Within a few days, I had to fly out for a conference, and April had become worried about Tolkien's behavior. She took him to the vet, and we found out that he had Parvo. He had to have been exposed to it before we got him, given the incubation time. The breeder said he'd pay half the vet bill, but after almost a year of trying to track down where our money was, he finally won. We gave up. This breeder was crap. We knew we were not getting a show-quality dog, which was fine, but they weren't exactly forthcoming on how far he deviated from the breed. He has long hair for an English Mastiff, his teeth were messed up enough that the vet told us that he might have to have teeth pulled if they didn't move on their own (otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat). At any rate, April's decision to take Tolkien to the vet saved his life, and he recovered from the Parvo.
My previous animals were named for scientists and philosphers (Madame Curie and Soren Kierkegaard), and April and I decided to start naming animals for authors... hence Tolkien Salinger. He is a very affectionate dog, and is probably smarter than I give her credit for. He is lazy, as is typical for the breed, but ever since Soren passed away, he has taken his role as protector very seriously. He's getting better at determining who is worthy of barking, and has ceased to... um... soil himself when someone shows up. He used to run under the deck (which is why we call him the Troll) to bark, or run behind the house. The UPS carrier told me one time that he had never seen Tolkien until I happened to be home during a delivery. He's about 185 pounds (my guess), and I have to say it is far more impressive when he barks now without it being accompanied with his urinating on himself.
To give support to the claim that he might be smarter than I give him credit for, he is very careful who he barks at. Of course he doesn't bark at me, nor at my neighbors, but I started noticing that he stopped barking at the mail carrier. I finally found out why. When the female carrier shows up, Tolkien saunters out and waits patiently for her to turn around. His tail wags slowly, and he stands with his eyes focused on her truck. The vehicle comes to a complete and unnecessary stop, while she finds what she is looking for. Out of the mail truck soars a dog treat, which he gladly receives. The same story goes for the newspaper delivery people, which is wonderful given that the newspaper comes around 5:30 in the morning. Although that lady spends a few moments talking to Tolkien and telling him how beautiful he is...
The neighbors often yell at him in a very unflattering tone. A far cry from how they used to treat Soren. Their name for him was ‘Handsome’. When we were outside it was very common to hear “hello, Handsome!” floating over from the neighbors. When Tolkien goes over there, the words I hear floating aren’t fit for print. Granted, it’s probably the result of Tolkien’s desire to defecate on their driveway. I figure it’s a fair trade, though, given what their cats do to my motorcycle and the garage.
I decided to write about Tolkien today because while I was talking to my sister, she asked me what that terrible noise was. It was Tolkien howling to the coyotes, which had apparently found something worth howling about. He stood by me in protective mode, and I of course, felt much safer…
He is a great dog.
Dr. Dolittle