Jaws...

Almost from the day we brought him home until, well, we forget when, Ozzie was a teething monster. Not that he ever destroyed any shoes, walls or furniture; he did, however, cause a few tears in a couple of bathrobes and our arms and hands would look as if we had been dragged through a patch of wild rose bushes.
We discovered very early on that the one thing that seemed to help was ice cubes; we should have invested in an ice making machine to keep up with him. Oz was crate trained as a pup and from the moment we opened the crate door, he would charge out, tail wagging jaw wide open exposing little razor-like teeth and we swear that his eyes rolled back in his head.
Jaws.

He always thought he was a lap dog...

Even when he was the enormous entity we affectionately dubbed, "The Pupster", any person's lap was a comfortable (for him) place to sit.

Here he is with Sheryl when he was about four months old -- just before he went through a huge growth spurt! We still wonder to this day how we ever got him to sit still enough for this photograph; he looks just like one of the many stuffed Berners we have around the house.

'Tis the season...

When he was almost a year old, we took Ozzie to a local PetSmart to have his photograph taken with Santa Claus. We were never too sure who was more uncertain of this - Oz or Santa himself!

December 19...

Today would have been Ozzie's 5th birthday.

I promised that this was not going to be specifically a memorial site for him, but a place where we could celebrate and talk about life and things that happen.

I also promised to show a picture of Ozzie when he was a little (it's all relative) pup.

So, without further ado, here he is on the day we met him at 5 weeks old. A little barrel of a boy.

Cats, too...

Merlin (silver) and Rocky...

If Oz can do it...











Rocky in his chair

Let sleeping dogs lie...

All animals love to sleep and Ozzie was certainly no exception. While sometimes sleeping in quite an inelegant manner, he was also known to snore on occasion - to the point of waking Sheryl, me and the cats up at times! I swear he had a deviated septum...

Feeding time...

I mentioned earlier that both Xena and Rocky loved to mooch (steal, more like) food from Ozzie's bowl when we fed him. It's not as if the cats had not already eaten their food - they just liked the fact that they could eat something different (usually fresh vegetables, cottage cheese, ground meat, various supplements and Wellness "kibble") and Oz would allow it - sometimes a little reluctantly!

Hey, stop working...!

As you can see, my work day came to an abrupt end when Xena decided to park herself on top of a few files that I was about to go through. Being a cat, as she ignored the sound of my "soft" voice saying, "Get off! Off! Come on...", fell asleep. For those that have been following the life and times of Xena, she is now 11 months old and quite large - still some growing to do (by Maine Coon standards), but to put things in perspective, the monitor she is lying in front of is 19".

Location, location, location...

For those that don't know, Sheryl and I moved from the big smoke just over three years ago. We now live in a small rural community called Omemee, somewhere in the heart of a vacation area of Ontario known as the Kawarthas. If traffic is good, it's about a 90 - 100 minute drive to downtown Toronto. As you can see, we're really fortunate to live in a quiet area surrounded by trees, wildlife and water, Chemong Lake.

Sibling rivalry...

People have often asked if Oz had siblings. He did indeed. His mother, Laurel, had a litter of eight puppies four girls and four boys. Unfortunately one died within a couple of weeks of birth.

We first met Ozzie when he was 5 1/2 weeks old -- I'll show you a picture of that soon enough.

To the right is a photograph of Oz and his two brothers, Baru on his far left, and Samson to his immediate left. This was taken at High Park one cold wintry Sunday morning. We only met Baru the once, but have visited and played with Samson and his owners, Roger and Anne Leekam on many occasions. In fact, until quite recently, they had a cottage on White (nee Dummer) Lake here in the Kawarthas. Samson is like Oz in so many ways -- a big, lumbering gentle giant. Baru on this particular day was a little more "reserved" and not as adventuresome or playful as his bigger (physically) brothers. Oz and Sammy were/are very large for the breed. Their mother, Laurel, was bigger than their champion father, a beautiful animal called Virus from Quebec.

"We're ready for our close up..."

Here we have the two older cats; Rocky on the left and Merlin on the right. Like all our cats, they are Maine Coons. Rocky is just over 3 years old and Merlin is now 5. Merlin and Ozzie came into our lives a day apart; the two of them always did have a different relationship than the other cats - growing up together will do that.

On the subject of best buds...

This is Rocky, one of our other Maine Coons. This shot was taken when Rocky was about 15 weeks old, almost 3 years ago. He and Ozzie were best friends. Every morning, before even jumping on our bed, Rocky would greet Oz with a croaky meow and would scent mark him around his great head. Oz would respond by gently but firmly nudging Rocky over onto his back and would nuzzle and lick his belly. Good morning, to you, too!

Two days after bringing Rocky home from our breeder, Sharmani (very good and dear friends, Sharon and Manny Strauch in Mt. Albert) www.sharmani.com, he decided that he wanted to meet Oz who was, of course, quite curious about the latest addition to the household.

As is his character he jumped over a baby gate, dashed up to Oz, scent marked Ozzie's muzzle, wrapped himself around an enormous leg and that was it! Assimilation.

Ever get the feeling someone is watching you...?

As I sat at my desk working, I looked up and saw Xena. Xena is one of our two 10-month old Maine Coon kittens. We also have her brother, Elvis, an all black monster - I'm sure you'll see him soon enough. Ozzie and Xena got along famously - Xena had no fear of him and would often walk up to his food bowl and move him out of her way while she grazed - mainly on cut up raw vegetables. We guess that she figured if they were good enough for the big guy, they were just as good for her! Ozzie would patiently allow her to do her thing before moving back to his food. Wonderful temperament!

We never did get his name...

Did I mention before that I work from home? I have offices in downtown Toronto and also the north west end of Mississauga, but as much as possible, I do work from home. Thank goodness for high speed Internet access - very unusual for a small, rural community.

Anyway, the point being that working from home, courier deliveries were not uncommon.

This photo is Ozzie with, we believe, the guy from FedEx...

We're not too sure...

How cute is that?

Ozzie, the giant lap dog, with our youngest niece, Sammy. Taken on a Sunday morning after our annual sibling sleep over, just before breakfast. Sammy was a welcome house guest since my youngest sister, Lindsey, was unable to find a sitter while she was gallivanting with her brothers and sisters and her husband, Colin, and their son, Max, played hockey!

Size does matter...

Did we ever tell you how big he was?
At his peak, before he became ill, he was around 140lbs - big for the breed, but a powerful, gentle giant that truly believed that he was a lap dog - the world's biggest, mind you, as this image will clearly show. Perspective tends to exacerbate his size in this picture, but I think you get the idea. And no, I am not a small man; I'm almost 6' 1". Made for some great wrassling matches between us. Once he was an adult, I do not believe I "won" a single contest. His front paws, especially, were enormous and the power in this animal was something else. Naturally, he had no idea that he was big and to some people, quite intimidating.

Starting point - part 2...

Here he is, in all his glory at about 4 years old; a magnificent example of the breed that so many of us love.

Starting point - part 1...

Everything has a beginning; a middle; and, an end.

Let's start at the beginning with a shot of Oz when he was about 11 weeks old. He always did love the cold and the snow - as you'll see from the other image when he was fully grown.

As you can see, this little barrel of a dog became a magnificent example of the breed!