Well, here's my happy ending, as many of you may have read already....we're keeping Mischa! After almost five months of fostering, and dropping her off at her prospective new home, I couldn't do it...got my girl back and loving her! She's in her forever home!
 

Big karma points to all I'm sure Mischa will be found by the right family.

Hey we're also lucky with the drool...

Great to see a Tosa. I've only seen 2 since I got the love big ass dog syndrome

I'm among the lucky as well... these 2 only drool when I'm eating something REALLY GOOD that they want. 

Thank you Morfeen....she's a great dog and I think she'll do wonderful with the right family.

I have NO idea how we got a mastiff that doesn't drool!!! But sadly, we're thinking it might have to do with her having her mouth tied up so much in her previous situation??? She's not very loose skinned around her mouth at all, so I'm thinking that might be the reason.

You and Tony have done an amazing job with this dog!  We are all so proud of you.

Fostering is really important, it's a key part of helping dogs find homes.  Sometimes you end up keeping the fostered dog, but often it isn't the right fit.  If I kept all my fosters, I'd have about 17 dogs by now!  And they are much happier in their forever homes than if I had kept them.  (PS everyone reading this, Cane Corso Rescue needs foster homes desperately - if you think you could foster, please sign up - www.canecorsorescue.org)

PS Lucy how did you find a mastiff that doesn't drool?  Wow!  Luca the Corso and Bella the Presa both leave sticky snail-trails on all my clothes and furniture.

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate it...

Carly, the Tosa belongs to a guy that Tony knows from the gym...he's a dog trainer and he's got two of them, the other one is a very mature female (at 13 years old!). They are tri-lingual! They know commands in English, German and Japanese.

It was weird being on the receiving end of drool - Mischa does not drool at all, but the Tosa was just the right height to cover her in drool completely. 

They look like they love each other!!

Dont give yourself a hard time Lucy! You did a great thing by fostering her, and you are making the right choice for you and her. Good luck!!!!!!

Awww, what cute pics!  Whose Tosa is that?  Looks like they wore each other out!

I hear you... I have very few action shots of mine... I value my knees, so I try to stay out of the way!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the emotional support.   

I just re-read my post and hope I haven't given the impression that I'm ignoring her completely - not at all, I just can't give her my heart right now, which is not fair to her. She has improved so much it's amazing (and I give full credit to Tony for that).

The one thing I have to say about her is that she has no fear. I guess that's partly her personality and partly because of how she was raised, but she really is not scared of anything. Yesterday we took her to play with a Tosa Inu...this dog is 14 months old and 135 pounds...he's at least twice her size. She didn't care. They were going at it and she was running circles around him, even jumped over him twice. It helps to see her happy; makes me feel a little better. 

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday...they're from my phone. Couldn't get any while they were playing as I was trying to stay out of their way. 

Well said Carly!
You have nothing to feel guilty about, Mischa will find a great forever home thanks to you guys. You are doing a fantastic thing by fostering her, and taking her out of the shelter environment. Thank you for that.
It will all work out!

aww lucy...    i think you are being WAY too hard on yourself!  there's no shame in admitting that a situation just isn't right for you, or that you don't feel right about it.  you have no reason to feel so bad, and nothing to feel guilty for.  you're doing a wonderful thing by fostering mischa.  look how far she's come already!  because of you BOTH, she's going to be a great pet for someone.  she's going to find a home where she really belongs and can live a good life because of her time with you.  there's no way she would've had that opportunity if you hadn't been there.  at least you tried, you gave it your all... just because it didn't work out the way you thought doesn't mean that you have failed in any way.  it's just taking a different course.  keep your chin up, and just remember what a wonderful thing you're doing for a sweet animal.   

At least you came to this conclusion now instead of later down the road where things could have gotten worse. Thank you for taking her out of the shelter and giving her a nice temporary home. Hopefully she will find a good forever home

Im sorry about your boy and i know how that can be comparing them and not being ready so  your doing the right thing  she is safe your fostering and just maybe this will help you get past  your lost of jake and you saved a life so i m very proud of you  if you ever need anything someone to talk to cry to complain to  you call me any time of the day of night if u get my message u leave ur number and a time to call and i will call you  the death of a beloved pet  can be so devasting to a person that you could need help counciling anything   so  remeber we are here everyone of us to listen and help  marcia in pa 4123277205 believe me i cry for u  and your loss

Hi everyone...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, and to be quite honest, it's sort of cuz I'm a bit embarrassed and feeling tremendously guilty.

Long story short, we've arranged with Cane Corso Rescue to just foster Mischa instead of adopting her.

We knew it was too soon to get another dog after Jake's death but we didn't want to leave her in the shelter...for the first two weeks, it was great to have a dog again, but once the 'thrill' passed, I've become a complete emotional disaster. I cry on the drop of a dime, I've gone through resenting the dog to ignoring her to becoming completely withdrawn and depressed. This is obviously due to not having enough time to grieve our boy, and on top of it, I'm comparing Mischa to him, which is not fair to her.

I've gotten a bit better the last week but it's still incredibly hard. I have so much guilt for feeling like this - guilt for showing affection towards another dog, guilt for not showing ENOUGH affection, guilt for leaving Tony with most of the responsibility, etc...he has been training her for 2-3 hours a day and she has improved SO much. Even her prey drive, which was insane, has gotten at least 50% better, where now she'll barely turn her head at birds (when we got her it was a full blown chase).

Obviously, she is better off with us than she was at the shelter, and I don't regret helping her in that regard. I wish the outcome could have been different, but I think it would be best for her and me if she was placed in a new home. She'd be fine in a home as the only pet but we both think she might do better with another medium/large size dog so she can learn how to play, etc...and to have the company.

Below is her Petfinder link...if anyone has any questions or might know of anyone who'd be interested, please feel free to contact me. This has been a very difficult few weeks and I'm absolutely mortified that I feel like this; just trying to deal with it the best I can. Thanks....Lucy   

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14255443