My Big Boy

I want my mommy!





Yep, my new man is a dog. A BIG dog! This all started with my mom! My mom has been ready to get a new dog and so we started looking at the adoption areas at PetCo and PetSmart. I also found the best websites; http://www.petfinder.com/ and 1-800-save-a-pet.com. These websites list rescue groups, pet shelters, humane societies, etc. I'm not into buying a dog from a breeder or pet store and all my animals have either been given to me or are strays. It was really hard when I worked at the vet's office saying "no" to taking home all of the strays that would come in. Anyway, when researching rescue groups for my mom I found a few Great Dane rescue groups. I applied to one group and got approved and was supposed to go out there yesterday to look at their dogs. In the meantime, I kept checking the websites and 6 Great Dane Mix puppies were listed at the Collier County Humane Society. This was on Sunday. My mom had Monday off and so we made plans to go on Monday and be there when they opened. I hate animal shelters and I was nervous about going......I hate to think of all the animals that don't find homes.


Monday morning we got to the shelter and we headed towards the dog kennels. I walked in and immediately saw the hugest dog. He was an adult Great Dane. I looked at his information and he is listed as being 6 years old. That is very old for a Great Dane and so I went down to look at the puppies. They were very cute. Another lady was there looking at them and ended up taking two of them home. I just didn't click with the puppies. There were actually two adult Great Danes. The other Dane was listed as being 4 years old. He was very aloof and didn't want anything to do with me. I went back and looked at the 6 year old Great Dane. He had been picked up as a stray. He was soooooo skinny. He was just the biggest dork. He kept licking my fingers and wagging his tail and just generally being a doofus. I asked the kennel worker if I could take him in the visiting pen. As soon as we got in the visiting pen I knew he was going to be mine. He was this big, lumbering doof ball with the sweetest personality. He about knocked me over as he loves to lean into you. He loved Yunnie and kept trying to smell her pants. Lovely! All my reservations about his age went out the window and I couldn't not take him home. I know my heart will be broken when I don't have as much time with him as I would like, but I couldn't leave him at a kill shelter when he was so obviously a loving, sweet dog.


The adoption fee was fifty dollars and included shots, microchipping, and neutering. I thought that was dirt cheap! You also get a collar, a bag, dog food, etc in a goody bag. I had to leave him there so he could be neutered the next day and I felt bad taking him back to the kennel. Yesterday, I checked on the puppies and they were all adopted. I figured since they were puppies they wouldn't be there long and I was right.


On Tuesday, the shelter had to send him to an outside vet to be neutered. They couldn't accomodate a dog of his size. He actually ended staying at the vet until Wednesday as they didn't get him neutered on schedule. My brother's girlfriend, Jean, picked him up for me since she works in Naples and I was in the middle of Vacation Bible School at the time he was ready.


Friday, we took an emergency trip to the my vets because he kept bleeding at his surgery site. Luckily, the bleeding stopped and it all looks good. I can't fully explain what a nice dog he is. He is already so attached to me. I'm surprised after just a few short days. He cries if he can't be near me. My mom has taken him for two walks around the block for me and he keeps turning around and crying to come back to see me. He also tries to sit on my lap. I like to breathe, so that doesn't work out so well for me! Daisy is a little jealous so I have some making up to do to her! He is so well trained he obviously belonged to someone. He is completely housebroken (thank goodness, he has the bladder of a pony!). I don't think about food on the counters having only had small dogs and he hasn't touched it. He does need to learn basic manners and being so big, I am going to take him to obedience class. The pictures don't do it justice, but with his head up, he stands taller than Konnor. He weighs 114.6 pounds and he is extremely underweight. His name at the shelter was AO78262. I didn't think that was very fitting;) Jean came up with the name Marmaduke and that he is! He is the biggest, most loveable, big baby!