The Qs

On Sunday, we drove about 30 miles north to Mauro’s family reunion. The breeder held it in a large field at a sort of resort/retreat facility. It was beautiful, across a large bay from a marina and surrounded by forest and fields. The highway leading to it narrowed to one lane about 2 or 3 miles before you got there.

The breeder seemed to be pleased with Mauro. She said he is perfect and she asked if she could show him. She also said he has another year of growing. That is scary, since he is 106 pounds. But then we saw his brother who is already at least 10 ponds heavier than Mauro. The mature males we saw probably weigh as much as 10 to 15 pounds more than he does and they are much more massive.. He still has a puppyish look and is slimmer than they are. No doubt he is going to be a big boy. I think the breeder also meant that he would be maturing more mentally. That is also scary since he is already smarter than me, as you know.

We did learn that we are not alone. There were about 40 Canes at the reunion. At any given time, at least half of the owners were being dragged around the meadow by those big things. The dogs were separated a little by their owners and were allowed to meet rather carefully. With great big dominant dogs like that there is a tendency for their meetings and consequent play to get a little rough. Mauro did quite well around the other dogs until it came time for the picture of his “Q” group. Each of his siblings is also named with a “Q” name; i.e., he is Quadrello di Mauro. One of his brothers is named “Qruising la Pontiac”. As they lined up for the picture, Mauro decided that he wanted to meet and say hello to his brothers and sisters. The breeder finally had to step in and calm him down. Leave it to him to screw up in front of everyone.

The breeder had a six month old puppy there that was wandering around without a leash. As people arrived with their dogs, he came over to greet them and say hello. He them circulated from group to group saying hello and letting himself be petted. He was like a person who can go to a cocktail party with a couple of hundred people in attendance and, within 15 minutes, he will know everybody there, what they do for a living and where exactly in the hierarchy they belong. It was kind of funny to watch it.

Before it was time to go home we all had some juice and hotdogs. We shared ours with Mauro of course.