, but not so much if he is out in the yard and he hears that big noise in the woods. haha

We went to Minnesota last weekend and spent a few days at my folks farm. He is not too sure about those dangerous miniature sheep when they roar "baaaaa." They can definitely cause the heart to pound with fright when they sneek up on you when you're near their fence. Even those lambs when they pounce at you can cause a flight response. He is very brave from up on the deck though and able to woof at them from a greater distance. hahahaha

My Yorkie and I cannot ask for a better companion though. OK, the Yorkie could do without him, but I can't imagine what life was like for us when Sailor wasn't here.

Have a Newfoundly kind of day.

Six Months and GROWING

Sailor has come a long ways since his bout with the food change right after we brought him home. He is around 85 pounds, 29 inches at his shoulder and just over 5 feet long from nose to tail. I think he's becoming a fine young gentleman.

His coat continues to astound me. He is black, white, brown, grey and some red. What his final color will be when he grows up I can't wait to see. He has been through puppy socialization class and is presently getting his Good Citizenship training from an AKC trainer in Sturgeon Bay, WI. He has been to my wife's school and into several classes with her introducing the breed along with the book "Sailor - The Hangashore Dog." A very loveable story about the gentle bravery of this breed.

He is great with kids and other dogs. He loves to torture the cat by nudging the cat with his nose until the cat growls, hisses and runs away. Snow is king to this boy! If he could stay outside all the time during the day, he would. But at night, there are awful scarey things out there in the woods!

He visited my folks' farm recently and spent time with their Angora goats, Babydoll sheep and their miniature silky goats. He liked the latter the best because they were smaller and less intimidating.

All in all, Sailor is loved and fits into our lives so well. He is just about perfect.