George the mastiff, Pitt legend, competes in Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Most parents would worry if their four-year-old weighed 210 pounds.

George’s parents are… Most parents would worry if their four-year-old weighed 210 pounds.

George’s parents are proud. He’s indifferent.

“He’s huge, but we love him,” Amy Coglio, George’s owner, said.

George is a purebred mastiff who will turn 4 this Sunday. Amy and her husband, John, bring George to the Cathedral of Learning to provide therapy for weary students.

George has become a fixture on campus. Students pose for pictures with him. Amy said he’s become quite a celebrity — earlier this week, he competed in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Amy was walking George in the mall one day when a girl stopped and said, “This must be George. My boyfriend goes to Pitt and sent me the picture.”

Other students ask Amy and John about his weight. In 2006, the Coglios bought George from a breeder in Ohio for $2,500. He was nine weeks old and 30 pounds.

Because of his massive size, the mastiff often overheats during his hour in the Cathedral’s common room. He typically sprawls out on his belly, head against the cold marble floor, eyes peeking up at students from under large rolls of skin. When he lifts his head to greet a nearby dog, a puddle of drool remains on the marble floor.

“We have towels in every room of the house and carry them everywhere we go,” Amy said.

Despite his age, George is the father of one mastiff in Ohio, one in Michigan and six in the Pittsburgh area.

His show name is “American/International Champion Erieside Straight to Coalhill CGC TDIA.”

For dog owners who want to show and breed, the American Kennel Club requires a formal name. Additionally, many kennels want their kennel name in front, hence “Erieside,” the name of George’s original kennel in Ohio. Coalhill is the name of the kennel that John and Amy own.

“The CGC and TDIA abbreviations at the end of his name stand for Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog International, Active,” Amy said. “CGC” is a title George was awarded for completing obedience training, and “TDIA” signifies that he passed an independent therapy dog test. After completing 150 therapy visits, George’s title will shift from “TDIA” to “TDIA-OV”, which stands for “outstanding volunteer.”

The TDIA testing is extensive — to pass, George must not react when separated from his owners for three minutes. The first time George took the test, he laid down and fell asleep, passing the test.

After his first birthday, George began working as a therapy dog at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind, various hospices around the area and at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

“It was extremely difficult to get George approved to work at Children’s — they put candidates through extreme temperament tests,” Amy said. According to her, 95 percent of the dogs fail the test required by Children’s Hospital.

But not George. He remained calm as an independent veterinarian pulled on his tail, yelled at him and stuck him in isolation. He now visits patients once or twice a month during the school year.

Lee Nesler, the executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, is familiar with George as he’s taken training classes at the Humane Society.

“Therapy dogs really open up [people’s] hearts to animals … Any tension they have melts away,” Nesler said. “George is just so amazing. We’ll get people who say they’re afraid of dogs, but they’ll see his eyes, and after five minutes, they can’t help but pet him. He wins people over all the time.”

It didn’t take the Coglios long to fall in love with George. They’ve owned mastiffs since 1990, and they currently own four. He eats 10-12 cups of dry food a day, costing the Coglios about $300 a month.

George goes for a 2-mile walk around his Mt. Washington neighborhood with John on sunny days. In his free time, he enjoys laying his head on a pillow and likes to suck on a blanket or small toy, just like a baby would on his pacifier.

Ask him if he’s happy, and he’ll bounce around a bit. He’s not a huge fan of the snow because it’s hard for him to move around. He’ll go outside, turn around and look back at Coglio as if asking, “Are you gonna shovel it or what?”

George has earned the right to ask these sorts of questions. In 2009, he was the No. 4-ranked mastiff in the country. This title gave him an automatic invitation to this year’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. He was one of 2,500 dogs participating in the show, and he competed against 30 other mastiffs from around the country.

On Monday and Tuesday, George “stayed on bench” from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The show required him to sit on display and show in the ring in front of judges.

“Judges rule based on how close he fits the breed standard,” Amy said.

George was eliminated after the first round.

“If you don’t get it, there’s always another dog show,” Amy said.

Despite this loss, George is happy. Westminster was the biggest show George has ever attended. He’s won plenty of national titles and local shows, including an international best-in-show award and more than 50 best-in-breed titles.

“He’ll be resting this weekend and will be back to Pitt on Tuesday,” Coglio said.

George got his first taste of Pitt two years ago when a group of dogs from the Humane Society visited Oakland to adjust to the distractions of the big city and “the big dinosaur” near the Carnegie Library. So many Pitt students stopped to pet the dogs that the group decided to visit again. They looked to various campus organizations to officially sponsor their visits and soon became Tuesday night regulars in the Cathedral of Learning.

“When we first got him, we immediately realized his kind disposition,” she said. “We knew we needed to share him with others.”