Shaq at 10 Weeks
          

Shaq at 12 Weeks

Shaq at 16 Weeks

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First the sad news then the 

GREAT NEWS!!

I am deeply saddened to tell you that we had to send Shaq back to the breeder. Although we loved him the minute we saw him at the airport, the story ended at the same airport where we picked him up just 8 months earlier. Shaq was biting and not just puppy teething. He was growling and trying to bite. He bit the groomer, my mother and the vet. We could no longer trust him around the children without total supervision. This was a potential tragedy waiting to happen. The breeder agreed to take him back. Shaq was beautiful and maybe in the right environment, will do fine. Our family, unfortunately was not that environment. After we dropped him off at the airport, I was pretty much hysterical and screaming to my husband to never allow me to do this again. The pain of watching him leave was unbearable. As I write this, it has been about 6 weeks and although it still hurts a lot, I did not want my children, especially my sons, to grow up without a dog. Dogs and boys go together.

We wanted to duplicate that experience as closely as possible. I came upon a breeder who had what we were looking for. The last two dogs we had flown in. This breeder lives near Nevada and because of the heat, the puppy could not be shipped. Besides that, this time I was determined to "pick out the puppy" and see how he interacted with the litter mates etc. I needed to be sure we did not get another aggressive dog. The Peterson's of  Pets 4 You - Pedersen Ridge English Mastiffs Website - The most beautiful Mastiffs you have ever seen! agreed to meet us on the Nevada/CA border with three puppies to choose from. I was VERY CLEAR that we wanted temperament first and size second. They assured me that they could do both! It took us about 5 hours to get there and it was well worth the trip. Three adorable mastiff puppies were sitting in a plastic wading pool in the back of their car. We took them all out under a tree and watched them closely for about 1/2 hour finally choosing our boy!     

The five hour ride home was filled with excitement with the new member of our family sitting safely in the arms of our children. Immediately the name BOSCO was chosen. It was unanimous so that was easy. We picked up BOSCO on August 25, 2002. He was born on June 10 so he is 10 weeks old. I write this on the 5th day after he arrived and the whole family is in love again. 

He is adorable and I will keep the website updated as he grows and grows and grows!

Click any of the photos to view fully size

Bosco

Nothing like a good chew toy! Yeah, this is a  good one! I'm handsome if I say so myself! Hummm, what should I do next? You have my full attention now! I'll be with you in a minute! Taking it easy! Different view of taking it easy! Catching a few zzzzs Bosco at 16 Weeks

Bosco at 20 Weeks
On December 16 just as Shabbos was getting out, my husband and one of our daughters were in our bedroom with Bosco. Bosco walked by the paper shredder presumably to sniff at the empty wastebasket attached. As he was sniffing his ear went into the paper shredder. Instantaneously, he pulled away and luckily as he did the paper shredder came off and although still attached to his ear, the plug was pulled out. His ear still caught, Bosco was screaming and running in pain. The noise was intense as my husband tried to get his ear out. By this time, I was in the room trying to help as best I could which consisted of screaming to my older daughter to call 911. We tried plugging it back in and reversing it but aside from starting and stopping a few times only to come to a complete halt, the pain was agonizing to Bosco. My husband tried unsuccessfully to break it open, first with a screw driver and then with a hammer. A friend of our housekeepers happened to be here and he came to help too. With the two of us literally laying on top of Bosco to keep his calm, my husband ran to the garage where he got a crow bar and some other tools. Just as he got the ear released, I looked up to see 4 big fireman standing at our bedroom door. They being used to scenes much worse than ours, calmly asked my husband how he was doing. One of them is my husbands handball partner and he knew some of the others from handball too. We immediately took him to an emergency clinic where surgery was done and he stayed overnight. He came home all bandaged up and quite beaten up. It took a couple of weeks for everything to be over and while recuperating enjoyed extra long tummy rubs and some really gourmet people food meals! Chicken soup does not only help colds! Bosco is now recovered and has some scars but it gives him character. He also has a new nick name, Vincent, you guessed it after Van Gogh! The end result is an ear that is about 1 inch shorter with a little V shape missing piece but to be honest he is still a very handsome dog and we love him more than ever!
Lounging by the pool Again, by the pool Takes his pillow wherever he goes Relaxing with his pillow Laker Fans After The Game Bosco at 10 Months April 2003   Bosco hanging out  in the pool keeping cool!  Bosco One Year Old August 2003   Bosco reading the  sports section. Touchdown! It's been a long hard day! November 2003           2005  Bosco's 2 Year Old Birthday   On these cold southern California days, all I need is a good bone and a warm fire.....3 1/2 years old!