Former Yankees Captain Derek Jeter Overcomes His Fear of Dogs, Thanks to Mastiff Puppy

Former professional baseball shortstop Derek Jeter has been afraid of dogs until he had a 100-pound Mastiff puppy. The 41-year-old ex-Yankee star shared his thoughts to his new profession as a pet owner on his sport's blog, The Players' Tribune.

According to The Week, after he ended his 20-year baseball career, the Rookie of the Year awardee got another responsibility to take care of a canine. Looking after an enormous Mastiff named Kane, especially when you have a lifelong fear of dogs, might be one of the greatest challenges that the former player has to face.

"I just wasn't comfortable around animals. My family didn't have pets when I was growing up and neither did my friends," he wrote on his blog. Remember that movie? The one about the killer dog? I watched it when I was young and, man, it terrified me. After that movie, I was not messing with dogs at all. Big dogs, medium dogs, little dogs - it didn't matter. I saw them all as threats.

But, in spite of his phobia, Jeter and Kane go along and he proudly introduced the huge furball to the world. I heart dogs reported that the black Mastiff was a surprise present of his fiancée, Hannah Davis, for him last Christmas.

"Ater I retired, I didn't expect I'd go from one job right to another. Meet Kane. Kane is an Italian Mastiff," he continued. "I had no idea what I was in for as a new dog owner. I've never owned a pet in my life."

Jeter was first terrified but then, he learned how to attain the canine. I heart dogs added that when Kane eventually grows and so is his human's love for him.

As the pup got fully developed as big as he has to be, he proved to his loving carer that not all dogs are bad as he thought it was. And, as he's now resting as from his legendary career, Kane thought him to be a devoted dog lover.

"There's a lot to learn as a new dog owner. As I train him, I've also had to be trained. I've learned that dogs thrive on routine: regular walks, chasing a ball and lots of sleep. He probably loves to sleep more than anything, which is ironic because I'm getting less sleep than I ever did before."

As Kane is going to turn on this month and gaining more and more weight, "he still tries to sit on my lap," Jeter said. "Over the last year, the more we get used to each other, the calmer we've both become."

Meanwhile, check the top 10 amazing facts about Mastiffs on the video below.