Toby

Such a handsome boy. Nice hair cut!
Toby the gaurd dog.
Hairy beast

I can't beleve he was ever that small.

Some of you may not have met the hariest member of our family. Toby has been part of our family for over a year now. He is Matt's dream dog. For years he would spend hours surfing the net, checking out Newfoundland dogs. He completely sold me on the breed with the whole "good-natured" "gentle giant" thing. That and an ad in Better Homes and Gardens showing a little girl holding the leash of a huge dog. Sadly, his training was a little neglected. Half way through the winter Matt and I took an ad in the local paper to try and find him a new home. He was driving us crazy; roaming the neighborhood, jumping out of his pen, driving the neighbors crazy etc. Obviously we got no takers, just a couple of calls from some serious Newf lovers, offering their assistance with him. Matt reinforced the fence and Toby mellowed out a little bit so we let the "free to good home" thing drop. Then there was the problem of the hair. So much hair! Matt consistantly groomed him, but alas, he was fighting an uphill battle. Enter, the hero of the story; a dog groomer with a southern accent. Now, Toby is so handsome with his new hair cut and we are all much happier. He still scares pretty much everyone who comes by, but the truth is he really is a gentle giant. My favorite thing about him is how protective he is off the kids. Not aggresively protective, just "get in between the kids and the trouble" kind of protective. What's not to love about that. So, even though he is a giant, he's our giant and we love him.