Below are pictures and updates from HazMat's new family, originally in Pennsylvania, then in FINLAND, now in Arizona! Click here to see pictures of HazMat during his first 8 weeks at Deepwood Acres. Pictured below at 7 years old     Pictured below at 4.5 years old Pictured below at 4 years old     Pictured below at 3.5 years old Pictured below at 3 years old     Pictured below at 2 years old         I do feel that this warrants an explanation: the stairs in our building are very slippery, and HazMat has fallen and slid down the stairs spread-eagle several times, causing him to refuse to leave the apartment.  Pet store offered no solution to the problem, since nothing they sell is big enough for him.  The solution was in the baby section of the department store: non-slip socks!!  Guess what: problem solved on the first try! He wears size 19-22 months, in case you are starting to think about what to get him for Christmas......

Pictured below at almost 2 years old in Muncca Strand, Finland

Pictured below at 1.75 years old
in FINLAND!

Hi Sandy, Somewhat surprisingly and suddenly the Big Guy and I have relocated to my old country of Finland.  I hope you will enjoy these pictures of his first walk on the ice covered sea taken on Wednesday, March 2.  At first, the parachutes of the ice paraskiers freaked him out a little bit, especially since many have their kids in sleds tied to the back of them, dragging along the ice like what he thought was a monster.  But like most other things, he watches and then takes things in stride.  He is also surprised to see a drill through the ice, several feet thick, as well as the bar-b-q placed on the ice.  I am not sure if the bbq was for grilling up fresh catch, or for keeping the fisher warm.  But as you can see, not even fire melts ice in Finland! We are a big step away from the rotten oranges and palm-leaf-tugging in Mexico that HazMat experienced a few short months ago.  But he adjusts to whatever life throws at him.  Even the flight.  He flew 8 1/2 hours from Philly to Frankfurt, where we unfortunately had to wait for 5 1/2 hours for our connection to Helsinki.  The flight to Helsinki is 2 1/2 hours, and there I was finally re-united with him!  He looked a little surprised and shook up when he came out of his cage, but he has long since recovered and seems to suffer no post-traumatic stress, as evidenced by his running on the sea, trying to catch up to the elusive horizon. As my friend said: "If you're gonna do this much travelling around, for god's sakes get a Yorkie next time!"  I don't see why I should: H is the greatest traveller in the world!

Hi!!

While you are having your reunion (and we do wish we were there), HazMat wants to show you his new park!  After the long trip from PA to TX onward to Monterrey in northern Mexico, we have finally settled down a bit.  He was a total angel during the daily 500 mile drive for almost a week straight! He especially loved all the hotels because he got so much attention at them!  We made sure we took empty elevators so as not to freak out people in enclosed spaces, but the lobbies is where he was the local celebrity whereever we went!  And never a peepee or poopy accident during the whole trip in all these new places!

We do wish we were at the reunion today.  It just stinks not to be able to be in two places at the same time!   How do you say WOOF in Spanish!?  HazMat will be able to tell you shortly!

(the picture to the right is HazMat under an orange tree!)

Hi Sandy,

Finally a couple of good pictures of HazMat and Mommy!  These were taken for his 11-month birthday.  He weighed in at 129 lbs.   He has turned into a dangerous "predator!"   His favorite past time is catching and devouring flies, mosquitoes, and beetles, not to mention the fireflies that have him riveted!  I top that off for him with a couple of fistfuls of ice cubes, and he is a happy man!  My best childhood friend just visited us from Finland.  She has quite a bit of dog experience, and she couldn't stop marveling at HazMat's personality and manners!  She said without hesitation that he is the best dog she has ever met.  Just watching how he greets unfamiliar dogs and people is a treat.

We are starting our Canine Good Citizen classes next week!  Not that he would even need the classes to pass the test, but both of us have so much fun taking classes where we meet dogs and people of all kinds.  He becomes more and more affectionate as time goes by, he is downright cuddly at this point.  He didn't used to like to cuddle for hours on end on the couch or on the bed, but now he does.  He is also very good at eye contact.  I practiced that a lot with him over the last several months, but it might have been something that would have resolved on its own anyway.  Of course, being a Mastiff, his favorite way of showing affection is through Body Contact...  There is nothing quite like trying to work in the kitchen with a Mastiff between you and the counter, resting comfortably on your feet.  Chopping and boiling stuff becomes very risky!  I love him so much!

Hi Sandy,

Here are some pictures of the happy reunion between Camille and HazMat when Camille came back from her first year in college.  Camille was afraid HazMat wouldn't be "hers" since she doesn't live at home full time anymore, but as you can clearly see they are each other's!

Hi Sandy,

Here you see a very stunning 9 month old boy!  He loves the creek and tries to catch the gurgling bubbles and can't figure out why he always ends up with nothing!  He weighs in at 122 lbs, so you can see his rate of growth has slowed, but I am sure thats quite normal at his age; at least my neighbors hope so...  He freaks people out now with his size.  People stop to ask questions all the time, and even stop their cars to check him out!  I have become a local Wayne celebrity strutting around with him!&nsp; Actually, he is the one who has become the celebrity, I am just on the other end of the leash but very quick to take credit for his affable attitude and rockin' looks!!

Enjoy!

Hi Sandy,

Here is HazMat on his 6-month birthday.  He weighed in at 94 lbs.

We've taken some off leash walks with him in parks and woods, and he is amazing!  He doesn't stray far away from us ever, and when we test him and do a 180 to keep him on his toes, it is only a matter of seconds before he realizes something is not right and he comes sprinting to keep up with us!

Hi Sandy,

Below you will find some pictures of HazMat. In these pictures he is 3.5 months old.  Yesterday, we went to the vet for his last round of shots, and he weighed 60 lbs at 4 months old...   on Oct. 6 he weighed 35 lbs!  No wonder I can hear his bones growing!  All this, and he is still not the greatest eater.  The vet loves him and thinks he is fine.

He is the greatest dog!  He loves to talk, some very peculiar noises can come out of that mouth of his!  He never pees inside, but I am not sure if that is because I don't ever give him the opportunity, or if he is actually toilet trained.  He graduated from his puppy pre-school and is now in puppy kindergarden, as well as in a class that is called "Canine Connection" because it isn't training per se, but instead involves games and such to strengthen the bond between dog and human.  He loves both classes, and he really is a good learner.  He has never met a human or a dog that he doesn't like.  At home, he is chewing a lot, but has never destroyed anything, mostly because he has a house full of rotating toys to keep his interest.  He has always had a very soft mouth, and that continues to be the case.  It is very impressive, because he is teething big time.  He still loves to eat vegetation, and currently the fallen leaves are the best things he knows: they are great for chasing when they fly around the side walk, they are great for wading through big heaps of them, they are the greatest for burrowing your nose deep into the bottom where all the decaying leaves hang out and smell sooooooooooo good!  The difficulty I started to have was his strength; even if a puppy is trained to heel, you don't want him to have to do that all the time!  Nothing is more fun than watching how a puppy enjoys living, and that can't be done while heeling.  So I got him a Halti Harness which goes around his body and you lead him by the chest so he is a little easier to control.  It's working pretty well, but may not do so as he keeps gaining weight and strength.  Eventually he will settle down, but we have to get through the whirlwind stage for a few more months.  I tried but didn't like the Gentle Leader around his muzzle.  It left an ugly mark on his velvety snout.

I couldn't be happier with him!

More news later!

HazMat's first overnight trip destination Penn State.  We stayed at a wonderful b&b where the dog friendly room was on the third floor -- not exactly convenient.  His behavior was exemplary, and he just loved meeting so many new people.

This is Hazz's favorite pastime (next to eating bushes and grass): riding in the car.  Here he is busy running errands...

Hi Sandy,

We have enjoyed the great weather and taken full advantage of the socialization opportunities that sunny, cool weather provides.  We hang out in street cafees, sit on benches around town, take walks to kid's games and play areas, stand at the train station and watch the trains go by.  People come rushing over from the other side of the street, and out of their cars, and shop owners out from their stores, just to say hello to Hazz!  He has met people of all sorts, and loves most of them.  He continues to be very unafraid, and therefore he is easy to socialize.

We go to class once a week, and to puppy play sessions twice a week.  The play sessions are at different schools, so he gets to meet different dogs each time.  They are drop-in sessions so there is a variety of dogs that come and go.  In class he is doing well, although not spectacularily.  He learns a hard thing like "Leave it!" in a flash (and can do it outside in a real-world situation!), but has yet to learn a good "Down"!  This drives Mommy crazy, but she keeps her cool and keeps handing out treats...

Since he still isn't the greatest eater, I took him to get weighed today, and he weighs 31.8 lbs.  He weighed 21 lbs on Sept. 3, I believe you said.  I think that's acceptable weight gain, right?  He is slim and athletic looking, although his jowls are starting to drop a little and his neck is filling out so he is starting to look more like a guy.  He always wears bandanas (manly ones only!) when he goes for a walk to attract even more friendly people to him.

A couple of pictures for your enjoyment!