Thor

Some of you have asked how Thor is doing.  

He finally stopped growing.  He is tall enough that I can pet his back without bending over.  He heels well but expects to have pats on the back while we walk.  The vet estimates he weighs between 135 and 150 pounds.  When he steps on your foot, it feels a lot more like that larger number.

He has had a couple of encounters with skunks. More than a year apart but each time I discovered he has a defective sense of smell.  He can sniff out a rodent or a freshly laid chicken egg under a pine tree branch but apparently does not grasp how nasty he smells after rousting the skunk.  On the plus side...each time it happened the skunk went away and did not return.

He chases rabbits but apparently only as sport.  Occasionally will roust a chicken just for grins and plays games with his feline siblings.

He is currently still guarding the entire property but has pretty well divided his time between my house and the neighbor's house as the neighbor has better treats.

His worst encounter was with a porcupine.  When I opened the door to see what he was disturbed about I found the porcupine trapped next to the recycle barrels, cats on each barrel growling and Thor in front barking like crazy.  Thor was distracted by me which gave the nasty, scared creature an opportunity to run for a tree.  Unfortunately before escaping Thor took a bite out of him...which left the Porky unhindered and Thor in a great deal of pain.  

Thor will not get into a vehicle (still!).  I managed to get him into the shop where he was given comfort by his buddy, Terrible Hank, shown above.

Fortunately, the vet still thinks he is an awesome dog and is willing to come to the farm when he needs anything.  He is always so excited whenever he has company and really likes his buddy the vet.  It took the full strength of 3 women to hold him still long enough to be sedated but all the quills got pulled out including the ones in the roof of his mouth.  Only cost $65 to have that little adventure taken care of and he was only under the weather for a day before he was back to his frolicking, happy, friendly self.
He is great at protecting his animals here on the farm, hates hawks, runs off coyotes, makes visitors who see him running toward them say "God! I hope that dog is friendly.", and has turned out to be a great addition to the farm.  I think I'll keep him.