Poll

How did you come to own your gaint friend?

Purchased from a breeder in the paper.
Purchased from an ad in the paper.
Purchased from a breeder online.
Adopted from a shelter.
Was given to as a gift.
Pick of the liter from a stud/bitch service.

Author Topic: Poll on your best friend!  (Read 10248 times)

awo

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Poll on your best friend!
« on: March 13, 2005, 08:36:30 pm »
Please take part in the poll, I'm just wondering how people come to own thier giant friends.

awo

Lorrie

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2005, 06:52:49 pm »
Please take part in the poll, I'm just wondering how people come to own thier giant friends.

awo

I never lived with a Saint before; but my husband grew up with them.  His mother bred Saints and Old English Sheepdogs back in the 60's.  She passed away in the 70's.  Ever since we were married my husband kept saying that  he wanted a Saint.  When my GSD passed away, I got a Cocker Spaniel (Jo Cocker).  She is a tri-colored female, five years old.  After I got her, my husband kept talking about getting a second dog, a big dog, maybe a Saint.  So for his 40th birthday, I surprised him with Sampson.  Jo and Sampson are both 5 years old; they are 6 months apart in age, and Jo rules the roost.

Sampson was 14 weeks old when I brought him home.  He was 60 pounds.  And my husband was out of town for the week.  I did not tell my husband, it was literally a surprise.  When he returned home on Friday and saw Sampson, he was literally overcome.  He still says it is the best gift he has ever received and he loves Sammy to death. 

But, and this is important....I do not recommed people surpise anyone with a dog as a gift, regardless of the size of the dog.  These were different circumstances and I knew it would work and that my husband and Sam would be best buds.  And they are.  Sam even goes for tractor...yes tractor...ride s with my husband.  My husband built a special contraption for Sammy to ride along on.

Although my husband had talked of getting a Saint for years; for several months before I actually went and got Sam, he was mentioning it constantly and was even having dreams about Saints.  I picked Sammy out myself and was later shocked when my husband showed me a photo of his favorite Saint, Joshua, from when my husband was a little boy.  Sampson and Joshua look very much alike.  Honestly, had I known how much Sammy looked like Joshua given the strong feelings my husband still has about Joshua, I probably would've picked a different looking Saint.  But my husband doesn't feel that way and was thrilled to have a dog that looked like the one he had as a child. 

Saying all of this, I now cannot imagine life w/out a Saint.  Or drool on the walls....or my clothes, or the car seat, or yes, even the ceiling!

awo

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2005, 07:12:00 pm »
That's such a great story, and I have one of my one own, I have always considered myself as a cat person, until I walked into a pet store one day and saw this big ball of fur for sale.  I looked at the saint puppy, said I want one of these and walked out.

That weekend my husband and I went to a wedding out of town and forgot about the dog I wanted.  As soon as we got home, the thought that I wanted a saint popped in my head and we looked for breeders in the paper.  We found a breeder and that night and we went to look at saintly fur babies.  At this point we still didn't know what we wanted to do. 

Two weeks went by and we were doing our research on the needs of a giant saint and what it took to own one.  Remember I'm a cat person and I've been raised around dogs, but have never owned one as an adult.  So, long story short, we ended up buying Dudley and it's down hill from there.  I, as a first time dog owner in my adult life, would never have another type of dog.  I've come to love all gaint breeds and tend to call the toy breeds, ankle biters.  Now Dudley is just over two years of age and I still love gaint breeds best, although, I'm an animal welfare officer and love all animals.

Offline Jerry

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2005, 03:26:42 pm »
I've been around Saints for a long time.    In college my fraternity had a Saint mascot (who was expert at begging for pizza).  .  We had a Saint when we were married and we dearly loved him.  He would lay down and our little son would use him as a pillow for a nap.  I guess having a Saint is just second nature for us..

Offline connolly

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2005, 10:30:13 am »
I grew up with a Boxer from the time I was 2 and as an only child actually believed she was my sister. In college I had a great Dane who wore a red kerchief and went to class with me (late 60's-70's lol) When we move up north on 8 acres of forest I decided it was time to get another "real dog" (big). My husband wanted a Blue tic from some long ago memory as a child so I started looking in our local paper. I had always wanted a St., probably because of growing up with a boxer, I'm just into the jowl drool thing I guess and I found an add for a St. mix. The mother was an AKC beautiful bitch that had gotten in trouble with the neighbor's Lab??? We came home with Mac who got most of his mothers genes, size, jowls and temperament and were in love for 14 years. Not wanting to trust luck after Mac passed I went to a breeder and got my Sassy girl 2 years ago and last Christmas Seamus arrived. My husband is the one who insisted on another St. puppy so he obviously hasn't thought of Blue tics in years. After almost 18 years of drool, big paws, worshipping eyes and heavy snoring all night I can't imagine life without at least 1 Saint Bernard. Best, connolly
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Offline amajac

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2005, 10:25:22 pm »
29 years ago, my then husband saw an ad in the paper for a $25.00 Saint Bernard, she was about 8 months old and the guy got her from a breeder because she was "too small"  I had never had a big dog, and never been close to a dog, as a child dogs were in a pen in the back yard.  I was not at all sure I wanted a dog much less a "monster" dog.  I was also four months pregnant with my oldest daughter. 

We went to get her, the man had toy poodles all over the house, he opened the back door and this huge pile of fur came running in and jumped onto the couch.  It was abvious that he was intimidated by her and she HATED the poodles, and was used to doing exactly as she pleased. 

We took her home. After she almost bit my hand off when I tried to feed her a hotdog I decided that if we were going to co-exist she needed to learn some manners.  From that point on living with Molly was a pure joy.  We had her for eight years and she was a total love. She taught me about dogs being part of the family, not part of the wildlife in the back yard.  We also had a pyr. during that time and I later had several other Saints who were rescues and a Saint Bernard/Springer Mix who I loved to death but was certainly NOT SAINTLY.   

I have not had a dog in many years until last month, when I got Saint Austin, the BEST Valentines Day present in the world.  He is everything Molly taught me Saints could be.

Cheryl
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Offline coonie1970

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2005, 09:10:50 am »
Hi!! I had never really thought about getting a St. My hubby has always wanted one but we have been busy having children and hadnt really discussed it much. I have an older Sister( Brenda) who lives in North Carolina and last year she got the idea that my younger sister and I needed puppys. She owns a Great Dane. My younger sister (Carole) decided on a great dane and after disussing  breeds with my hubby and doing some reserch we decided on the St. We were told time and time again that we were getting in over our heads but our minds were made up.In May of last year Brenda  found Judge at a breeder in North Carolina. We decided that MALE #4 on the breeders web site was for us.Our jurney began.She also found Carole a Great Dane. They are a week apart in age.Brenda was going to bring them home to us in Canada in June. We just couldnt wait!! We decided that it was time for a quick trip to the good ol U.S. Off we went on a 24hr drive from Northern Ontario to North Carolina.We had no idea if we would have trouble at the border on our way home but we did some checking and found out that as long as the puppys were vet checked within 24 hours of crossing we should be OK. Our trip went well. Carole and I arent very well travelled LOL so we just loved the drive. Our puppys were waiting for us when we arrived at Brendas. We fell in love at first site. We stayed for all of 24hours then started back home. All went very well. Although Judge did have an ACCIDENT in the back of the car. OOPS!! It took us a bit longer to get home but we had more trouble getting my Brother in law across the border than the puppys> HEHEHE!!Did we get in over our heads??? NAWW!! We have loved every minute of our experience of raising our St.And Carole really loves her Great Dane.Judge and Sadie are the best of friends. Although they havent seen much of each other lately. We really dont want GREAT SAINTS running around. LOL . Well thats my story. Sorry for it being so long but..... :D
Karen
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Jen

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2005, 11:23:30 am »
Ok here is our story.  When my husband and I got engaged we had a great conversation about the future of our family to be.  Yes, we planned on having children but another deal was struck about dog members:  for both our lives, prior to meeting, we grew up in homes with dogs....small dog, very small dogs.  Both his mother and my mother had put their foot(feet) down about having a big dog.  My husband is a big guy, a 3Xer with big football type, Harley driving friends. When his freinds would come over they would laugh at his little dog with fluffy fur do's and little bows and cute sweaters!  My husband would die of embarrassment! So when we got engaged he didn't ask for a prenup but he asked for a big giant dog! now that just tickled me pick... always wanting a big dog myself but also never allowed to have one!  So got married, got pregnant, had baby, bought house READY SET GO.....the search was on---- research -research -research then stumbled across the quote "GREAT PYRENEES THE GENTLE GIANT"  that has always been my discription of my husband a GENTLE GIANT soooooo BOOM there it was!  Researched the Pyrs and found a striking simalarity in the discription of the Pyrs temperment to that of my husbands personality!  Non active in doors, very active outdoors, a true protector of family, great with children yada yada yada and big, very very big! So WOW WEE a perfect match!!!!!  Printed my info, showed my husband, researched breeders, made the arrangements and that's how we found THUNDER our Great Pyrenees!  And yes, I was right a PERFECT MATCH!  Now we are hooked on big dogs!  Just got our other gentle giant Sasha the newfie 2 weeks ago, drove out to the border of CANADA with husband and children and made week-end adventure of it!  I have my eye the Bernese Mountain Dogs NEXT!! ;)

Jen

Offline jabear

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2005, 11:59:18 am »
Great stories! If you haven't already heard our story you can get check it out in the About Us section at the top right of navigation tools. I too could never imagine my life without my big guy and am hoping to add another one to the mix by the fall.
Hugs,
Jaime
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Offline jenncotton

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2005, 12:59:23 pm »
I'd never considered getting a saint. My husband and I both like big dogs but we went to the pound looking for a nice, medium-sized, short haired dog. We came home with Sampson. He was only 86 pounds at the time because he wouldn't eat while in captivity =) and he was very shy. So shy in fact that they weren't going to adopt him out. I never knew how much I could love a dog until I got a saint. I've had labs, mutts and even an English Bulldog but I have never loved anyone the way I love my Saint. So, last summer we got another one. . .  now we have very happy (if hair covered) lives with Sampson AND Delilah.

Offline mastiffmommy

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Re: Poll on your best friend!
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2005, 01:23:10 pm »
Here goes my story, When I was about 3 years old my parents decided that it would be a good thing for me to grow up around dogs, they got a West Highland White Terrier, okay small but not the most ideal dog for a family with no dog experience. She took over the house and owned us. She was a wonderful dog, and was with us until she had to be put to sleep when she was 12 years old. During that period my mother fell in love. She wanted a Golden, that made us a two dog family, my father came across a mixed breed with too big ears and a sweet smile that needed adoption, so now we were a three dog family. When I was hmmmm think 11 years old, I met a person during a show jump event ( I used to show jump horses) who told me about this Dane, who was kept outdoors and the owner didnt care about it at all, and now it looked like she was super skinny and needed a vet visit. When we came home that day, I started the torture of my poor parents, and the very next day my father drove me to the address my friend had given me. My father and I took one look at the dog, and decided that we were not going to leave without her. The people who owned her couldn't care less about her, but did not want to give her up, said she was a good guard dog!!! yeah right, the poor dog was almost too weak to stand up. After a long discussion my dad ended up paying about 200 dollars for her. We loaded her into the car and went straight to our vet. She had to be on antibiotics and all kinds of different meds and supplements for a long time. She was an ugly, wrong colored harlequin girl with seperation anxiety, potty issues and a love for shoes. But she grew to be the most lovable, wonderful dog you can ever imagine. She went with me when I was training my horses, spent all day with me after I came home from school and that was when I realized I never again wanted to live without a giant dog.

Since then I have had several Danes, exept the first one we rescued I bought all of them from breeders and did conformation showing with them. I am swedish and lived there up till about 5 years ago, when I moved here. My husband who is american does not speak swedish, so it was natural for me to move here instead. I had had to put my old Dane girl to sleep about a year before I met him. She was very old and had to go to the bridge. I didnt get any more dogs then, because I knew that I was most likely going to move my life halfway across the world.

When my husband and I started to talk about what breed we were going to settle with. He said he did not feel too good about Danes!!!! Okay I know, he is a tad bit weird lol..... I guess I had told him too many stories about my babies and how I had to mop slobbers from the ceiling aswell as from everywhere else. He had a little mixed breed called Harley, but I just had to have a big dog. We decided that Bullmastiff was the breed we both wanted. So we got our first Bullmastiff, then another  one, and now we are getting our OEM baby this monday. A wonderful boy, 10 weeks old, when we get him. He still doesn't have a name (we are working on that one).

During all these years with big dogs, I have always also had at least a couple of dogs I have rescued. Everything from min. schnauzer, Flat Coated Ret., Siberian Husky, Golden and German Shepherds. I also did quite a bit of obedience and competing with one of the GS that I rescued, he did very well and was a wonderful dog. But no matter what breed I have as rescues and how much I love them. I always just NEED to have at least one giant dog. I think we may be a special kind of people, all us who cant live without our giant family memebers. And every so often we have to defend having them (at least I have to) because people tend to think we are a bit weird for having these giant dogs in our houses, in our beds and on our couch.

But what would the day be like if you didnt have a wet and slobbery toy stuck up your face, or the evenings would be soooo lonely if you actually got to sit comfortably in you couch, or God forbid that you had to sleep in your own bed, having both a pillow and a blanket. That kind of life is way way too simple and clean lol...

Marit
what the lion is to a cat, the mastiff is to a dog