This just hurts my heart so much...

Ally and Rufus

First of all, it breaks my heart to write this.  We need to give away our dogs.  We're moving this summer, and where we're going (I'll discuss in a future blog post) just won't be a great place for them.  We REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would like to keep them together if at all possible. I can't even emphasize enough how awesome they are together.  Here's a little bit about them:

Rufus is the brown one.  He's a Dogue de Bordeaux (a French Mastiff)  He's like the dog in Turner and Hooch, only he isn't quite as bad with the drooling.  We do keep the water bowls outside, though, just to keep things a little neater.  Rufus just turned 8 years old on April 23rd.  He was neutered young, so the vet seems to think he will live a longer life than if he hadn't been.  He weighs about 100 lbs.  He is really smart, and so sweet with kids. Just a little funny fact... when Gabby was younger she couldn't say Rufus, so she called him FooFoo.  He totally looks like a FooFoo, doesn't he?

Rufus

Ally (the black one) is a Neapolitan (Italian) Mastiff.  She will be four years old this summer.  She weighs 135 lbs.  She, too, is smart, and she is excellent with kids as well.  I remember when our youngest was a toddler, Ally would be laying (or is it lying... I can't ever remember that grammar rule) in front of the sofa.  Gabby would literally step onto Ally's side to help her climb up on the couch.  And Ally would never even flinch.  She does have a bit of an anxiety problem, though.  She has gotten so much better, but that's part of the reason I would like for her to stay with Rufus.  She has been known to chew things if they're left on the floor.  She does not chew things if we are home, it's only when her family is gone. I must say she has gotten so much better as she's gotten older.  However, I know the stress of not being with Rufus (and us) could make her regress. We have a giant crate for her for when we have to leave the house and it's really hot or cold outside, but for the most part, we just leave the dogs outside when we are going to be gone.  We also have a wireless pet fence because we don't have a physical fence in our yard... it's a transmitter about 10x10x8 that sits in our house.  It sends out a wireless signal in a giant circle around our house and yard, and when the dogs approach the boundaries, their collars beep.  If they don't turn around, they get a shock.  The beeping is almost always enough to tell them they're too close to the edge of their circle.  Rarely if ever do they require the shock.  Anyway, the wireless transmitter and collars come with them, as does the XL crate and any other dog supplies we have. 

Ally

They are huge, I know, but they are truly gentle giants.  They are fabulous with children. In fact, I don't know if we'd want to give them to someone unless they had children... they are that loving and sweet.  They are so used to being surrounded by kids I don't know how they'd do without them.  The children in my neighborhood love them, even though their parents might be scared stiff.  It's not unusual to see three or more kids at the bus stop hugging on Rufus or Ally.  In addition, they are excellent guard dogs.  I'm sure it comes as no surprise, but when people see them in our yard, they usually don't give a second thought to approaching our house.  Caleb jokes that we don't need an alarm system because we have them.  He always says he has felt way better leaving for a year at a time knowing our two dogs were around to protect his girls.

This is why we don't want to separate them...

Apparently they like to snuggle a lot!  That gray thing next to the basket is the wireless transmitter I was talking about earlier.

If you can't tell by the above photos, they like to sleep.  A lot.  They actually sleep about 16 hours a day.

They have been continually socialized with other dogs.  French and Neapolitan mastiffs are fighting breeds, so it's very important to socialize them early and often so they don't have power struggles with other dogs. 

Rufus can be walked with a leash, but he is pretty much completely voice-trained and will do whatever I tell him to even when not on a leash.  Ally is also getting way better at the voice command thing, although when I walk her outside my neighborhood I still use her leash.  I have definitely noticed that Ally's anxiety lessens when I walk her one or two times a day.  Their favorite thing to do is walk with us to and from the bus stop in the morning and afternoon.  I think they secretly love the extra attention and affection they get from the other kids in the neighborhood.

OK, so now the bad...

• They are big, and sometimes clumsy in that they can knock a child over accidentally.  Our girls took some knockdowns when they were younger, but nothing serious, and nothing lately.
• They have really bad breath, Rufus especially.  
• If you give Ally a lot of table scraps she will stink up the house with, for lack of a better term, her silent-but-deadly dog farts.  I don't buy cheap dog food, partly for this reason, but also because they seem to have such shiny coats with the high-protein, no-grain food I get for them.  Obviously, whoever takes them can feed them whatever they feel comfortable with.  Your house might stink for a little while, though.  =)  
• The low windows in the front of our house never stay clean for longer than 2 or 3 days.  There are just a lot of nose marks and slobber on them.  That's an easy fix, though.  I just clean them more often.
• They like to play fight outside occasionally, and it scares the dickens out of anyone passing by.  It's funny to watch, though. 
• They snore sometimes.  In and of itself, that's not such a terrible thing.  I must say, though, that they prefer to sleep in our room.  They are, after all, pack animals, and since my husband and I (when he's not here) are the pack leaders, they like to be around us.  They do, very often, though, sleep in any of the girls' rooms.  And they still snore.

Fighting...

Ally

Rufus

If you'd like to view an excessive number of rather cute photos of Rufus and Ally, click here.

Oh, and I completely forgot to mention that they are housebroken.  I don't think they would have been members of our family for very long had they not been.

I'm sure I'll have to add to this post as I think of new things.  If you think you or someone you know might be interested, please let me know.  I am so worried about them having a good and loving home.