Below are pictures and updates from General MacArthur's new family in Sayre, PA.
Click here to see pictures of
General MacArthur during his first 8 weeks at Deepwood Acres.
Pictured below at 1.5 years old.
Sandy,
Thought I'd send you an update...
MacArthur loves the snow we have had recently. Our first day, he was like a
teenage boy in it. He dashed back and forth around my back yard. I was astonished at the length of his strides,
so I took out a tape measure. They are 10 feet long!
He got his nails clipped today and had a weigh-in. He has stayed pretty steady at 170 lbs since he hit 13 or 14 months old.
He drinks a minimum of a gallon of water per day and eats about 10 lbs of kibble per week. He gets NO human food.
He loves ice cubes as you suggested and gets Blue Buffalo treats when we are working on training exercises.
Half a biscuit is plenty to work on sit, down, stay, and come. He will wait minutes when down until he hears "come."
He loves to offer his paw to "shake" which I love to do with him, but it is sometimes too intimidating for a stranger.
I hate to tell him "no" he can't give me his paw, because it seems like such an affectionate gesture, but I don't want him to
frighten or hurt anyone. His paws are like bear claws. It's not so much a problem right now because of the cold,
everyone has on heavy warm pants, but in the summer that 40 lb paw can hurt someone in shorts or a skirt. Any ideas?
Hope you have a great Christmas.
Brian, General MacArthur, and of course Princess Hermione
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Pictured below at 1 year old.
Pictured below at 5 months old.
Sandy,
General MacArthur and I have the day off tomorrow and plan to sleep in after his 6AM bathroom run. I crate
him at night and when I am at work, but after the 6AM trip outside, he hops in bed with me, is not obtrusive,
but likes to be close 'till I get up to go to work. He's a big happy boy that sounds like a pony running
through my house. He adores Helen, who stops by my house half way through my shift
at the hospital to give him some time outside. Actually, he LOVES women in general. He loves to see my
85 year old mother, but I have to tell him "gentle" so he doesn't push against her too hard. He doesn't
jump up at all, but he just likes to lean against women and he is close to 80 lbs now.
We have some throw toys that he is great at fetching and dropping at my feet when I tell him "mine," but
after 4 or 5 trips across the back lawn he will carry the toy to the back gate of the fence, lay down, and
look at me like, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to run for that again." I remember well reading up on
this breed. It said gentle giant, benefits from exercise but would probably prefer not to.
I said, "That's me," and so far it seems to be working out for both of us.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Brian
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