Finding Big Foot!

My family and I love junking! No matter where we travel, we usually seek out a flea market, junk store or rummage sale. We are always on the lookout for that irresistible purchase or totally original trinket or one-of-a-kind gadget. It really doesn't matter, because we never go home empty handed. So the minute I spied the words "FLEA MARKET" on the side of a huge metal building in Carthage, I told Matt that we had to stop.

The venture was definitely rewarding as I found a rare biographical book about Jane Austen and six packs of HUGE clear glass Christmas balls. I was and am so excited about the ornaments, because next year I want to to decorate a Christmas Bubble Tree, which consists of varying sizes of clear glass balls and white lights. I saw the picture in the Southern Living Christmas 2010 book, and the tree looks like someone waved a bubble wand and covered the tree with a hundred bubbles. I spent $10 for everything!

Then, we found Big Foot! Only one expression is worthy of Big Foot - OMG!!!! When we first walked up, we heard a sound like someone was crying or howling. It was a seven-month-old baby who was being taught a lesson about getting in the street. Big Foot, the playful baby girl, was tied to a chain as both punishment and precaution. Big Foot is a perro preso canario, which means canary dog of prey. I have watched countless dog shows from the Eukanuba to the Westminster, and I have seen the best of the best. Big Foot was absolutely one of the most impressive dogs I had ever seen - hands down!


I asked the owner if I could photograph her, and he graciously obliged! As I walked over and started petting her, the playful puppy came out! She was licking my face, pawing and prancing at me, and burying her face against my shoulder. OMG! This massive, muscular beast of a dog was a real puppy! After I took a hundred pictures or more, we left the store - not really knowing how to even spell the name of the dog we had just seen. The ornaments and the book had paled in comparison to this majestic animal.

I couldn't wait to get online and find out about the breed, which in hindsight was probably not the best decision. It's like buying something really novel that you are sure is a genuine, authentic original - worth a fortune, of course. Then, you have it appraised only to find out that it's not even worth what you paid for it. Sometimes it's just better to enjoy the bliss of ignorance. When I looked up the breed name (after a few poor attempts at spelling and pronunciation), I found articles about the animal's origin, temperament and unfortunate notoriety. There are several theories as to the breed's creation and the function of the breed. According to Wikipedia, the Presa Canario ancestry probably includes the now extinct Bardino Majero, crossed with imported English Mastiffs. The breed was developed in the Canary Islands in the 1800's specifically for guarding farms, but later became more widely-known for dog fighting. At one time dog fighting was a common and popular entertainment in most European countries, and breeds were developed specially for their tenacity and endurance. In some countries, such as Ireland, fights were staged in open fields, but more often, as was the case in the Canary Islands, fighting took place in rings or pits. With the outlawing of dogfighting on the island and the introduction of foreign dogs such as the German Shepherd Dog, by the 1960s the breed was nearly extinct. The breed was revived by the American veterinarian/anthropologist Dr. Carl Semencic and first introduced to the world outside Spain's Canary Islands. The breed has also received negative publicity after being linked to two fatalities in the United States. Importation and sale of the breed is prohibited in Australia.

If there is one thing that I absolutely despise with all the passion a person can possess, it is dog fighting - buying, breeding, raising or training dogs for dog fighting. Anyone who has read The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant or Oogy by Larry Levin understands the total barbarism of this so-called sport. Just look up savagery in thesaurus and any synonym applies.

My heart was broken. All afternoon, I thought about that playful puppy, her loving spirit and her beautiful posture and appearance. Then I imagined the depraved, sadistic, inhumane arena that could possibly be her fate. I was almost nauseous at the idea that such an unsuspecting puppy could be nothing more than a twisted source of profit for an even more twisted human being. My son kept reminding me that the owner seemed like he really loved the dog. Matt argued that the owner recognized what a rare animal she was and that my worry was based on speculation. He finally just laughed at how personally affected and disturbed I was about Big Foot's possible ill-fated future.

So, sometimes it's best to be naive. I carefully unpacked my beautiful glass balls and placed them on our Christmas tree. I sat down and read about the life of Jane Austen. I knew my junking adventure had been successful. For in the midst of the ordinary, I had found the special. In the midst of the common, I had found the rare. And in the midst of the widely known, notorious and frequently encountered, I had found the exception - the heart of a puppy inside the mammoth body of a dog...a gentle giant.

Dianne ; )