Angela Hunt and Her Puppies Pay a Visit

Thank you, Angie for kicking off our "getting to know you" segments. I love Angie's insight on unconditional love--so true. I just want to bury my face in Babe's and Charley's fur!

Here's what Angie shared about her "babies."

What are your dogs’ names/ages/breeds?

I have two mastiffs—each is about 200 pounds. Charley Gansky (official name: Windfalls Glorious Gansky) is four; Babe (official name: Babe) is three. They are English mastiffs—NOT bullmastiffs, thank you very much. Bullies are petite little things.

Where did you get him/her? Babe is a rescue we’ve had for a year now.

We bought Charley from a breeder in Ohio, so we’ve raised him from a pup. He flew to Florida!

What is the weirdest/sweetest/most annoying thing they've ever done?

Before she came to us, Babe was treated like a “junkyard dog”--she was kept in a mechanic’s garage, kept most of the day on a chain, and wore a leather studded collar. So even though she now wears a cute tapestry collar, she’s still serious about guarding the front of our house. So she’s broken our stained glass front door three times. That is weird and sweet and annoying and expensive.

Charley is a big baby. When people come to visit, he tries to hide under the dining room table.

How does their companionship enrich your spiritual life?

My dogs remind me constantly of God (in their unconditional love) and of my responsibility to the animal kingdom. God placed us in a position of dominion over the creation, but ours is to be a benevolent dominion. Our authority over the animals mirrors God’s authority over us in many ways.

How does their companionship enrich your writing?

First of all, they keep me from talking to myself! The writer spends many hours in solitude, and those hours are a lot less lonely if you share them with a canine companion. Second, I have written many, many mastiffs into my books. They’re just great dogs, and they’re relatively unusual, so they’re interesting. :-)

Is there something about your dog that you'd like to brag about? Or that we just wouldn't believe?

Charley and Babe are my third and fourth mastiffs. A few years ago we had Sadie and Justus, and Justus achieved a measure of fame when he was invited to fly to New York to appear on “Live with Regis and Kelly.” Why? Because he weighed 275 pounds and they wanted to have a “big dog weigh-off.”

Justus charmed everyone, and for a couple of weeks after our return he was a local celebrity. He visited a special needs classroom where a classroom filled with blind students petted him . . . My hubby and I got all choked up as we watched. He truly was an angel with fur.

So I have two mastiffs in heaven, and two on earth. My kennel runneth over.

VISIT ANGIE AT http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/