Tim LaPlante and his partner Gary Hren own Sandy who is "part lab and part St. Bernard but she came to them via a circuitous route. She became part of their household about five years ago but originally came from Farminton, New Mexico. "She lived with people there and some of our relatives there saw that she wasn't being treated very well so they offered to take her and give her to my grandmother," LaPlante said.

At the time LaPlante's grandmother lived in Denver (and has since moved to Seattle). Sandy is a good sized dog and it became clear that she was too large for an older person so Sandy came to live here.

Sandy's diet is a high quality dry food (from Pet Pros) called, Acana Prarie Formula and she loves Sea Mobility chicken jerky (or other flavors) for treats as well as beef bones that she can chew on for hours. "She just goes crazy and falls over herself when you pull out one of the treats," said Hren.

Her diet in fact is now very different than when she lived in Denver. The grandmother, who still sees Sandy from time to time, had a very special treat for her. Walnuts. Sandy enjoyed them but the combination of nuts and little exercise meant Sandy with her breeding was headed for the high end of the scale.

But her more limited calorie diet and regular exercise have made all the difference for her and she's lost 25 pounds.

"When people haven't seen her for a little while they are all 'Oh my gosh she's lost a lot of weight'," said LaPlante.

Sandy has been to obedience school, "But she didn't really learn very much there," he said but added," We weren't very motivated to continue with it because she's just such a naturally good dog. Once she picks up on what you want her to do she just figures out how to do it."

When she does go to Lincoln Park she loves to approach incoming waves and then run away, playing 'chicken' with the waves.

She's a very loved member of the household because she's very mellow and well behaved. "She seems to have the best of both breeds because she's mellow like a St.Bernard but she's not drooley, and she looks more like a Lab but she's not as barky as some labs."

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