Our Youngest, Hairiest Child

In June of 2001, we adopted Thor. He is our third English Mastiff. When they're born, they usually arrive in litters of a dozen or more, and weigh 2 to 3 pounds. We brought him home at 7 weeks, and weighing 21 pounds. This is Thor in our side yard with the two little boys, then 20 months and just about 5 years old (I hear the chorus of "awwww"s):

This is earlier this spring. Thor is 6, Mark is 7-1/2 and Ryan is 11:


I assure you that in this picture Thor is doing his very best "small dog" act. I believe they were waiting for someone to serve some delectable snack, and, of course, small people (and small dogs) are much more likely to get handouts.

If you have kids, and if your kids have read the Henry & Mudge stories (such as in the Calvert School 2nd grade book, or the many books which have been written - and of which we have all), you will recognize Thor as a real-life Mudge. Yes, he went from 2 pounds to 272 pounds (vet's measure, not mine). He's afraid of thunder and rain, loves to play in snow, loves saltines, and smells flowers, then eats them, just like the dog in the book. Someone, likely the tow truck operator who hauled out my brakeless car, left our front gate open Thursday afternoon, and Thor wandered aimlessly out into the big world - and got lost! When I realized it, two hours later, I set off by car and foot, and finally found him around 11PM. (This, of course, left everyone else eating PB&Js or cereal for dinner). The poor baby hasn't stayed outside without his boys for more than 3 minutes since.....our dogs really are like small children, even when they outweigh us by more than double!