Hannibal's First Day of Class

Hannibal started his puppy training classes today. It was really just a lot of pups playing around, socializing, and doing some agility training. He is doing well with sit and this week I am supposed to work on "here" and "sit" so he will do it on first command. I was so nervous that he would be the worst kid in class and he was actually the best. The other dogs were trying to run around, barking, and fighting. Hannibal was good and sat by me the whole time, until we were supposed to get up.

This was the ride home. It's quite obvious he was a sleepy baby.

By the time we got home, he wanted to eat and sleep.

I believe after this round of classes, we are going to do the Emergency Recall class and then maybe the Therapy dog classes. He is going to be the best baby ever.

Thursday, March 26th

Oh my sweet baby...

Showing Aunt Kelly some love after she brought him some presents

He's not going to be able to fit in laps much longer.

This is Hannibal playing with one of the toys Aunt Kelly brought him.

Poor pitiful thing....it's such a rough life. He was so worn out after playing all night.

Monday, March 23rd

Hannibal is very adjusted and like 99.0009% house trained. He is doing very well. He got his last set of shots Saturday and then we went to visit family. My Mom adores him. She calls me and asks when I am bringing her Grandson over for a visit. Ha!

He has been somewhere new just about every day and has done great. He hasn't been introduced to all of the normal dogs. But, he has a couple and so far so good. He loves to run, for about 5 minutes and then he needs a nap. He's just a sleepy baby boy. I sure wish he could jump up in the car though. Man is he getting heavy. But, with the BRB it might be a while before he can completely jump up in there. That might be something I can have the trainer address. Since he is in and out of the car about 3 times a day, it would be good if he could do it on his own so that I don't get a hernia.

His poor ears...I think they are as good as they are going to get. I have been massaging them and I just think they are perfect the way they are. I am not looking for show quality or anything. So, it doesn't make that big of a difference to me.

Well, I will most likely post some more pics of this weekend when he was around a couple of my friends tomorrow.

Friday, March 20th

I am taking Hannibal to the park multiple times a day now. He seems to love it. It's the closest place I can take him and not have to worry about keeping him on a leash. He is doing wonderful. He listens very well, he is hilarious to watch, and he loves his Mama. The funniest thing is to watch him lay down. He kind of slides down head first. I took him to PetsMart on Wednesday and he was great. A little yapping dog was acting obnoxious and Hannibal didn't even give him a second look.

I took the posts out of his ears last night. Other than having sticky tape glue in his hair, they look great. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the sticky stuff out?

He starts training at Play Dog Excellent Tuesday, March 24th. I am very confident that he will be the best pup there. He is already so good at walking on a leash and sitting whenever I come to a stop. I have remembered some of the leash training from when I took Louie, but definitely need a refresher course. He is almost 100% house trained. This morning before I left for work I told him to get into his crate...and he did. He is pretty much a genius dog.

See the pics below from the park. They aren't the greatest res since they were taken with a phone.

Hannibal's Vet Experience

Monday, March 16th

WOW! We had quite the experience today. I knew today I had to get Hannibal's stitches removed, his ears re-posted, and his last set of shots. I called all around Chattanooga and no one wanted to see him because they don't deal with ear docking, they weren't familiar of the type of dog, or they didn't want to touch someone else's work. So, I finally got a doctor that would see him, Dr. Beardon with Shallowford Animal Hospital. So, I took him over there and the first thing the receptionist says is that he is too skinny and she can see his ribs. This boy eats more than most grown dogs, there is no way he is underweight. So, I went over and put him on the scale. He was 41.7 pounds...this is at 16 weeks. I hardly think he is underweight. So, they take me to the room and they tell me to put him on the table and the doctor would be in the room in about 10 minutes. Well, an hour later the doctor finally comes in there, tells me he is unsure of how to post the ears and wants to breeder's phone number. I give him the phone number and he calls and speaks with David and David tells him exactly how to do it and even sent the vet pictures on his phone. At this point I am really freaking out because I don't want some vet who doesn't know what the hell he is doing to even touch my baby. I called the breeder back and he said that it should be okay because he told him how to do it. UGH! I wish I would have listened to my gut feeling and just left. After about 20 more minutes of the vet trying to make posts for his ears he comes in the room and doesn't pet Hannibal or anything to set him at ease. He just starts pulling out stitches. Hannibal cried, and when the vet didn't stop, Hannibal snapped at him. The vet totally freaked out like Hannibal was going to rip his throat out and said he wouldn't touch him unless we sedated him. I said that I didn't want him sedated and there had to be another way. We agreed that I would put a muzzle on him, since at this point the doctor seemed too scared to even look at him. I put a muzzle on him with no problem. The vet proceeds to tell me that this isn't a good situation, puppies don't growl and snap at people, this is something that is bred into the dog, and I should reconsider this whole situation because the vet is scared for me when the dog is older and more aggressive. Keep in mind Hannibal has not shown ANY aggression with me, my friends, family, other animals, or the breeder. At this point I was stressed to the max and almost in tears. The vet tech said "Oh, you named him Hannibal...very fitting", like he is some freaking man eater. After all was said and done, I hauled ass out of that place and called the breeder. The breeders probably think I am some crazy sissy lady that have no clue how to take care of a dog because I call them so much. But this is a new breed for me and he is like my child, so I want to make sure everything I am doing is correct. Vets freak me out anyway because of Louie.

Needless to say Hannibal will NOT go back to that doctor and we are in search of a new doctor. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. This time, Hannibal and I will visit the facility, doctor and staff before we settle on an actual appointment.

Hannibal's Homecoming

Saturday, March 14th...

Today I went to pick up my little Hannibal. I was supposed to be there at 11, but was so excited I made Geoff get up early and we were on the road by 5:40. It was a four and a half hour drive that felt like days. Of course I started a photo montage.


About the last 30 minutes, I started to get nervous...I mean, what if he doesn't like me, what if he doesn't like his name that I came up with, what if I get there and the breeders don't like me and they won't let me adopt him. OMG! I had so many thoughts going through my head I thought I was going to throw up. Then, Geoff passes the drive way and I am thinking that I am about to jump out of the car and run to get my baby. My heart is racing and of course their drive way has to be like 5 miles long (I am so exaggerating, but it really seemed like it was forever long and I just wanted Geoff to rally style it down the drive way to get there faster). So, we pull up to this gorgeous house and I just can't get out of the car fast enough. I look at the door because I see it opening and David, the breeder, emerges carrying the most handsome dog I have ever seen. He puts him down, I call him, and he runs to me. I instantly feel attached to him and am instantly his Mama. So, from working with a crazy breeder in the past I am afraid of David and what is going to come out of his mouth.

I mean, you have to realize what I went through with Louie's breeder. I have never heard someone say Bitch so much in my entire life...the bitch is in heat, the bitch is a good bitch...and on and on. She was also a very bossy person telling me exactly how I was going to raise him, made me sit through an 8 hour session of her talking about the breed (meanwhile, my baby is outside in a stinky kennel in the pouring rain). I don't really think there are enough words to describe how weird this woman is. She is also a recluse. She stays there with her horrid looking lesbian lover in the smoke filled house. EWWWYYY!!!! Okay, I am about to get sick thinking about her...I am moving on.

So, here I am afraid to meet this man and he starts talking and OMG!!!!! HE IS NORMAL!!! I am so relieved. He takes Geoff and I meet some of the older dogs, including Hannibal's Dad. All I have to say is that all of you know me and know that I am never intimidated by a dog. I never meet a dog that I don't feel like I can just go up to. However, even I was taken aback by these magical beasts. First I almost pee'd my pants whenever David opened the door to their very nice indoor kennels and this dog with a leather studded collar runs out jumping all over the place as if he is about to tear me a new one...it was their Chihuahua...Ha! I kill me. The first kennel is Bogart, he is the one on the right. I mean, in person his eyes aren't red, but you definitely know that in no shape or form do you ever want to cross this dog or his family.


After I get over the initial shock of this jaw dropping dog, I realized how well trained these dogs were and how much you can tell David and Stacey love them. They are in nice kennels where they are warm, dry, and have room to move. We walked around the room to visit each dog, some more intimidating than others. David told us about the different dogs and their back ground.

Now was the moment I had been waiting on since FOREVER. We went inside and I got to sit down on the floor and get to know my new baby.

I couldn't get over how perfect he was. He came to me, he puppy kissed me, he loved on me, and when I looked at him, I knew it was a perfect match. I am glad Geoff was there because he asked all of the questions I wanted to, but forgot to because I was too busy bonding with Hannibal. I told them about how I got the name Hannibal and they seemed to think it was a good strong name. I was able to learn about how they teach the dogs personal protection with out using the horrible methods I witnessed on YouTube. They actually use a confidence building technique. I would love to be able to send Hannibal back there for training...since I am such a chicken...but don't think I would be able to be without him for 3-4 months.

Knowing that we had another four and a half hour drive home, we ended up leaving after about an hour and a half of meeting with David and Stacey. Hannibal did great riding on the way home, he ended up sleeping most of the time. We were about 60 miles from Chattanooga when all of a sudden the BRB (Big Red Bitch as I lovingly refer to my car) stalls out and Geoff has to pull over to the side of the road. Something was wrong with the battery cable or some crap. Who knows, thankfully Geoff was able to mess with it and get it started and we were Chattanooga bound again. We FINALLY arrived home around 5 and everyone and their brother was calling because I sent a mass text out introducing Hannibal to every one. So, everyone wants to see him. I was pretty exhausted so I didn't have that much company over and promised every one I would bring him around Sunday. Here are some of the pics I took Saturday night. He is getting a little more photogenic.

Hannibal's Rising

After the death of my German Great Dane, Louie, I was not sure when and if I wanted another dog. However, I watched the movie Hannibal Rising and was mesmerized by a dog in one of the scenes. I looked all over the internet to find what kind of beautiful animal this was. I finally found a website which someone had asked the same question. The answer...he was a Cane Corso. I had no clue what a Cane Corso was, but I was determined to learn more. I had never heard of this type of dog. I must have researched this breed for days online and couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful they were. I then started researching actual breeders because I made up my mind...I HAD TO HAVE ONE. I found a breeder in Grovetown, GA with what I saw as the best looking Cane Corso's. The breeder, Amore Cane Corso's, listed an adult and some pups for sale. I contacted the couple, David and Stacey, and they were unbelievably nice. I have worked with a breeder in the past with my German Great Dane and thought they must all be bizarre and just way out there. This couple seemed to be really passionate about not just breeding, but loving the breed and doing everything they can to produce the perfect pet. They told me about a pup they had, Kruger is what he was named, and I saw his picture online.

He was absolutely adorable and I immediately fell in love with him. I hadn't felt this way since Louie. The breeder sent me updated pictures and I was determined that this pup they named Kruger would be mine to love forever.