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House Alarm!

Breed: French Mastiff (Dogue de Bordeaux)

Weight: 160-170 lbs (head weighing about 40 lbs).

Temperament: Great! Loves our family - not fond of outsiders.

Best Quality: Will scare the crap out of anyone with one look. Bark comes from the gut and rattles my dishes in the cupboard.

One thing I could do without? DROOL. Ohhh, its bad. Really. Think "Turner and Hooch".

Would you mess with him??

When my husband and I bought our first house, we decided that we would need some sort of alarm system. So I called an alarm company. My husband called a breeder.

When I first met our dog we drove 1.5 hours to Rhode Island and the breeder met us with 17 pups. We were able to pick the pick of the liter if we wanted to. While we were playing with the pups the breeder decided that I should meet the father and mother of the liter so I could better gauge my decision as to which pup would be a good fit for me.

The breeder leaves and in an instant I saw a HUGE beast running right for me, his jowls were flapping in the wind and the paws were huge. Not just huge but HUGE! My face must have read something like "OH MY GAWD" because everyone kept asking me if I was OK.

OK? Am I OK? Are you guys crazy? What does this thing eat? Will my kids be safe? Is this a joke?

Looking at the cute fuzzy pups I had no idea that THEY would turn into THIS! I took my oldest son by the arm and threatened him to "Pick the SMALLEST pup in the liter".

Weeks and minutes this dog grew. He grew and he still kept growing. His drool was fierce and his protectiveness grew strong for our family. He became my youngest sons "puller" and protector from his older brother, barking loudly and seriously when my oldest son taunts my younger son. Just letting my oldest son know that he's watching.

Door bells, strange noises and strangers puts my dog on high alert. He is amazing!

For the record he eats only finely cooked meals - Chicken and high residue dog food. We cook for him every night. He has quickly become king of the house and its a throne that I have allowed him to keep (OK, its not a throne its a couch, but do you blame me?). People know what kind of alarm system I have - need I say more?

Posted by Christine Forgione - Associate Broker on 06/12/2007 01:05 PM

Comments (21)

alarm, dogue de bordeaux, french mastiff, house, turner and hooch

This post has been included in New York Information Queens County, NY Information Whitestone, NY Information

21 Comments on House Alarm!

JUN

2007

That's some dog - In the middle picture it's larger that the kids! My friend had a Doberman named Tasha - all he had to do is say "Tasha - Patrol" and if you were not welocome in the house - you were a goner...

Chris

Thanks for sharing. DeB are one of my favorite breeds. The pic of him jumping with the kids is fantastic. My dog is my house alarm. Anytime someone walks by, or a car stops in front of the house, she barks. Aren't dogs great? :)

Awww he's adorable.... I haven't had any dogs for about 3 years now... my baby Bailey was 14 and had a long great life... Haven't had the heart to get another yet.... but blogs like this get me thinking.

Thanks for sharing

I was chuckling all the way through this. We have 2 boxers. It sounds like the have a temperment similar to your charmer. They are only half the size of yours and they scare the crap out of people. I haven't locked my front door in years.

He would scare me away for sure :)

I'll second Mark. We have a boxer that is in the 70 pound range and no one messes with her. She is the sweetest thing the world.

Funniest was we had a pizza delivered and the guy had the "classic" Harley rider look -- big and mean -- and he's at the front door. Rings the bell and when Sadie came flying around the corner he backed into the yard, wouldn't come any closer than 10 feet of the house.

My only advice is to make sure that your pup is socialized properly so you won't experience problems when he is older.

Christine,

What cute dog. We drove all the way to Lyme Connecticut to buy my Jack Russel. He is still alive at 17 today.

Hey please post this in my pets are people too group if you like.

What a cute story, Christine! I always find it interesting which dogs people pick for themselves. He seems to really enjoy the children and vice versa. My Shepherd Husky is 17 which is very old for this type of dog and he no longer jumps around like that:)

Hi guys. Thanks for stopping by.

I have to just say that my dog is a dog friendly, child friendly dog. He is fond of women and children, men he is leary with. I did not mention in the post that Artie is almost 5 years old.

Beautiful dog Christine. I love mastiffs. Out neighbor has one. They are certainly a force to reckoned with. I've see them as HUGE as 250 lbs. Nice doggy:) I too love the picture of him playing with the kids.

Nice post. We used to have a very long driveway leading up to our house. Anybody who came down this driveway was "escorted" by a pack of dogs belonging to our neighbors. They just loved the challenge to outrun something but when strangers got to our gate and saw the sign "Beware of dog", they usually just turned around and went back where they came from ;-)

Nice to see some new posts, Christine!

Dogue de Bordeaux = cool

Doggie drool = ick and that's just from my Beagle mix.

Christina, as a owner of 4 dogs, I love this ? Bet REW will too ??

Bryant - yes, I have seen them bigger also. My husband actually informed me that I am wrong he weighs in at 195 and that is about it for him. He's a mush and when he looks at me, he reminds me of King Kong - there is someone living in his body.

Silvia - LOL, I know if I was greeted by a pack of dogs, I would retreat as well!

Jeff - Thank you Jeff! Great to "see ya". I have been crazy busy, how about you?

Maureen - its funny, when my nephew brings over his dog - its right before he is going to give his dog a bath. The drool is all over the poor thing. Seriously, I am not joking on how bad the drool is - All my guests know NOT to wear good clothes to my house - ever!

Missy - LOL, 4 dogs! Yeesshh. One is good for me. Love em, but he is alot of work.

Christine - what great pictures! We had good friends with a Napolitan Mastiff who's favorite toy was a brick! He used to hold it in his mouth vertically and throw it around, it was the funniest thing to see - that dog was gentler than a kitty cat.

JUN

2007

Big dogs work well as alarm systems. I love the pictures Christine...he look so cute!

JUN

2007

Roscoe is still running strong at 17 and he is the king here...we can't always feed him home cooked meals unless it is beef..no chicken or he gets sick..lucky me I get to spend more money on beef instead of chicken...he also has pretty much run of the house and still sleeps on the edge of our bed. What a mistake this was spoiling him since he was young...by the way he lived with us at the beginning in a studio apartment on Winchester prkwy i Douglaston!

JUL

2007

WOW! He looked kind of small until he was out playing with the kids.

JUL

2007

ARDELL - LOL, no he is huge. Actually his head is huge.

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