Big Dogs

While I have no immediate plans for moving out, I do sometimes think about what it will be like when Kacey and I have our own home one day. Nothing fancy, just a small house that I can make my own. I also think about the 400 locks and deadbolts I will have on my doors and windows. I have never lived by myself before, and as a single mom I want to take every precaution. The world is a crazy place, and I worry that some sicko will realize that I live alone with my little daughter and see us as easy targets for robbery or worse. I have asked my dad to teach me how to shoot, but he says that he can't think of anything scarier than me with a weapon. I do scare easily, I admit. Because I am blind in one eye and deaf in one ear I often don't hear him or see him when he comes into my room, then when he says my name I usually scream and jump 5 feet in the air. I guess I can see his logic. Anyway, I have decided that when we move out I will get a fierce-looking dog to act as my first line of defense. I've done a little research, and I think I have decided on a doberman. Not the cutest dogs, but you have to admit that they are a bit intimidating and according to what I have read they are actually very good family dogs. My dog breed research left me wondering what the biggest dog breed in the world is. It is an English Mastiff. So then I looked up photos of the biggest English Mastiff in the record books, and these are the pictures I came across. Zorba (the light-colored mastiff) is the largest dog ever recorded. He was 343 lbs. and 8'3" long! He died in the 90's, and the new record holder is Hercules, the dark dog walking with his owners and their horse. Can you believe that dogs that big actually exist? I was shocked! I'm pretty sure that no one would dare to break into my house with Hercules on duty. Because I'm a lover of random facts and history, I thought I would add that Mastiffs have been used as war dogs for centuries. The Romans would attach spiked harnesses to the dogs, then send them out into to battle to run underneath the bellies of enemy horses and basically disembowel them. I think they are very cute, but imagine trying to hold Zorba back when the doorbell rang. He would crash right through the door! Unbelievable!