Glory of the Danes

First of all, I would like to welcome Inkling to the wide world of Blogdom. Just so you know, if you're linked here, she probably reads you. Let's all give her a good opening day and drop her a comment or two. I'm so excited; who knew blogging would be a family affair!

When I sat down to the computer this morning, I found a napkin tucked under the keyboard. On it is written in Husband's hand writing is "free G Dane" followed by a phone number and www.illinoisgreatdanes.com. I guess this means he's ready for a new dog. I have mixed emotions about this.

You see Husband has never had a pet before. He's had lots (and lots) of animals, but no real pets. Those of you who have pets who are members of your families understand. I think that may be part of his growing up on a farm. A dog is just a dog. One dies and you get another. I on the other hand am still mourning Dagmar.

We got her from a family that lived just across the river from us (this was before we moved to the sticks). When we went to see her the owner told me (on the phone) that if no one was there, just open the garage door and call the mother dog out. Her name was Gurna and she was the biggest thing I'd ever seen. A beautiful Harlequin Dane.

The owner's son was there and met us in the garage. He took us to a giant crate full of puppies, most of which were Harlies like their mom. They were so sweet, but my favorite by far was a little grey and black pup, a Merle. She was beautiful and reminded me of Carmen, the first Great Dane I ever crossed paths with.

Carmen was my friend J's dog. J's family lived on a farm. They raised and showed horses. When Rose had her colt, Carmen was every bit as big as the new baby. I loved that dog. It followed us all around the farm and was very protective. Carmen is why I always wanted a Dane of my own.

I asked about the Merle pup and the young man told me they were keeping her. I was disappointed, but there were two Harlies I also took a shine to. We picked one out and promised to come back later to see them. That evening the owner called me and I was telling her the pup we wanted since they were keeping the little Merle. She said, no they weren't keeping her. Her son wanted to, but they couldn't. I jumped at the chance and said we wanted her. A few days later we took a deposit and went to see them again.

Baby Girl wasn't yet 1 year old and she rolled on the floor with the puppies and Gurna. I was so excited. Finally the day came to bring her home. We put her in the crate and loaded her up to take home. We named her Dagmar. Needlefingers is responsible for that. She sent me a list of Danish girl baby names and Dagmar meant "Glory of the Danes."

I spent the next few weeks potty training her (yes, she was in the house). Baby Girl and Andrew (our Mini-dachshund) spent all their time peeking over the kitchen gate at her while she slept. Husband spent the first few days sleeping in the living room so he could take her out during the night.

As she grew, she was more and more insistent at being outdoors all the time. That's when we put our house on the market. Dagmar was happier out of doors and we thought a Great Dane in the house might put off some buyers. Just before the house sold she and out other out side dogs moved out to the in-laws' farm to wait until our house was ready.

We sold the house and moved into a little rental 5 miles from where we were putting our new house. I was very pregnant with #1 Son and it was winter so I didn't see much of the dogs (incidentally Andrew had to go live with my folks for 4 months). When we finally got into the new house and settled in Dagmar was thrilled to have the run of our spread.

She and the beagles would run all over the country side during the day, but come late afternoon she would set up camp infront of our side door. No one could come or go without her permission. She was the sweetest thing and would probably love an intruder to death before she'd intentionally hurt them, but it still made me feel safe knowing that behemoth was guarding my door.

The summer #1 Son was learning to walk, she would follow the kids around the yard keeping a watchful eye on them. One day we were walking around our little pond and she kept pushing Baby Girl. I was getting annoyed and tried to push her away when I realized she was trying to walk between Baby Girl and the pond. She was so worried that I was going to let Baby Girl fall in.

It was so sad to watch her waste away and so hard to let her go. I'm not sure I'm ready to replace her. I'm not sure another dog will ever fill her shoes. But I also know that once I see another Dane pup my heart will melt just like it did when Dagmar crawled out of that giant whelping pen 4 years ago.