This reader wanted a gentle giant, and she found a very, very good girl.
We asked you to share your stories and photos of the dogs that changed your lives. This sweet note came courtesy of Ann Brozey from Rancho Santa Margarita, California:
I found Hunter Hauk’s recent article “Lost and Found” to be equally endearing and (unfortunately) too familiar, and was immediately compelled to share our personal “rescue” story.
Following the premature loss of our former rescue (English bulldog/mastiff mix) to lymphoma, and in the midst of last year’s pandemic when the entire family shifted to working and attending school remotely, l was inspired to once again begin the search for the next (right) rescue dog.
Having an affinity for mastiffs — due to their calm, mellow nature and minimal needs for space and/or exercise (we live in a high density condo community in Orange County, CA) — l narrowed my search considerably when l found “Stormy”, an 8-year old female (senior) mastiff mix at SPCALA.
When l made an appointment for our first visit and asked how much interest there was in her, the volunteer quickly responded “not much”. Apparently 100+ pound, older mastiffs aren’t the top choice here in the land of smaller, designer purse dogs.
Long story short: more than a year later, the dog who was found wandering the streets of LA (and we discovered with a DNA test is actually a mix of five different breeds: American Staffordshire terrier, Neapolitan Mastiff, Pitbull Terrier, Rottweiler and Cane Corso) has turned out to be the most gentle, loving, loyal, smart and trainable dog we’ve ever owned.
We’ve since changed her name from “Stormy” to “Harley,” partly in hopes that the storm has now passed and there are nothing but blue skies and calm, quiet and happy days in her future with us.