Two danes is pure joy. I love him so much already and it hasnt even been 2 weeks. Please dont pinch me because if this is a dream... I dont want to wake.

Djangohead

Its amazing how you can grow to love something/someone so fast... sometimes even before you have it. (how can you not love a face like that though)

Today we went on a hike in the mountains with the Dane Gang. It really consisted of 3 adults and 3 danes and an australian shephard. One of the Danes was Frank of course, and one of the other's was our soon to be Django. It was all off-lead which i love doing. Dave isnt really fond of letting Frank offlead but I figure as long as the other doggies are sticking around, Frank isnt going anywhere. I figure right so far ;)

Awesome day, Frank even accidentally learned how to swim. Frolicking in streams is alot different than jumping into a pond that drops off to 5 feet pretty fast. He did well though, despite the surprise of being underwater!
L

I remember telling Dave on one of our first dates together that I did not really see the big deal with dogs. He had a 14 year old black lab at the time and quite often I would secretly wonder what the big fascination was with dogs. I mean they constantly need companionship, can't take care of themselves at all well. Not like a cat can. The irony in all of this of course is that I have a hard time thinking of anything other than the dogs lately and I think that is making my "non-dog" friends a little mental. I am constantly thinking about when/if I get to bring magilla home, what kind of training he will need, what training Frank needs work on, where i can take him/them for walks. If the weather is going to be good enough for a good long walk after work, the next day, before work etc. This is all coming from a self proclaimed CAT person. Thats why what I am about to say is so amazing to me... the passion and anger I have been feeling over this is both shocking and overwhelming.

I find myself disgusted with the recent events of recalls of dog foods. Thankfully I am a raw feeder and Frank has known nothing else. There are millions of pets out there eating this food, and millions of people who are not seeing what is going on and putting their trust and faith into their vet's recommended foods. Worse yet, are the pet owners that can barely afford to feed their animals and picking up the cheap store brand food not aware at all that most of these things are recalled and alot of the stores are NOT removing this from the shelves. This has been going on for what... 6 weeks? Stop what you are doing people, stop selling your stuff, stop posting on your websites that your product is safe and TEST YOUR PRODUCT. You pass your food off to a canning company? That canning company is ADDING STUFF TO YOUR FOOD AND YOU DONT KNOW IT?
These are not just dogs and cats, they are family members to many people. To many people, they are SOLE family members. A person puts their faith in their pet food company to do what they can for their animal. Most people don't raw feed, I know that... but I also know, that if my Vet told me that a food was "high quality" i would probably feed it. Just as I would if my pediatrician told me that my choice of formula's was high quality. Wouldn't there be a BIT more action if there was rat poison in other family members supplements?

What the hell is going on here? Why doesnt any body DO SOMETHING????

I am going to do something about it, I am not going to sit on my ever expanding ass and do nothing about what is happening here. I dont often step on a soap box, I will get down reluctantly off of mine now. Thanks for reading.

Great Behinds Think Alike?

I have been meaning to post all of these sitting next to momma pictures. This one is him at 7 months, we have been doing it monthly since he came home to us. The problem is, and the reason why I have yet to do it, is because he isnt the only one getting bigger! Its really obvious when you are looking at monthly consecutive shots of your behind getting larger and larger.





Frank's got the greatest personality, well maybe I am biased. He is strong willed, stubborn, and talkative. At night, when he is bored and we are busy, he will start to aggrivate you until you finally kind of just ignore him. This is when the talking starts, rawr rawr grumble, its like he is starting to learn English. If you continue to ignore him, or God forbid point at him (dont ask how i found out) he will paw and roll around and make more noise. I can't go through this ritual without laughing, much like the zoomies in the house, however, it really annoys the husband (MUCH like the zoomies in the house) . Hey, I know talking back is not good behavior, I know this... I religiously train with him and walk him, he goes to classes weekly and playgroups bi-monthly. The boy is loved and he just has this personality... I think he is too smart to conform, Dave... well dave thinks he needs more training.

It's a Two-fer

I realize that I barely post once in a month let alone twice in a day but I had to share this. It makes me giggle.

Frank Playing with a Tennis Ball

New Dog, New Era

If you read back my whole 3 entries, you would probably remember the mention of some land up in the mountains that is near to our breeder's house. Well, good news, if it ever stops snowing, we will be building the house!

More good news? I mentioned the offer of the other Dane (who we love) to come live with us, and Dave and I have decided together that we can do this as long as the builder part of the house is done. So we have agreed to go ahead and have him move in with us this June for my birthday!

He is much bigger than Frank, who is 33.75 inches tall and 120lbs. Django (Jango) is about 190 pounds and he is the happiest thing on the planet. he is almost 3 years old, neutered, and we have gotten the "kids" together a few times to see how they interact and they get along fabulously! I swear Django couldnt breathe if his tail stopped wagging. (between you and I, i like to call him magilla).

Frank is the tiny little black one!

Where did the time go? (9 months)

Well isnt this interesting? Here I am promising to update on Frank as much as possible and I get 2 posts into it and quit. Can't blame me, the wedding, christmas, new job, have all kind of messed up alot of great intentions that i had.

But what an update I have!

Frank has gotten his CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and is currently enrolled in the class again. (remember when I said he was feisty? constant training is NOT a bad thing) He was also neutered a bit earlier than we wanted due to some 'big boy' problems but they have completely disappeared and he is a totally 100% normal teenager. My friend Heather and I have established a great dane play group in the area and we meet 1 or 2 times per month and run around in a fenced in area. Frank has gotten really good at playing with other dogs. He has also gotten really good at cuddling and giving "those eyes". What a ham...

Speaking of Ham's... I was contacting the breeder regarding a friend who is considering another dane puppy and she contacted me back and said that the dane that i love oh so much, and lives with her, could come live with US! That can be the next post though.