Je M'appelle Kipling

Kip came to us from Finland.  He was a BIG puppy.  By the time he was five months old, he was 25" tall and we knew there were going to be consequences for growing that rapidly.  By seven months of age, he was severely dysplastic in both hips.  What to do?  While these dogs usually quietly disappear, never to be seen again, I've never been able to abide by that sort of thinking.  We'd long ago decided any dog that came here stayed here.  We had wanted a dog for showing and breeding. but we also adored him and our dogs have always been our pets first, the rest was just icing on the cake.

By the time he reached his final height of an astonishing

29.5" it was time to do some surgery.  We had his left hip joint removed and replaced with an artificial one.  It meant three months of confinement. 

 We call Kip our gentle giant.  He's raised puppies, and is adored by everyone he meets.  He has a kind of innocence that is usually reserved for puppies and children, not a hulking 85 lb male. He loves to lean on you, sit in your lap if he can.  He loves his toys and is ever so gentle with them.  He likes little dogs.  It's hard to imagine what he would have been like had he been healthy, but a more sweet affectionat being like him I've never seen. 

We hope he has a long life, only time will tell.  All We know is that he deserved a place in this world.