WE GOT A PUPPY!
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Yes, you read that right! Be prepared for lots of snuggles and slobber on LMents of Style. I know I feature my cats all the time, but now all of you dog people have "someone to relate to" too;) We got a Great Dane puppy and his name is Dionysus, but we are calling him Dino. (DEE-NO). Follow me on Instagram to keep up with all the puppy love on my profile, as well as my Instastories! ANYWAY, let's start with the story!
Nick has wanted a Great Dane since before I met him. He loves them for the size, beauty and lovable personalities. I love dogs in general, so I'm pretty agreeable when it comes to breed or lack there of. Getting a Great Dane is something we've always talked about, but last fall we really started considering it, so I began researching where we could get one. I originally was looking at White Kisses Great Dane Rescue - for like 6+ months I've stalked their page. (and will continue to do so!) They are great people and a wonderful organization. We actually met a dog of theirs in January that we considered adopting, but it just didn't feel right - we didn't click with the dog and just timing in general. I always have felt led to rescue rather than just buy (we "rescued" Cat from my sister's college house, and Elliot from Dallas Pets Alive), but the struggle with White Kisses is that the majority of their dogs are in Lubbock. Nick and I just could never make it out that far (it's a 5+ hour drive) and the puppies rarely came through Dallas. Nick really wanted a puppy rather than an older dog, because he wanted to raise it obviously, but Danes don't usually live very long and he wanted to have as much time as possible - like 8-10 years is the normal lifespan.
Last Friday night I had a dream that we got a male black and white Great Dane, so naturally I told Nick about it Saturday morning. Still laying in bed, I then started searching for Great Dane puppies on craigslist, which is actually something I've been doing pretty frequently recently. (lol) Anyway, I think I got up to go make breakfast and handed my phone to Nick, who continued searching. When I came back, he said he had found some and messaged the people about seeing them THAT NIGHT. Soooo we did! We drove out to Weatherford, TX to see their pups! They originally had 14 puppies and were down to 5 males. They were honestly all sweet and well mannered - it was just a very different experience from when we had met with other dogs. We clicked with the animals and it just seemed like the right time. We took some time to think and pray about it, and that Sunday night, we decided it was a YES. Fast forward to this past Tuesday night and Dino became OURS.
Monday night we scurried around and to get all of the essentials and tried to puppy proof our home. Tuesday night, we drove to Weatherford to pick up our baby boy! It took about an hour and a half to get there because of traffic, which was a LONG TIME for my stomach to get butterflies and be anxious. Neither Nick nor I have ever had a dog before, so I was a little nervous. My junior year of college, my roommate Hannah had a sweet chocolate lab that I helped out with from time to time, but other than that, I have 0 experience. I'm just that girl who always asks if I can pet your dog! No really. I prefer animals over some people. If I'm in a large group or party, I like to go find the animals and hang out with them instead, haha.
So we get him and Nick puts him in my lap to ride home. A million thoughts went through my head. "Wait, so he really is mine, I don't have to give him back?" "Wait, I don't know what to even do with dogs. Am I even scratching him right? I only know cats. Is this how dog people feel around cats?!" Yeah, I know. I'm #crazy. We had already planned to stop halfway so he could get out and go to the bathroom if he needed to, but we weren't fast enough. We literally had already exited the highway and were waiting at a light to turn and stop at a park and he THREW UP his entire dinner. Poor baby! Luckily, we caught it all in the towel, but I had to sit for a bit, with some moist, warm towel on my leg. #fun. He walked around a bit after that, and then we headed straight home.
I apologize already for any typos in this post, because I'm running on like 0 sleep because crate training is reallllll. We have consistently been up a little past midnight because we were trying to get him used to his crate. Hint: He's not yet... He's really only peed and pooped inside the house thus far, but let's home it's just an acclimation thing and we can get him adapted soon! He did poop outside for me yesterday, so there is hope! He's SO sweet and i can't wait for y'all to see him grow. His dad is only 1 year old and 135 pounds and NOT DONE GROWING. As far as my other 2 babies...the cats haven't met him yet. Prayers appreciated ;)
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If you want the quick and dirty deets, here you go!
What kind of dog is he? He is a purebred Great Dane! We will not be cropping his ears or docking his tail.
What is his name? Dionysus! Dionysus is the Greek God of wine and harvest. Nick loves wine and is Greek, so it just made sense. We felt that it was a regal name for a regal beast! We won't be calling him that of course...it would be a mouthful when commanding him. We are calling him Dino (DEE-NO) for short.
How old is he? He is 3 months old, this week! (13 weeks)
Where did you get him? Like I mentioned above, we found him on Craig's List. He is from R&D Great Danes. They are seriously the nicest family and have great land for raising pups and such. They really know what they are doing (Great Danes are complicated breeds to say the least) and I'm so glad we found them. As of Tuesday night, Dino still has 4 brothers left if you're interested! This is R&D's first litter and they said they weren't sure if they'd do it again, but if they do, you're in good hands. When we went to the pet store to get supplies, a random lady shopping there heard us talking and asked if we "rescued" him. I kind of felt bad because technically we did go to a breeder, but I didn't seek out one. I honestly was just looking at Craig's List and stumbled up puppies that yes, did happen to be bred. ALSO, he only cost $100 more than if we had rescued him from White Kisses, so there really wasn't a price difference there.
But you live in an apartment?? Yep! We live in a spacious 2 bedroom apartment. Great Danes are big, but they don't need a lot of space. They are pretty lazy by nature; exercising them too much is actually bad. The only annoying thing right now is that we live up flights of stairs, but Nick coached him on how to walk them, so I think we are good.
You have two cats?? Haha yes. Right now we are keeping the separate. When we let Dino out, we shut the cats in our master bedroom/bathroom. Once we crate him, we shut the guest bedroom door and let the cats roam. They have smelled his scent, but haven't really been acting crazier than usual. We'll see when we actually introduce them. We are planning to do it maybe in a week? We will leash Dino and let them in the same room for 10ish minutes, supervised. We'll see, I guess! I have a feeling that Elliot will be fine in time. Cat will probably hate it. Pray for us?!
Are you training him? That's the plan! We haven't enrolled him yet. I would love if we could get him registered as a therapy dog and take him to hospitals and such. I'm not sure of the requirements on that.
What are you feeding him? Diamond Naturals. That's what he has been fed since he was weened and it's what his parents eat. We will also feed him certain meats and bones from our butcher.
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Nick keeps asking me if I'm excited and I say YES! But it really hasn't sunk in yet that we have a dog, plus my excitement is masked by butterflies. Danes are not your average dog, so I'm actually really anxious! If they eat too fast, they can get "Bloat". If you feed them to much, they'll walk weird. Great Dane puppies CANNOT eat normal puppy food. It has too much protein and will make them grow too fast. You can over exercise them and it can be bad. Do you want me to keep going?! (lol) Also, I realized I have NO IDEA how to hold a large dog. I can pick up cats and small dogs no problem. But Dino is solid allll the way through, not slinky-like, like a cute and fuzzy lap dog. I feel like I'm hurting him anytime I try! Anyway, I'm excited for this new chapter and I hope you are too. Send me your Dane tips if you have any, or any dog tips really! Share your favorite dog brands and stuff like that with me too, anddddd as always, let me know if you want me to cover anything specific, regarding Dino.
Puppy Kisses, y'all! XOXO
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