I thought it might be insightful for potential and current clients to have a summary of the dogs we have owned/cared for/rescued over the years.
I’ll update this page as I find or make digital versions of photos of the dogs we owned in the analog era – Namely Cord the German Shepherd I grew up with, Suki the Miniature Poodle my wife grew up with, Bob and Ben our first joint dogs, Deefer our first Rescue Mastiff.
Tiggs – or Tiger as she was actually called when we rescued her through the Old English Mastiff Owners Club (OEMC) Rescue.
She was the timidest dog you can imagine, re-homed due to family break up apparently, we soon discovered that she had a ruptured cruciate ligament that required surgery! She hated water, to the point that she would refuse to step over a puddle! In many ways she was the typical mastiff, lazy – her idea of a walk was to walk to the park and then sit down, wait for us to get to the other side of the park and then only come over if she was bribed. She was great with children – this being prime Harry Potter time, lots of children wanted to see her as she looked a little bit like Fang in the movies.
Frank – a real kick the door down to save him rescue dog.
Frank was a dog who endured a lot before we rescued him, again through the OEMC Owners Club. The RSPCA had saved him from terrible conditions, he was barely 6.5 stone when they found him.
Shortly after we took him in we discovered he had a massively enlarged heart, almost certainly a consequence of the neglect and starvation he had endured. The diagnosis was 6 weeks – 6 months max. He actually lived with us for over 3 years and despite his bad start was one of the softest gentlest dogs you would ever meet. Unless you startled him which was not a good idea!
He never reached his full potential, but was a good 11 stone and he made the most of every moment. He was great buddies with Tiggs although they only overlapped by a few months. He was really close with Tia another of our rescues.
Tia – a Mastiff, really?
Tia was somewhere between 6 months and 18 months when we got her, the rescue was a little uncertain. She was also meant to be an English Mastiff, we are now fairly certain she was a Mastiff Labrador cross, in todays terms she was a “Mastador”.
We were her 6th home and its fair to say she was a bit mad when we first got her! But she settled down with Frank and they were good for each other. As she got older, Tia become a bit of a grumpy old thing and she was without a doubt the most stubborn dog we’ve every known.
She was not dog friendly and at the time we were not aware or knowledgeable enough to really resolve her behavioural issues. She was also tough and determined, when at nearly 13 she developed a necrotising skin infection we were told to expect the worst, but she was damned if any illness was going to beat her and she carried on for another year or so.
Harry
Harry was a directed rescue, after we lost Frank I was directed to a family in East London who were looking to move a young challenging English Mastiff. On my first visit, he walked into the lounge of the house and cocked his leg on the table! But then rolled over for me to rub his tummy – which apparently was a first!
He’d proved too much to handle for his owners and as such had been kept in a confined space – as a result his tail was a mass of scars and blisters where his furious wagging tail had hit hard edges – see above.
Harry was a BIG dog, coming in at around 92KG which is 14.5 stone! He hadn’t been very socialised with other dogs and didn’t really understand play very well. He was also the typical shy mastiff.
He liked home cooking!
Sasha
Sasha was quite a different dog, her origins were a bit murky, with shall we say dubious breeders. Advertised as needing rehoming, we later discovered that as he was a ‘fluffy’ and of no use for breeding they simply wanted shot of her.
Small for a Mastiff, she soon began to develop longer hair and feathers more like a spaniel than a Mastiff. She was 14 months old when we got her and 45KG!
Sasha was incredibly tolerant of children, allowing toddlers to crawl all over her and she became an accidental therapy dog at the school I worked at, where she was very soon adopted as the unofficial Sixth Form Dog complete with name tag. She help a lot of yung adults deal with the stress of their A levels & other level 3 qualifications.
She was brilliant with other dogs, with a calm demeanour that allowed her to help other dogs to relax, she also knew exactly how to put a young over enthusiastic dog in its place with minimum fuss.
She is the only dog I know who would take an unopened can of dog food and simply pop it open by bite force, partial to shoes left out and any food not out of reach! She lived with Tia and Harry and then Freya.
Harry
Harry was rescued through the OEMC when his owners realised they couldn’t look after him anymore. He really was a big dog coming in at 95KG whilst staying sleek – for a Mastiff. He was a very handsome dog and after winning best rescue at Cockington Dog Show in 2015, his prize a professional portrait photo was selected for the 2022 English Mastiff Calendar.
For a while we had Tia, Sasha and Harry together – that was a lot of Mastiffs!
Sasha and Freya
Freya and Milo
Our current dogs, very different breeds but best buddies!
D4Dog Walking, Training and Behaviour Support -Newton Abbot & TQ12 