Neapolitan Mastiff Info Art and Gifts

We had taken an interest in an advertised older Doberman Pinscher male, claimed to have been well trained and currently residing at a local no kill all breed rescue. So we called the place to see if we could visit with him and see the other dogs and were told we could come right then. Perfect. We visited with this Dapper male Doberman Pinscher and he was all that was claimed and then some. As we talked with this dober-boy, a helper on the premises was rotating small groups of dogs in and out of the house and other living quarters. During our visit we shared a few moments with two of the most beautiful Wolf Hybrids, the Catahoula Leopard Dog Mommy with her hoard of unruly (yet adorable) youngsters and there was Holly the Corgi mix plus Pearl the Bulldog mix. It was mentioned at one point that there was a Neapolitan Mastiff on the premises.

As our visit went on and different small groups of dogs were rotated from the inside to the outside, some Labrador Retriever types came to frolic with us and then several weimeraners, a very sweet and well mannered English Cocker Spaniel Miss and other misc. breeds. We played with alot of dogs and talked alot of dogs. We did not go there with the intention of taking a dog home that day and made it known we only wanted to visit with the dogs and if any of them seemed like "THE" dog we would take a few days to discuss and make arrangements.

We were getting ready to leave and it was once again mentioned - "Oh... I almost forgot, you wanted to see the Neo, right?" Well, of course, we wanted to SEE the Neo. We do have a certain affinity toward the big oafs. However, there was not really much of a chance that we would fall for a big blue bag of skin, especially not one that was who knows how old, in what kind of shape and the temperament? Ha! No chance! But yes.. we did indeed at the very least want to SEE the Neo. So in the lady went through a backdoor of the house and left it open... In no time what did we see? One of the most pathetic faces I've seen in my life.

A rounded blue head with huge round piercing eyes attached to not much of a body. But bag-of-skin he was. He bounded out of there and checked us out hurriedly as he went to find a potty spot. He was very busy. Smelling everything - the ground, the grass, the wall, drank some water and left down a huge curtain of snail slime from his skin flaps and jowls - not really that shocking nor a big deal since our danes leave a similar trail all over the place.

So. That was it - the Neo. He stayed out and frolicked with the other groups of dogs as they were rotated in and out. He was a younger pup obviously. He seemed to get along with everybody except for a small spaniel boy that he seemed to get a little overbearing with. But it didn't really matter - no way that bag of skin was coming to my house anyway. His story was told that he had been placed into a crate way to small for him and left there for long periods of time - apparently without food judging from his emaciated state. Crate trained, and house trained indeed - a by product of his abuse. His spine was arched up and he had sores - self inflicted from boredom. He had fluid on his elbow and missing small patches of hair here and there. So thin that you could count every spine bone and rib and his little but bones jutted out. Just pathetic. But even so, he seemed such a happy boy and so interested in life. He darted off to catch a romp with some group of dogs. And that was that.

So we discussed the probability that a dane may become available in the near future. And pretty much agreed to let her do some checking around, that she thought she had heard of possibly a male great dane in the area that may be in need of a home. And with that, we left to await her call or to call her back to check on the status of this possible dane prospect. On the way to our "vehicle" the Neo and another small group of dogs gave us good bye greetings and as we pulled out I heard the Neo bark. Just one thunderous bark. It's worth mentioning that our "vehicle" was a Harley Davidson that is quite thunderous as well. But I heard the Neo.

That night I just couldn't get the image of that round blue head and those piercing eyes out of my mind. The next day still he was there in my head. We talked about it and agreed that we would like to try to help this guy out. We went that evening and retrieved the bag of skin that is now known as Louie. It's been just over three weeks since he came to live in the Danes-R-Us household and is getting along just fine. No problems. Well, unless you want to count the time he stole the homework that was partially graded and sitting on our dining room table whilst we took a quick break. (my husband is a teacher). Needless to say, some students got back less than what they had turned in. The kids really got a kick out of the fact that Teacher's dog ate their homework.
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By the way - if you are near the southern tip of Texas and are looking for a dog, please consider visiting this rescue. There are some fabulous dogs that would really appreciate a great home of their own. You can find a link to their Petfinders page directly below.