What’s your dream life? A big house? A sleek car? Maybe no bills at all? And don’t forget the swimming pool! But the best part? Dogs! Mackenzie Makatche lives with nine giant, fluffy Newfoundlands.
“The questions I get the most are: ‘Is that a bear?’ (No), ‘How big is your house?’ (It’s not huge, but we have plenty of space), and ‘Are you crazy?’ (Obviously),” Makatche shares.
She grew up with Newfoundlands. The first one joined her family when she was just a year old, and he lived to be 13. Her parents fell in love with the breed because they wanted a dog that’s great with kids and has a friendly, lab-like temperament.
What surprises people most is that she’s not a breeder. The family bought all their dogs, and Makatche has known three of them since they were puppies.
“We’ve never bred them, and we don’t plan to often. Only when we have the time to properly raise a litter,” Makatche explains. “The pack has grown steadily over the past nine years as my mom keeps falling more in love with the breed.”
She decided to create an Instagram account just for her nine furry family members, and it turned out to be a hit.
“I didn’t have any big plans—just wanted to share pictures of my dogs with anyone who wanted to see them. I was in college, and I knew most people who knew me personally weren’t interested in daily dog photos on my account.”
Now, the account has over 40,000 followers who can’t get enough of the “newf” updates. But Makatche has even bigger dreams for her dogs. Three of them—Guinness, Duncan, and Storm—have already completed therapy dog training. Two more are in training now.
Her goal is for all nine to become therapy dogs so they can help others, especially children.
What do you think of Mackenzie’s fluffy gang? Share your thoughts in the comments and spread the love with your family and friends!
