Yes, all are from the local shelter but one. He came from a shelter about 30 miles away. Rom was heartworm + and malnourished (60 lbs and 2 years old) when I got him. Grizz-Bang used to be just Grizz. I think he's a Rottie/Mastiff cross, marked like a Rottie but built more like a Mastiff (there's a guy here in town who deliberately breeds this mix). We added the Bang after his name because he's a clutz, and when you call his name, he normally knocks something over trying to get to you. This is Hannah Grrrl's 4th home that we know of. She's a talker, and used to NEVER smile...but when she came here 4 years ago and was ARR ARR ARRing at me, I finally said, in my most growly, gravelly voice, "I RRRRuv you too" and she smiled! I think she unnerves most people, but she's never shown an aggressive nature, she's just a vocal doggy. Libby aka Miss Mess is the highest prey drive dog I've ever lived with. Amazing. She has taken a lot of thought and planning, but is wonderful with humans. We spent hours together the first few weeks at baseball games (way in the back of the parking lot at first), playgrounds, etc. until she no longer reacted to the squeals and flailing arms of children. She's really good at lure coursing and agility, also wonderful with kids now. DeeOhGee also answers to OCD, which probably explains his being dumped at the shelter. But I sort of like working with him. He's getting pretty good at canine freestyle, but we're taking it easy these days, as we're pretty sure (without a bone biopsy) that he has bone cancer in a front leg. The x-ray looked pretty suspicious. I've adopted 17 Rotties in the past 28 years, and rehomed another 46. Just a small effort, but I felt I had to do something when back in the 80's, they were killing approximately 5 Rotties a month at our local shelter. Now this town is down to just 3 backyard breeders of Rotties, and not as many are ending up at the shelter. Two of the dogs I currently have sort of resemble each other (DeeOhGee and Libby), and I've sort of wondered if they're from the same breeder, although I think DeeOhGee is older by at least one year. Doesn't really matter, I love them all.
