How many dogs do you think it would take to make up approximately 220 lbs? How about just two?! If you haven’t met Lex and Lola, weighing in at 135 and 85 lbs respectively, you can imagine they are a handful…. but we like to look at it as just more love!
These two gentle giants are Bull Mastiffs, a breed that was originally developed in the 1860’s in England by games keepers for protection against poachers. When asked what kind of information the owners would like to share about the breed with our readers, the owners felt that there was a public misconception about the breed. This is made evident by the number of people that believe that Bull Mastiffs are aggressive and unfriendly.
In reality these dogs, who are 60% Bull Mastiff and 40% Bulldog, are great family companions, with calm and dependable dispositions. Because of their size, however, they do require a firm and loving home. The owners also shared the principle source of trouble for Lex and Lola: Their knees! Dog, cat and human knees are very similar, and the most common knee injury in professional athletes is also the same knee injury that affects dogs and cats. It is an injury of the cruciate ligament of the knee, most often damaged when running or landing wrong after a jump.
Lex and Lola both needed surgery to repair their cruciate ligaments (Lex’s left and Lola’s right), which the owners felt was probably precipitated by their fondness for running. Lex and Lola are two beautiful dogs who are very loving and gentle, good with both children and adults, and have interesting quirks. For example, Lola has a very, very long tongue that tends to hang just outside of her mouth, and Lex has the unnerving ability to “smile” at his owners with the right side of his mouth. In addition to smiling, Lex also likes to shred the blankets we give him when he’s in boarding, and in doing so has joined the elite “no blankets” club (Don’t worry Lex there are a few others who have joined this club!).
