BIG DOGS = BIG CONTEST FUN!

In my book, WILD IRISH ROGUE, Bernie O'Shea declared to his adopted children they would get a dog "as big as a bear." However, I didn't specify in the book what the breed of that dog would be. My goof!

So for a fun contest, I'm going to let YOU choose the breed.

Now, Bernie may have been exaggerating a bit, but in doing research I found bears can range from 150 -1300 pounds. 

I've personally been around dogs who weigh about 150 pounds, but was also curious if there were big breeds I hadn't heard of. So I did some research of dog breeds who normally weigh 150 pounds or more. I found this web site that listed nine of the world's largest dogs <<https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/9-of-the-worlds-largest-dog-breeds>.

There are some tall and leggy dogs, such as Great Danes, Scottish deerhounds and Irish wolfhounds but they "only" weigh between 100-140 pounds. Not quite as much as a small bear. 

Mastiffs aren't so leggy but carry more weight--from 125-150 pounds; with the English mastiff weighing up to 250 pounds. A side note--this web site said the biggest weight on record for a dog was an English mastiff who weighed in at 343 pounds. Definitely bear-size but doesn't look much like a bear.

A DOG AS BIG AS A BEAR!

Now, here are three dogs who kinda resemble bears, but are gentle giants: 

--The Newfoundland, weighing up to 150 pounds.

--The St. Bernard, weighing from 140-180 pounds.

--Leonbergers, who can weigh as much as 170 pounds. 

I've been around all three of these breeds and fallen in love with them. I helped some friends of mine with their pet-sitting business for several years and one of their clients was a Leonberger with a great sense of humor. We were out walking one day and a couple middle-school boys walked by on the opposite side of the street and said, "That's one big-a$$ dog." To which the dog quipped, "Does this fur make my a$$ look big?" Loved that dog!

TO ENTER THIS CONTEST, LEAVE A COMMENT

To be entered in this contest to win an autographed print copy of WILD IRISH ROGUE, 

just leave a comment naming what dog you think Bernie's family should have adopted. 

You can choose one of the above breeds or another large dog.

There's no right or wrong answer! 

The Scoop newsletter editor Batman 

will pick a winner from all entries. 

(Contest ends January 7, 2018.)