My Fawn Great Dane
(Babies and Dogs)
Do babies and dogs go together? I always thought so until Jenny, my fawn Great Dane came into my life. Here’s how expectations can turn into reality.I’d lived dog-less in Saudi Arabia for two years and didn’t want to live another minute without a dog. (It was against the law to bring a dog into or out of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.) Never mind it was the middle of winter and there weren’t a lot of puppies out there. I wanted a fawn Great Dane puppy and I wanted it now. The only Great Dane puppy I could find was the last of a litter, an hour and a half drive north of me. She was eleven weeks old and 30 pounds or so when I got her. And she’d been raised in a barn… literally. I assumed all would turn out well because I’d had two great dogs already. Perhaps I should have waited. House breaking took TWO YEARS. Whenever another dog came onto our property, she’d chase it down the steep asphalt driveway and come back with bleeding, torn footpads. The only neighborhood dog she ever liked was a Cockapoo who snuck in the cat door late one night and tried mounting her from the sofa. Had I not walked in at that moment, we may have had Great Cockapoos or CockapooDanes. She was fine with children until the kids next door started throwing rocks at her. I have no idea how long it had been going on when I caught them and I didn’t think it had changed her attitude toward children until the Halloween they came to trick or treat and she lunged at them. Obviously no dog should ever bite a child, but 120 pound fawn Great Dane could do some terrible damage.
We moved from that house and I thought I’d left my problem with children and dogs behind, until the day my toddler niece came to visit with my brother and sister-in-law. My brother had told my niece to go give the dog a kiss. My fawn Great Dane was off in the corner to stay out of the action and watch passively. My tiny niece went over and fell on top of the dog to hug and kiss her. Jenny, terrified, gave her a warning nip, which unfortunately took half the child’s head into her mouth. I went to the hospital with my sister-in-law and tiny niece who had two puncture wounds; one tiny mark just below the corner of her eye and one on the back of her head. When pressed by the doctor, my sister-in-law refused to report the dog. I was so shaken by the incident; I was going to put my fawn Great Dane down, but my sister-in-law begged me not to. I wish I’d known then what I know now. Unknowingly, I made the problem worse. Not understanding fully why the bite incident happened (I kept thinking in a human way, instead of a dog way), I kept my dog in the bedroom whenever there were children present. When they knocked at the front door she’d bark and growl and I’d sweet talk her trying to soothe her like a child. She needed a self assured leader to tell her what to do, not a fearful owner who put her in an alert aggressive state. The rest of this dog story shows that you get what you expect. Several months after Jenny bit my niece I became pregnant with my first child. Did I think about getting rid of my dog? Not at all; when it came to my own children I had no fear whatsoever. I knew Jenny would be different. My fawn Great Dane sensed my pregnancy and was incredibly gentle from the day my first son came home from the hospital. Becoming my fawn Great Dane babysitter, Jenny rarely let my oldest son out of her sight. Not long after these pictures were taken, I had my second son, Kyle. She was just as patient with him, even when he'd run over her feet in his walker or accidentally poke her in the eye. I wish I had pictures of all three of them; but with two boys and a job, the time flew by without taking them. Dogs and babies are a beautiful thing and my life felt perfect.
Time passed. The dog and baby life changed to dog and babies and then dog and growing boys. Once the boys got old enough for friends to come over and play rough and tumble games, my fears returned. I quarantined Jenny the gentle fawn Great Dane and lived the better part of ten years in fear that she would bite again. It’s a stressful way to live. It wasn’t fair to her and it wasn’t fair to me. I just didn’t realize at the time how much a part I’d played in that bad dog behavior. Then all of a sudden, Jenny was old (11 is old for a Great Dane). Among other things, she was going blind and couldn’t control her bladder (which SHE hated). She would stand next to me in the kitchen and urine would dribble and she would look at her rear end and look at me with such sad eyes. Inside I would laugh and cry at the same time. Two years it took to fully potty train that damn dog and now she was feeling guilty when she couldn’t help it! I didn't care and I didn't mind cleaning it up. I loved my dog.
My young sons would lay on her together and nuzzle their faces into her and ruffle her ears like they had always done, but now they were bigger and stronger and she was weaker. One night she gave me the look. I don't know how to explain it. I just knew she was ready to move on. She had been such a wonderful dog with my boys and now she was miserable and I couldn’t stand to see her in this kind of pain. She was old and I couldn’t fix her. She hurt all the time and I couldn’t change it. I loved her but it wasn't time to be selfish, it was time to let her go.I took her to my wonderful vet, Susan Wynn. To make it as comfortable for my dog as possible, I knew I had to stay and hold her paw. Jenny lay across my lap while I sang, “You are my sunshine” to her and Dr. Susan gave her the injection and left the room. I kept singing. Thirty minutes later Dr. Susan poked her head in to see if I was alright. “I thought you were going to come let me know when you were ready to leave.” She said. I laughed through my tears, and answered. “Do you know how long she’s been on my lap? My butt is numb, my legs are numb, my feet are numb and my toes are numb. Please help me.” So she helped me for the last time with Jenny. And she helped me up. And she gave me a hug. And we both had eyes full of tears when I walked out.
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