It was an unplanned event and my only goal was to go see for myself how big these dogs were that I was researching. I know big dogs, but I needed to experience this breed first hand. Better yet, they lived only 10 minutes away.

I pulled up to a quaint little piece of property with my two little boys in tow. Dolly’s owner kindly greeted us and so did Dolly. The other two dogs in her pack stayed at a distance. One kept his place in the cool shade and only side glanced me every few minutes. He must have been okay with my presence because he felt no need to budge. Dolly’s daughter was only spoken of and from what I could tell, she was out chasing off the birds of the sky….doing the occasional fly by in the distance.

Dolly however, walked up with her owner and stood right beneath my hand at my side. Her presence was majestic. She was quietly confident. I couldn’t help but notice that she stood so well behaved as we chatted about the breed. It was like she was aware of what was going on and she was letting us know of her approval.

My boys jumped out of the car after a few minutes and Dolly never moved. She stayed right there beside me. She had no need to inspect them. She already knew. They were just kids.

Dolly’s owner mentioned that she may be looking for a new home as he was having to limit his pack size due to life changing events. Why Dolly? I’ll never know, but I didn’t question it… I just jumped at the opportunity. You see, my favorite country singer is Dolly Parton, my favorite old 1971 Ford Truck is named Dolly… and when you meet a dog so majestic, looking for a new home, named Dolly…you know that is GOD saying “here you go!”.

I couldn’t wait to bring her home. I waited weeks, a few more small details worked out and the day came that I was finally able to bring her home.

Let me just say, she did not disappoint!