By Leo Black
This woman’s dogs are so big and hairy people stop her in the street – to ask if they are bears.
Newfoundland terriers Leo and Teddy weigh 70 and 75 kilos (11 and 11.8st), around the same as the average British woman.
Both of the dogs are taller than their owner, Sanela Becovic, 44, who is 175cm (5.6ft) tall but both are gentle giants.
Sanela bought Teddy, six, from a breeder at ten weeks old, and Leo, four, at eight weeks old.
The dogs were expensive and cost €1,300 (£1,138) for Teddy and €1,800 (£1,576) for Leo.
The giant pooches have earned themselves celebrity status in Laholm, Sweden, where they live with Sanela.
They often get Sanela, a librarian, stopped when she’s walking them, and everyone in town knows them by name.
Sanela said: “We live in a small city and everyone here knows them, but we still get stopped by people.
“It’s hard to get places because people are always stopping us to talk and pet the dogs.”
They may be gentle giants, but they still often give passers-by a fright when walking about Laholm.
Sanela explained: “People tell us they look like bears, they ask us ‘what is that, is it a bear’?”
In fact, the dogs look so much like bears that Sanela bought Teddy originally because he looks like a bear.
She was scared of dogs before having Teddy but wanted a huge, fluffy bear to cuddle, and this was as close as she could get.
She said: “I was deathly afraid of dogs, but I was going through a hard time and always wanted a big bear to cuddle.
“It’s hard to explain but I wanted one, and Newfoundlands are gentle, cuddly and have lots of hair, he was perfect.”
The big dogs are quite spoiled by Sanela and her husband, Thomas Petterson, 50, and they get anything they want.
They bought a new car to fit the dogs into the boot, which set them back €130,000 (£113,897).
They even took the time and added a ramp that would make their dogs’ trips more comfortable, by helping them climb in.
Sanela said: “It’s basically a minibus that we made into Teddy and Leo’s special car, we bought a special mattress and took the seats out.”
The car wasn’t the only accommodation they made, shortly after Leo’s addition, they rented a new flat for the pooches.
Their old flat was too small so they chose another that cost them €400 (£350) more per month and included another bedroom.
Sanela said: “It was worth it, I’m planning on turning the extra bedroom into Teddy and Leo’s room.”
Sanela is wary of people thinking keeping a Newfoundland terrier is as expensive as she has made it.
She said: “You don’t need to put this much money into them, I don’t have kids so they are my kids.
“I’m obsessed with them and I spend much more money on them than normal people do.”
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