Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Hi everybody!  Maxwell is still gowing at 18 months old!  His bones are getting thicker and he's getting a little tubby.  My vet said he's a bit fat....Can you guys easily feel your dogs ribs?  We cut his food back a bit and are exercising him more.  One big thing that happened is that he was in a Christmas parade!!!  He was excited and hard to handle at first but he came around.  He's pretty darn strong and could easily pull me around if he wants to but he wasn't too bad.  There were thousands of people screaming Beethoven!!  The kids love him and the parents seemed to like him a lot too.  I can't get over how many people ask me if he's a newf?  Unfortunately we are putting him in a doggy resort for Christmas    We go to my Mom's every year for Christmas and this year I decided to give her a break from Maxwell.  She's not scared of him but this whole menopause thing is totally stressing her out and she doesn't need the added stress.  It's supposedly a five star pet resort.  At night he will sleep in a 4' by 8' room with in floor heating and during the day he plays with the other dogs all of the time.  I'm sure he'll love it but we haven't spent one night with out him since the day we got him!!!  I'll miss the huge lump in my bed!!  It's getting tight in our Queen size bed.  Me Hubby, my cocker, my cat and now Maxwell!!!  We're like sardines!!  Well, here's some shots of him now.  Enjoy.

Considering that I only know one other person with a Saint and it's Max's brother, does his hind legs look ok?  They kinda point outwards sometimes and his back "knees" are closer together.  He doesn't limp or show any signs of pain.  Is this just the way they grow???  How does your saints legs look? 

This weekend is looking great for Maxwell.  Sunday is supposed to be nice and we have our Annual SPCA Dog jog.  Picture it...400 dogs and owners walking for a good cause and having a blast.  It's so much fun!!!  I brought Maxwell last year but he was only 6 or 7 weeks old.  This year he'll be big and ready to play for sure.  I hope I run into some of his brothers and sisters.  My province, (NB) has only one Saint Breeder that I know of and I know at least 4 of Maxwell's sisters were sold in my town. (Moncton)  Last year we ran into his older brother Mason and it was nice.  I wanted to start a little Saint Club here and I'll try to see how many Saints are there.  I'll get some names and maybe we can have scheduled walks together.  I'll have to post next week and tell y'all how it went.

Hi Folks. 

I heard that some of you were concerned that the Big Paws Only site didn't have large enough collars for your big boys/girls.  I have had trouble finding giant supplies so I resorted to getting things made for him.  For example.  Good luck buying a 4-5 foot long dog bed.  You possibly can find them out there but get ready to pay for it.  When I ordered my Lazy boy chair I asked that I order the matching fabric.  I ordered two yards extra, bought a zipper, two huge bags of stuffing, and a nice rope trim and made Maxwell a really nice huge bed that coordinates with our living room.  The fabric was really expensive but you don't have to buy the super pricey fabric if you don't want to.  I had a sewing machine.  It's all straight sewing and I asked my mother in law to do the zipper for me as I'm not that much of a seamstress.  It looks great and Maxwell now has a bed fit for a king.

Second.  Below is a photo of the custom collar I got made for Maxell.  This was a bit trickier.  I looked up leather in the yellow pages and finally found a craftsmen who would make a collar for Maxwell.  He did it out of his home.  He could dye the leather any color you want and I got this color to match Maxwell's fur.  He even stamped Maxwell's name on it and also made me a matching traffic lead.  The collar is two inches thick and is heavy duty thick leather.  The buckles are sturdy too.  This collar will last for Maxwell's whole life I believe.  It's tough.  I paid $30.00 for the collar and 15$ for the matching lead.  (Canadian)  I found that the nylon collars were dinky looking on Maxwell and his neck was so huge and his fur hid his collar.  He looks very handsome with his collar on and it made a great birthday present for him.  I got the idea from the Beethoven movies as Beethoven had an awesome collar with his name on it and I wanted one too.  Hope this gave you some hope.  Sometimes we have to get creative with our dogs and look outside of the pet shops for supplies.  The pet shops cater to small, medium, and large dogs and definitely not giants.

Well last night was quite interesting.  You see Maxwell has been fixed since he was 5 months old.  Last night he would not stob trying to "love" my leg!!!!  He almost never does this but last night he was in the "mood"...  My husband was laughing and I was freaking.  I know it's not a sexual thing and more of a dominance thing but it was pretty funny.   My cat was extraordinaril y affectionnate too last night.  I told my hubby that it was love mommy day at our house.  I don't think Maxwell has figured out that I'm the boss.  He's still trying to test me.  Anybody out there that had this issue??

I recently heard that you can get your dogs drool glands removed to stop the slobber.  Is it true?  Is it safe?  Just curious.  To me it doesn't sound possible as dogs must need to salivate??  Any pros on the subject out there?