I knew when we got him as a puppy that he was going to be big, as most St.Bernards are, but we figured 165-190lbs but we never expected he would be this big.
I made the mistake of putting my feet up in the recliner one day and he tried to get up on me. Yeah, the chair tipped forward and we ended up in a bad position where i couldn't get up because of the angle and he was trying to get on me.
At night we close a gate to the bedroom because there just is no room for the 3 of us in a queen size bed, although he trys to fit anyways.
Very funny story of the night I got Lincoln. I never had a dog before, and I literally got Lincoln from a shelter for medical support. I was theoretically all healed, but I just couldn’t get moving. Couple folks said get a dog. He’ll get you out of bed, you have to feed him, etc., you guys know all of that part. And it worked.
Even when I was going to get him, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take on the responsibility. I had to drive about 100 miles north of here. I met the folks, I checked him out, and I was still sitting on the fence. At the last minute, the gal said “you know we’re a shelter, if it doesn’t work out, you can bring him back.” That get out of jail card sealed the deal.
I was driving the diesel F250, and when we were talking, she was holding him. He had a cheap little Walmart collar and leash. She put him in the passenger seat while I went around and got in. I only went about 10 feet before he tried to crawl under the seat. He could only get his head under there, and we headed back the hour and a half to Atlanta.
Did I mention I know nothing about dogs? And you guys know my crazy trucks, but I try to keep the F250 and my Lincolns in showroom condition. Well, about 45 minutes down the road, Lincoln backed out, looked around a little bit, and I thought he’s going to calm down. He went right in the middle of the floorboard on the passenger side, looked at me, and pissed all over my floor. First lesson learned, you have to walk dogs, and you have to walk them a little more often if they’re nervous.
Heading back to Atlanta, it dawned on me that I don’t have any dog food, I don’t have any treats, nothing. I was clueless. So I stopped at the Walmart grocery near my house.
Having learned my lesson that they have to be walked, before I went in, I very gently held him and extracted him from under the seat. Well, the second he got outside, he turned into the Tasmanian devil. And remember, I was in pretty bad physical shape at that time. So he’s jumping, and writhing and growling, etc. And, with his body shape, if he just backs up, he can slide right out of the collar. I know if I lost him right there, I’d never see him again because he was 100 miles from home. So I kind of gently but forcefully held onto him to just place him back into the truck. He bit down on the middle finger of my left hand so hard, that when I pulled it back, I was looking at my bone. Literally. Second lesson learned, get a harness, and I remembered something about putting a towel over scared animals to calm them down.
I went into the Walmart and back to the dog food aisle, with no idea what was even in that aisle, so I googled some stuff, and I was looking for the puppy formula, but a good brand and some treats. The Walmart gal came up to me and she said nervously can I help you? And I said yeah I’m looking for some dog food and treats, but I don’t know what I’m looking for. And she says softly “no,” and points to my hand. My hand was covered with blood, as if you cut it off in a horror movie. I grabbed the two things I wanted, and went into the restroom and washed l my hand and patched it with paper towels. I was only five minutes from home.
Obviously, when I pulled in the driveway, I was much more firm on how I got my hands on Lincoln to bring him into the house. He pretty much stays in the upstairs bedroom, and that’s where I took him. He was scared to death, and immediately disappeared behind one of my nightstands. Everyone had told me to not go to the dog, sit quietly and let him come to you. BTW, this is about 11 PM.
I turned the TV on, on a low volume, and I sat like a statue in my recliner. About 130 or 2 o’clock, Lincoln very sheepishly emerged from behind the nightstand. He got halfway across the floor before he noticed me because I was sitting so still. He immediately cowered down, and stared at me for about two or three minutes. Then he walked over a couple more feet, turned around and shit on my bedroom floor. And then he immediately returned to the back of the nightstand.
This is where my head was swimming with “get a dog, it’ll be nice, he’ll save your life, etc.”. Yeah right.
At that point, I was obviously done for the day. I brushed my teeth, etc., and went to bed. And let me apologize for this visual. I sleep in my birthday suit.
I usually leave the TV on on a timer, because I doze off like a brick the second my head goes into the story on the TV instead of the stuff I’m doing or need to do. Well, I’m about half asleep, and I feel the bed shake. And I stiffen up like a statue. Lincoln is up next to me. All I could think was the hound from hell, and he was going to rip my throat out! Well, he uses his nose to flip up the covers on the other side of the bed and he goes underneath the covers to sleep. Now I’m about to shit in the bedroom.
So now I’m laying in bed, in my birthday suit, with this dog, who’s done nothing but piss and crap and bite me, and now he’s in striking distance of little Rickey. I did fall asleep, but I don’t know how.
The next day, the second I moved he was behind the nightstand. I started reading, and miniature pinchers will go and hide undercover at night, so he was just doing what he was doing. But I was sitting there thinking I got this dog that pisses in my truck and craps in my house and bites my hand down to the bone, and now, he’s a pervert dog too!
Of course, the rest is history, and I love him. But it was an interesting learning curve that first night!
I can’t even imagine doing the same thing with Major!
Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and 
, one side was pretty screwed so pulled out my 5lb slide hammer for a section... I definitely got it less bad then welded up a couple cracks and practiced TIG a bit more since the welder was still set up for it, some went good, some not so good, will take practice for sure.
