Walking a St Bernard

Our host family has 2 St Bernards, caged up in their Backyard. They are huge teddy bears that look like stuffed toys. Gentle giants bigger than myself and bred to pull sleds in the Austrian mountains. But here in Ecuador, the land of the barking dog, they truly are the top dog. It's sad to see them caged up so Kate and I decided to take them for a walk yesterday, or actually they decided to take us for a very fast sprint around town. It is virtually impossible to hold them back and they strike fear into local people and street dogs alike. As we walk down the street there are literally hundreds of dogs barking at us, but once we get close, the other dogs start bolting. I have never seen a fully grown german shepherd run with fear like when they see us and the St Bernards. Walking the St Bernard has become our new fun thing to do every afternoon, I just hope that Max, the boy St Bernard, doesn´t piss on the new piece of furniture in the street like he did yesterday, then again if he does there´s not much anyone can do about it.