It seems like it was just yesterday that Bubba was trying to beat the crap out of Jack.


It was actually 2 days ago though.

Yesterday he became aggressive with a 75 lb pregnant female that was being as submissive as can be.  He's probably at 145 lbs by now and 36" high, so it felt like he might have been overdoing it a bit.

Luckily he only had to tolerate the tiny friendly girl Bernard for a few minutes, because as she was coming into the Preserve, he was on his way out to his forever home.

This will be forever home #3 for Bubba, hopefully this one sticks.

The thing is, Bubba was one of my favorites.  Like Hester, he's a bad dog, but such a loving people person dog.  He was willful, but not like Jack.  Jack is willful because he isn't really that interested in my opinion, Bubba cared, he just got overly excited sometimes.

Anyway, Bubba left us yesterday and we're sad.

Here's the cool part: he got to his new home and immediately started playing with their young female Golden! No aggressiveness at all!  Apparently he just fell in love.  I'm so happy for him and for his new people, he's just an awesome Bernard.

Mary gave me an awesome sweatshirt for Christmas.

Anonymous sources report that a new technology is in the planning stages at the Nard Preserve.  This new techology, reportedly labeled 'Virtual Nard', is said to be capable of bringing the full Nard experience to you desktop, your laptop, and yes, even your phone.  Officials at the Nard Preserve were unavailable for comment.

Fresh snow is such an awesome experience  when you've got St. Bernards.  The Bernards have been running and playing in the snow over the past few weeks and having nothing but fun.  It reminds me that some of us really do like winter better.  Not me though, not really

Bubba and Jack may or may not be trying to kill each other.  Bubba is 3 and he seems like he's always pushing it with Jack, while Jack is 5 and seems pretty tough.  I have had run-ins with both of them although Jack is far better, he's still a stubborn bastard.

Yesterday we had a small tiff which resulted in a broken bowl.  I never quite figured out what happened.  It was over before I got there.  No blood this time.  About a week ago they got into it in a huge way resulting in Jack being bitten twice. This was a stupid incident.  We had brought Pearl, Jack, and Bubba 3 bones (Dog Many).  This is the friday after thanksgiving.  We gave them all their bones, but Bubba went after Jacks resulting in a dog fight, which went on for a while, but there was no blood.  The next day we thought we should try again.  Bubba went after Jack immediately.  Bubba is taller and he basically trapped Jack under him and bit him several times.  I was stan ding right there.  As I pulled Bubba off of Jack and put him on his back, he was still growling for a few seconds.  At that point I knew we had to start breaking Bubba of his "I'm the Princess" attitude or he was going to bite me next.  Jack had a bite on his nose and ear, poor guy.

We immediately stopped both of them from being in the bed.  We added regular training and more walks to all three dogs lives.  Finally I started making Bubba stay outside all day with the other two.  Jack and Pearl like it outside, but Bubba was just spending his days inside with me in the office.  I keep all three of them together.  If they are inside or outside, I think it helps Bubba better rea lize he's one of the pack and not the leader.  It was definitely hard at first because he is such a people oriented dog.  He follows me everywhere and he'll pretty much do whatever you tell him.  It's just that he feels that if I'm doing things for him all the time, then he's in charge which means that no-one gets a bone until hes given his OK. 

They are my bones though.  Not his.

Him and Jack started to seem to get along a lot better, actually running and playing together.  I think it's because they are both in boot camp together, I think it's making them friends.  Yesterday's issue has me concerned though.  It was short and bloodless, but still they shouldn't be fighting at all.  So far they are good today. 

We'll have an extensive training session this afternoon.

 

It's that time of year when the St. Bernards can finally make Droolsicles again.

If you're a nard, the recipe is very simple.

1)  Start with a full bowl of your favorite dog food.
2)  Eat about half of it, making sure to generate a whole lot of drool in the process
3)  Leave the bowl alone for about 30 minutes, depending on the outside temperature.

You now have yourself a crunchy, frosty treat.

I'm doing a little review of different information sharing networks to see how best to find, identify, and collect information about St. Bernards.  Check it out here:  The Wise Bernard

So it turned out that Bubba spent a significant amount of time in a flea infested state.  Apparently in the custody of one of our friendly neighborhood Animal Shelters.  This was way back in July, but he's still have skin issues.  We think we've got it under control though and he seems to be feeling a bit better.  He's still under weight, maybe by quite a lot.  He was 121 pounds yesterday.  He's very tall with big legs and feet and yet his body looks like a greyhound.  I wonder if he shouldn't be something like 160 or 170 pounds normally.

WTF?  I walked in the door on Friday to discover the skinniest St. Bernard I've ever seen.  He had shown up about an hour earlier.  He ran up to me and was more friendly than any other foster so far (I've had them try to eat me).   I couldn't believe how thin he was.  When I learned that Bubba came from owners who had adopted him as a rescue I was blown away.  He was hungry, dehydrated, with a horrible skin condition.  Who does this to a dog?  Why would someone "Rescue" a dog and treat it this way?  I couldn't be more perplexed and angry.