Meet Calypso!

Yes, we finally got a dog. We told the girls that we would get a dog after we got our fence built, and I've been watching and waiting for the right one to come along for a couple months now. Something I've discovered about having children is that their excitement is completely infectious. Kinda makes me feel like a kid again sometimes when they get all excited about something. So, long story short, we were all really excited to find and get the perfect dog.

I originally thought we'd just go to the local shelter and rescue a mutt. But Frank has wanted a Cane Corso for years, so in researching and looking through lists and lists of dog breeds, we kept coming back to Cane Corso's as the breed we felt would be perfect for our family. The problem? They're really expensive, and saying you'll spend the money on a dog, and actually spending the money on the dog are two completely different things. And, we weren't even ready to SAY we would spend that much money on a dog. So, I started looking at finding one to rescue. And, in the process, I happened upon Calypso on a breeder's rescue page. She was in Vancouver, WA, which is handy, because we go there a lot. :-)

She is two years old, and has had 4 litters of puppies already. It doesn't sound like she was ever beaten-abused, just neglected, and used for breeding, puppy mill style.

Bringing Calypso home...
She is an Italian Mastweiler. That is 1/2 Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) 1/4 English Mastiff, and 1/4 Rottweiler. Italian Mastweiler is actually a breed they've come up with by deliberately combining these lines.

She's big... like 90-100 pounds... Also, she's brindle, obviously, and she Camouflages with my slate tile floors quite well.

But, she's unbelievably calm and well behaved...

And, somehow she knows I'm the person to go to for food in this house already.

Maybe that's because I gave her a meaty Beef Rib almost immediately upon her entrance into my home.

She was a happy happy girl.

She's very sweet and patient with Kiki and Debris already, so I'm thankful for that. We have to work on her leash walking skills a little. She can sure tug a body along!!

Yes, a picture of me and her... she's completely won all of our hearts. There may have been a little excessive baby talk to the dog by all parties in this family today.

And, we gave her a bath to get rid of the Kennel Funk... I don't know if you've ever wrestled a 90 pound unwilling beast into a bathtub before, but, it's quite entertaining. It was, all in all, fairly uneventful, but she was a most unwilling, if well-behaved doggie. I can only imagine the horror if she was NOT well behaved. It took both Frank and me to keep her there for the duration, and I had to control my giggles for most of it. It's just so absurd.

And, after a bath, and a thorough brushing(in which she turned and rotated and positioned herself without prompting so I got every inch of her body brushed just-so), and a walk and a dinner of Chicken Gizzard and Heart Stew, she plumb crashed.

I'm sure I'll have many more pictures and stories to tell, we're all completely gone over this dog. Except for Debris, who loves her because she is, at heart, an animal lover, but I think she is also struggling with a tiny little bit of jealousy right now. :-)