Gideon and Hannah, August 4th, 2009

Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011
Subject: Update on Thunder,  from Lori and Bob F.

Hi Fredericka and Lucy,

Hope you are doing well.  Thunder is doing great at 20 months old.  We haven’t had him weighed recently but we would guess about 180 lbs and growing.  He is starting to fill in more but still very tall and sleek.  We adopted a little Chihuahua mix from a rescue last summer and named her Rose.  Thunder was so sweet and gentle with her and still is.  He lays down to play with her and at times has her whole head in his mouth but never applies pressure or gets aggressive with her.  They are the best of friends.

I walk them both at the same time and Thunder walks right on my left side and Rose on my right.  We are quite a sight walking around the neighborhood and I have to laugh at all the people who slow down to stare.  Thunder is our big gentle baby and finds  way to crawl up in our laps even though he is not “suppose” to be on the furniture, except his own couch which he just about fills up when he stretches out.  He is quite the protector as well.  He prides  himself in chasing off the mailman, the trash-men and the UPS driver.  He isn’t too fond of other dogs while walking but as long as they don’t bark at him he just keeps an eye on them.  As soon as one begins barking at him then he holds true to his name and his thunderous bark is delivered letting them know not to mess with his people. 

His antics just crack us up, whether it is how he twist and stretches his body in these crazy positions or how he backs his butt up to sit on the furniture.  While driving in our mini van he has his head up between the driver and passenger seat but his butt is sitting on the seat behind the driver.  In our back yard he runs along the fence with the neighbors dogs or carries a piece of firewood around as his chew toy.  He is so full of love and affection and always has to be with us, room to room.  I accidentally left the back gate open the other day and then let him out.  I kept hearing him barking so I looked out in the back yard and panicked when I realized I had left the gate open.  I continued to hear him bark but it was coming from the front yard.  I looked out the window and there sat Thunder, staring at the front door barking for me to let him in.  What a good boy.  Bob is absolutely in love with him, he told me ,”Look at Thunder, see what color he is, golden, that’s because he is the golden child.”  He told me if anything ever happened to Thunder we would have to put a bullet through his heart.  So, you can rest assured Thunder is very loved and a wonderful member of our family.  

I’ll keep updating you and he goes to the vet next month then I’ll send you an update on his weight.  Let Gideon and Hannah know their son is doing well and catching up to his dad quickly.

Thanks for our big, handsome, loving baby!

Lori F 

From: Lori
Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010
Subject: Update on Thunder and a question

Hi Fredericka and Lucy,
Just checking in to let you know Thunder is doing wonderfully! We cannot believe what a wonderful pup he is and how quickly he learns. He makes us look really good in his obedience class and we have been able to leave him alone in the house free running since he was about 3 months old. He is such a gentle sweetheart who has definitely captured our hearts. Bob will just look at him sometimes then look at me and0 say “I really, really love this dog.” He seems to know what is his and what isn’t and never touches anything he shouldn’t. When he meets people he never has jumped but just sits, nothing we taught him, he just does it on his own. He is almost 5 months old now and about 60lbs. I wanted to increase his walking distance but keep reading conflicting information on how much to walk a Mastiff puppy. I know their joints and muscles are growing quickly so I don’t want to cause him any harm. I usually walk him about a mile but he still has plenty of energy when we return. I mapped out a walk that is 2 miles but didnt’ know if this would be too much on his joints and wanted your opinion. I have attached a few more recent pictures of our gorgeous baby. His markings remind me so much of Gideons and we are hoping he will grow up to be as big and gorgeous as his Daddy. He’s a wonderful, loving and very smart pup and seems to love us as much as we love him.

Happy New Year!

Lori F