Figgy May

Figgy the Briard didn’t come into Phyllis Morgan’s life by accident—in fact, Figgy is Morgan’s third Briard. The year was 2001, and Morgan was dining at a marina in Maine when she first laid eyes on a Briard owned by a French couple. “I asked them about the dog and then in about 2003, I started looking for a Briard,” says Morgan. “I looked all over the country and someone gave me this lady’s name in Carlsbad, NM, and that’s where our first Briard came from.” Fast forward 15 years and two Briards later, and along came Figgy. “We got the call in 2018, and we had gotten two other Briards from the same breeder and had recently lost one, so we took her,” says Morgan. “She’s the best Briard we’ve ever had.” At 11 years old, Figgy is still a great companion for Morgan, and while the breed tends to be territorial, Figgy is kind to everyone she meets, from human strangers to strange little dogs.

The chaos of barking dogs at the Eastside Animal Shelter was no biggie for then-resident May, who sat there quietly blinking at future owners Abby Carlson and her partner as they walked past. “She had these adorable brown eyes that were just so calm and almost wise,” says Carlson. “We just kept walking past and she kept staring at us so sweetly amidst all the chaos.” The out doorsy couple loves to go on hikes and have adventures with their dogs, and two-year-old May is the perfect com panion for those activities along with the more quiet ones. “May loves to cuddle,” says Carlson. “She’s just so sweet and she’ll bury her head in you.” Whether you can tell from the picture or not, May is a Cane Corso, which means characteristics like big jowls and floppy ears are evident. “She’s got these enormous jowls, and after she drinks water, she’ll drop so much of it on the floor because there was so much stuck in those jowls,” Carlson says of May’s unique features. “We just love her so much.”

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