Patches are on the vest & other news

Finally I had some spare time and was able to get Gunther's patches sewn on his vest. He is so funny when that vest is on him. He went from running through the house with his "froggy" hanging out of his mouth, to the regal dog, with his head held high, trotting outside for his photo shoot. LOL. I love him, so much, he is such a great dog and Danes are a fantastic breed.

In the past I have mentioned a few times that I would like to work with Gunther along the lines of Mobility Service. So if you are wondering why the vest and patches that is why. I received in the mail today the training information and when I get back in town the first part of Aug. Gunther and I will start his training.

Yesterday, I got a wonderful call from Gunther's breeder. Jazz, Gun's mom is in season, and if all goes well, Sarge and her will have another litter of puppies. Now, if you are interested in one of these pups, PLEASE contact me, or Jay, who's information you can find on the sidebar. I am also going to set up a Yahoo Group for Jay, so that all of us who own one of his pups can chat, share stories and of course post pictures. This would be a great place for those of you interested in one of the (cross your fingers) new pups to get information and ask questions. More will be posted soon about the Yahoo group.

His vest came today

Check out this handsome boy! His vest came in the mail today a long with his, In Training patch. Now I can get his CGC patch on it too. Anyway, I wasn't sure how he would like it or if he would chew it off, and to my surprise, he really likes it. When I put it on him, he stood like he does for the change of collar, and trotted around like a little horse. LOL. We went outside and he went through all of his Rally Novice commands OFF LEAD. Yes, I said Off Lead. He actually does better off lead. It must be my nerves traveling down the lead that makes him edgy. Anyway, Here he is in all his glory.

I have a little personal news. Last night (July, 12) my membership to the Great Dane Club of the Mid South, was voted on and approved. I am so excited about it. There are so many places where I can volunteer and get involved. It will be so much fun. Mid September is the Speciality Show, and I can't begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to it! I would like to thank Connie Adams and Willie Crawford, for their support and mentoring.

Ok, enough about me, let's get back to the star! 

Yahoo Group Post

This information was on one of the Great Dane Groups that I'm on. I thought that it maybe helpful to post it on Gunther's blog.

STRANGE FRUIT: SEASONAL PRODUCE THAT CAN HARM YOUR PETSCherries and lemons and apples, oh my! While spring and summer fruits are goodfor you, certain parts of these seasonal offerings can be potentiallyirritating—and in some situations, occasionally toxic—to companion animals.According to our experts at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), thepeels, fruit and seeds of citrus plants such as lemons, oranges, limes andgrapefruits contain varying amounts of citric acid, limonin and volatile oilsthat can cause gastrointestinal irritation and result in vomiting and diarrhea.As for apples, cherries, peaches and apricots, their stems, leaves and seedscontain cyanogenic glycosides that have the potential to cause vomiting and lossof appetite—and in severe cases, weakness, difficulty breathing,hyperventilation, shock and even death.“Typically, these severe effects develop from very large ingestions of plantmaterial, more likely to occur with grazing animals such as horses or otherlivestock,” says the APCC’s Dana Farbman, CVT. “The consumption of a fewsegments of citrus fruit, an apple or two, or a few cherries would usually notbe expected to cause serious problems beyond perhaps minor stomach upset.However, it is important for animal owners to be aware of the potential forproblems that these fruit trees can produce.”As a companion animal owner, it’s always a good idea to become familiar withdifferent types of plants in and around the home—and make sure that potentiallypoisonous species are not accessible to your pets. For lists of both safe andpotentially toxic plants, please visit ASPCA online

11 Months *UPDATED*

120 pounds, 35 1/2" at shoulders

11 Months old today. This afternoon I'll be getting his size and weight to add to the post, but I wanted to get these pictures of Gunther posted. Saturday isn't really the best time to take pictures of the Gun-man, there are so many distractions. On top of the normal, kids, neighbors, cars, and barking dogs, Gunther was being taunted by squirrels that were watching us. After the last picture of him laying in the grass was taken I released him from his Down/Stay and he took off after the squirrels. He didn't catch any but he enjoyed chasing them.

Take Your Dog To Work Day

June 23, Take Your Dog To Work Day. How cool is that? Since I work out of my home Gunther is at work with me all the time anyway. I'm including a link to their web site so that if you missed it this year, maybe next year you could be instrumental in setting up a Take Your Dog To Work Day at your office or place of business.

Gunther is doing so many crazy, funny things. Like when he's in the living room and I tell him to sit, he will go over to the couch and put his hind end on the couch like he's really sitting. Or this one is funny, he goes to my son and backs his hind end onto GT's lap and sits. Too funny. Gun is now really learning "names." For example if I pile his toys out in the floor and ask him to get the duck or the frog or the tennis ball, he will get then one I ask for. He also knows the names of the kids so when I tell him to get Sara up, he takes off for her room and gets her up.

This week we have worked really hard on his Rally stuff. Yesterday he about drove me nuts running through the house and constantly wanting out. Then one time while we were out, he got away from me (I have him on a lead to potty, so he'll stay in one part of the yard, and so we can work on heel, sit, down, and a moving down, on the way back to the house) anyway, he got away from me and ran over to the part of the yard where we do the Rally and sat down at our starting point. Well how could I resist that? We worked all the stations that we know so far and then came in. He got a couple liver treats for that. LOL.

I'll have some new pictures of him in the next couple of days. Have a great weekend and enjoy your Dane(s).

Look what came in the mail today!

A few weeks back Gunther passed his Canine Good Citizen test. Along with his certificate you could order patches and tags. Of course I couldn't resist. I've been thinking about getting him a vest or a lightweight backpack and this patch would look great on it. By the way, I encourage everyone in the States, that if you can, get your dog his or her Canine Good Citizen. It's a great way to do one more thing with your dog, and it brings you a little closer together. Do it, you won't regret it.

We are really enjoying the rally class. In fact we are enjoying rally so much that I'm planning on putting Gunther in Rally competition in August. I think we can do it. In fact I know he can, it's me that would mess up. LOL. I need more practice.

Growing Leaps And Bounds

Monday we took this new photo of the Gun-Man. Though the picture doesn't do him justice, it gives you a pretty good idea about his size and how he is growing. It seems that mid-May he really started growing in height and now looks like he's all legs. (stilts).

We are having a great time with Rally classes and then practicing at home. I also have found a new place to take him and walk on Tuesday and Thursdays while the kids are at karate. It's a beautiful walking park and almost everyone has their dog with them. We'll be going there this coming Tuesday.

The 14th was my second meeting at the Great Dane Club of the Mid South. There was a Rally judge there giving a demonstration. Diane Pegram. I learned quiet a bit and was really glad to learn that my instructor, Donna Thompson, at Doggie Daycare, is a head of the game in teaching us Rally. She's a great instructor and has amazing patience. LOL.

Also at the meeting I was able to get my 2 signatures for membership. It will be voted on at the next meeting. (cross your fingers). After the meeting was over I got to see 3 beautiful Danes. They just took my breath away. Especially the young one that is just a few months younger than Gun. They are Black Onyx Brindle males. If you ever get a chance to see Black Onyx Brindle's, DO IT. You won't be let down.

I just can't tell you how amazing this breed is. For me the Great Dane has everything and more that you could want in a dog. I love them.

10 month update

Well my little boy isn't so little. 118 pounds and 35" at the shoulders. It wasn't till a picture I took of him the other day that I realized just how "leggy" he has gotten. In one month he's grown 2 inches in height. I have noticed that he can reach the things he isn't suppose to better than he use to. LOL.

Speaking of those things. Some of his latest tricks are taking the cushions off the couch and chairs laying them out on the floor and then laying down on them. He is now not just catching one but sometimes up to 3 ice cubes in his mouth from the ice despenser on the freezer door. That is actually the funniest thing to watch.

Today we went to Pets Mart and walked through and he did so good. We practiced some of his commands for Rally and he was just on the money today. He totally loves training time. There were all kinds of kids and adults wanting to pet on him and it was just a really great time for him. One of the commands that he has not done real well is the "front" command where he comes to my front and sits. Well today it clicked not only there at Pets Mart but here at home. Plus the great part was he did it on and off lead. He's getting it! I am really hoping that he will be able to be good enough to compete in Rally. Gun and I would have a great time.

 

10 months

Thursday, June 1st, Gunther turned 10 months. I plan on getting his new weight tomorrow. Today we were out and about and I seen this duck toy and when it's pressed it sounds like a duck, so of course I had to get it for Gun. HE LOVES IT. In fact he loves it so much that when Sara took him out to potty, he took the duck with him. LOL.

This morning, Gunther didn't realize it was Sunday and decided at 6 AM it was time to get and have breakfast and do his normal routine. I tried to cover up in hopes that he'd get the hint and go back to sleep. Oh hell no. He took my covers off me and the bed. The boy is determined. So I got my covers back, crawled back into bed just to find myself the cushion for the Great Dane. ;-) When he turned his head we were nose to nose. It was so funny. By this time, there was no going back to sleep, I got up and took the little guy outside and then fed him and then started doing some computer work while he went back to bed.

It's hot down here all ready

I have no idea what the temps are today, but I'm sure it close to 90 degrees. Gunther and I went out to walk the yard and check on some of the new things I planted in the garden yesterday. The nice thing is that the sun was in a good place to get a few new pictures of Gunther. (I can't get enough ;-) )


May 20th, Gun and I started his training for Rally. It's going to be so much fun. He started wagging that tail and getting all excited when we pulled into Doggie Daycare. He knew what was a head for him. He loves it.

There are 4 of us, 3 newbies and 1 lady who is all ready beginning to compete with her collie. I think its going to be something that Gun and I will be able to do for a long time.


June 1st, Gun will be 10 months. It's hard to believe that time is flying the way it is with him. He has brought so much happiness into our home, and been the life of the party. There is never a dull moment with Gun around. 

It's been awhile

My apologies for taking so long to update Gunther's blog. Life for some reason always gets in the way of good intentions. (grin)

When I first got Gunther I thought it would be fun to document his growth against one of the biggest things in my house. My 62" large screen tv. So every Monday or every other Monday I took a picture of him in front of it. The past couple of months I haven't been able to, but this week I did. So this is the latest picture of Gun's growth. (I think I may soon be looking for something bigger to compare him to)

The picture below was taken New Year's Day. You can see how much he's grown since then. WOW


And this was the picture that started it all. He had been with me 5 days here.



Last Wednesday I attended my first meeting with the Great Dane Club of the Mid South. It was great. I had such a wonderful time and met some terrific people. I'm looking forward to the next meeting all ready. At the meeting I finally got to meet Connie Adams. We had been emailing back and forth for a little while and so getting to sit and talk face to face was a lot of fun. By the way, her office at Georgia Tech is beautiful.

Also last Wednesday Gunthers certificate for his Canine Good Citizen came in the mail. We now have 4 certificates for him, 3 from obedience classes and then the CGC. Now we are going to start Rally training.

Speaking of Rally training. We have actually been working on many of the different commands, so I am hoping that he will do well with it. Right now the only problem he has is when he sits front he doesn't get close enough to me. His official training starts this Saturday.

Here is an interesting timing for you. Gunther has two sisters that are in the area that are taken to work with their owner everyday. He is an attorney in the area. Last night one of my new knitting students works there in the office with "those large puppies." I've wanted to go see them for some time and compare then to how Gunther's has grown and she said I could come by any time. That's pretty cool.

He's a big boy

I only have a few minutes but I wanted to really quick post Gunther's new weight. At 9 months he is 115 pounds and is 32" at the shoulders.

Pictures coming soon!

He's all smiles

Gunther is all smiles because, HE DID IT. Last night he passed all 10 requirements for his AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. Gun of course did fine, I was the nervous one.

I'm going to miss our Thursday night classes. They were always a lot of fun and Greg is an excellent trainer. Two other ladies in the class and myself had also been in the Basic Obedience class so we formed wonderful friendships. Hopefully we are all going to be joining the Rally class, so we can "hang out" again.

Ok, enough of me. Gunther news. Along with his certification, the Gun-man had come up with a few more little cute things. I believe that I've all ready mentioned getting the ice cubes from the freezer door, and the sticking his head in the sick when the faucet is on to get water, if not, consider yourself up to date on Gun. LOL. Now for the new stuff. In his crate he has a blanket, and on his chair he has a blanket. Lately he will get one of them, sometimes both and lay it out on the floor, to lay down on. What's funny about it, is he doesn't just drop it, he lays it down and then kind of spreads it out, then lays on it. Then when I tell him to go lay down, he goes to that blanket and lays right down. So no matter where we are in the house, if I give him that command he goes off to his blanket. The other new funny he is doing, is the blanket that is on his chair is small, so I've caught him walking through the house carrying the small blanket with him. Sometimes he will sling it over his back and walk around the house "covered." I'll try to get pictures of this. LOL.

Monday is his day to get weighed so I'll post that as soon as I get the info.

Have a great weekend!

Ok, so I gave in.

Well I couldn't resist. I did good to hold off as long as I did. ROTFL. We don't know if we should call him the "Easter Gunny" or "Gunny Bunny". LOL. 

New Friends

Gunther and I have some new friends. ;-) Connie A. is the new President of Georgia Great Dane Club of the Mid-South. She has some beautiful Danes. Rosie is 11 years old, then there are the sisters, Sierra and Gracie, and the princess, Abbi, (who will be breeding this summer, I will definitely be watching this litter. She's a fantastic Mantle), and last but by no means least, Wilson. One look at Wilson and you are hooked on Danes. He looks like he is the type of guy that will always bring a smile to your face.

I am so looking forward to meeting everyone at the next Mid-South meeting and learning everything I can for Gunther. The timing is so perfect because I'm signing him up for Rally classes and their next topic with speaker is on Rally. I just can't wait.

Unfortunately I couldn't go to the big show in Perry, GA. over the weekend. I was so bummed about it. I kept looking at my watch and was telling people around me, "well the Danes are showing now." etc. I know people around me had to be avoiding me at times. LOL. There was a seminar on breeding that had so much information I wanted to hear and of course I have a ton of questions.

Gunther did have a wonderful Easter. I refrained from putting bunny ears on him and taking tons of pictures. He did get a few new toys from the Easter Bunny and had a great time with ripping out the squeaky parts. He's pretty good about bringing me the insides and then taking off with the actual toy part. It's almost like he knows he can't have them.

Hope your Easter was fun too.

Some times no news is...

Gunther has been wonderful over the past couple of weeks since my last post. I on the other hand have been so busy that it took a migraine this week to slow me down and boy did it. It hit Tuesday morning, I woke up with it and today I still have a little pain. But everyday has gotten better. On my worse days Gunther stayed right by me and at a few points where he needed to be out of the room, he stayed at the door. This was my first really bad headache since I got him.

Last night we got back to his obedience class. The week before my son turned 17 so of course we had to party and celebrate. Gun did pretty good. I think he liked being back there. We have two more classes and then Gun will test for his Good Citizen Certification. That will be cool. I hate that we won't be working with Greg after that. He is a wonderful instructor and reads Gunther really well. Of course we all know, Gunther has his act together, it's me that needs the training. LOL. I was thinking on the way home from class last night that it's been 10 years since I worked with any dog in training, whether it was basics or schultzhund. I'm rusty.

I'm a little bummed because it looks like I won't be able to go to the HUGE dog show in Perry, GA. This weekend. There is just way too much going on here. It will be ok, I'll get over it. Everything happens for a reason.

This morning I found this link to Pet First Aid. I hope you never need it but if you do it's a wonderful resource of information.

Take Care,

8 Months Today

Gunther is 8 months today. I think he's beautiful. (of course)


This morning (in the rain) I traveled a little south of where I live to see a dog show. Actually I went just to see the Great Danes show. It was pretty interesting. I seen some young Danes show for the first time. That was funny because one of them didn't behave too well. LOL. None of the dogs had natural ears, which is accepted in the AKC. There was one female Harl, one Black, 2 Brindle (they should have placed better but the handler wasn't too good), 2 Blue and about 5 Fawns. Of course they were in different groups and ages, etc. But I learned a lot. It was an opportunity to talk with different Dane owners and find out whether the Gun-man would be able to hold his own. I'm going back tomorrow with Gunther, I confirmed a couple of appointments with long time breeders/handlers to look at my boy.

Gunther and Cast Iron Sergeant

Finally after several months. It's here. The photo of Gunther and his father. This is Cast Iron Sergeant. He is 5 years old. I think he is amazing and he is the reason why I wanted Gunther. I've known him for a few years now and if I could I'd sneak over to Jay's house and take this dog. He is wonderful. I hope that Gunther grows up to be like him. 

New picture

After I finished doing a little work in the garden this afternoon, GT and Gunther came out with me to play with Gun's tennis ball. When he got done he went over next to my magnolia tree and sat down. After missing so many great pictures of him because I didn't have my camera with me, I learned and this time was able to catch him being cute. 

What a relief

The past few weeks my nerves have been a little frayed. Between the dailey routine, schedules changing, a few work related problems, Gunther's foot and his reaction to the medicine, it's been intense. But, Thursday night was a relief. For me and I think for Gunther. He started his Intermediate Obedience. It felt so good working with him again in that environment. There were 3 other dogs this time (I'm sure more will be there next week) and we had a great time. Gunther did great, I on the other hand messed up, but I have a valid reason, ok, excuse. LOL.

We were working on Sit/Stay then walking about 35 feet away and giving the Come command. Gunther did great, but when I gave the Come command, my 105 pound puppy came running at me with the look in his eye that there was only one thing he wanted. TO JUMP UP ON ME. I turned to the side waiting for the train to collide with me. LOL. So the next time, I did better, not perfect yet, but better. We've been working on it and I'm getting more comfortable with it. The other dogs in the class did so good. It's always a thrill for me to watch dogs in obedience. I personally think that humans always underestimate the ability of dogs.

Gunther's foot is doing better. He still has a little limp only when he trots. Yesterday I noticed that even the limp was some better. The only other news about his foot is that I am taking him to a different vet for a second opinion. Will keep the blog posted.