9 Newfoundland dogs live with a woman who trained them to help children with communication difficulties
Mackenzie Makatche has an undeniable passion for dogs, more precisely for Newfoundland dogs. Newfoundland dogs are very large and are full of fur! What is more, the woman has 9 Newfoundland dogs living in her house! Already a single Newfoundland dog constitutes a considerable commitment, let alone nine.
Makatche receives every day the same questions from curious people who ask: “But how big is your house?”, “Don’t you have a problem with all that dog hair around your house?” And again, “How much do your dogs eat?”
The woman, who resides in Glenn Mills, has cultivated her love for breeding dogs since birth. It is thanks to the fact that her own parents raised specimens of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Here’s how Makatche manages to survive – and not go crazy – with 9 huge Newfoundland dogs living in her house.
Her passion for breeding led her to have one Newfoundland dog all her own. However, she never had the intention (and still does not have) to breed too many of these dogs. In fact, of the nine Terranova dogs, only three have been with her from the beginning.
“The number has increased over past years because my mother fell in love with the breed,” Makatche commented.
What happened was that when Makatche’s mother was diagnosed with colon cancer stage 4. Hence, she confessed to her daughter that she wanted to attend a course for training assistance and therapy dogs. And so that was what they did, together, like a real team. After her mother passed away, Makatche continued to attend the courses in her honor.
“My goal is to become a speech therapist who works with young children. I also want to be able to include therapy with trained Newfoundland dogs,” she said. “Dogs, especially Terranova dogs, have an absolutely special way of connecting with children, who even if they find it difficult to communicate with an adult, will definitely open up to them.”
Once she has trained all of her nine dogs, Makatche wants to set up a non-profit association to help other people by offering her Newfoundland dogs as assistance and therapy dogs.
But how do you live with Terranova at home? Each of them weighs between 100 – 144 lb (45 -65 kg) and to feed them about 70 lb (31 kg) of dog food every week (about one and a half 50 lb bags of dog food (22 kg).
As for the dog hair, Newfoundland dogs shed their hair twice a year and Makatche admits that she actually does not have too many problems sweeping it up since all the dog hair seems to accumulate in the corners of the house! And then all she has to do it is use a vacuum cleaner to clear away the excess dog hair! As for the famous Newfoundland dog drooling – there is not much anyone can do. It is true, they drool. And some drool more than others.
Mostly, in regards to drooling, to blame is the heat, but Newfoundland dogs also tend to drool a lot before getting a dog treat or if they are surprised. Moreover, she says, the only reason she is able to manage to raise so many Newfoundlands in one house, is probably because they grew up together.
Managing so many large dogs is certainly not easy, but their owner’s satisfaction, who has also opened an Instagram account dedicated to her huge and lovely dogs, is unparalleled.
