Life with a 5 1/2 month old Harlequin Great Dane female has been an interesting ride so far. Besides the obvious- being tall and strong and majestic- she's also silly and sweet and beautiful-- and ALL DANE. So this is what I've learned from my beautiful sweet girl...
1. She leans- which all Danes do, it's a sign of affection. She especially does this when you pat her side. And if you move when she is leaning, she will stumble over.
2. She hates her vet. All dogs are a great judge of character, and if they don't like you- they're not going to give you the time of day and they're especially not going to let you touch them. Paisley sees whoever is available at her vet, and we have found that there is one vet she really doesn't like. The vet was trying to exam her and give her a shot, and Paisley was unruly and squirmy. They vet proceeded to lecture us for ten minutes about socializing her with other people and messing with her ears and nose and mouth and feet. Josh wanted to say, "Maybe she just doesn't like you." We exam her nose and ears and teeth, as well as her paws when Josh is clipping her nails-- and she gives us no problems. We socialize her as much as we can and does well with other people and dogs, so maybe it's the vet she doesn't like. There is one other vet that Paisley likes b/c the vet gets down on her level and plays with her and loves on her. PLUS if she's getting a shot, do you really think she's going to just sit there and let you do it? She's just like a human child in that aspect.
3. She loves to be in competition with herself. Give her a toy and watch as she picks it up, lays in the middle of the floor, and runs back and forth as hard as she can to pick it up. Sometimes she succeeds and sometimes she doesn't. It's the funniest thing to watch her do.
4. She LOVES to be scratched behind her ears. Scratch back there and watch the eyes get sleepier and sleepier.
5. She can sit and stay before feeding or while getting weighed. She can give you High Five, and she's learning not to bark at other people (which is a process). We're trying to teach her not to pull, which again is a process when she sees something she wants, but we're getting there.
6. If she sits on it, it's hers. This can range from her chair, to the couch, to me or Josh. She's so tall that it's nothing for her to walk by something and sit her on a chair or the couch while her front paws are still on the floor. Josh was winding down, getting ready to go to sleep. Paisley was on the bed and down went her butt on top of Josh, totally oblivious that he was laying there. Yesterday she plopped down on Branson, as if to say, "I want to sit here, so you can move or I can sit on you."
7. She gets really silly when it snows or when the weather is warm outside-- self explanatory.
8. She gives the greatest hugs and kisses.
9. When she sits down, her head is at my hip bone. I still realize that I'm vertically challenged so everything is bigger to me than it really is, but still I love that she's so tall. And yes I realize she will be bigger than me and will feel the need to pull me everywhere, but that's why we're teaching her the things we're teaching her.
10. And last but not least, she was destined to be our dog. Getting Paisley has been an issue with certain people ever since we got her. They think we're not fit or responsible or "rich" enough to have her. Here's my issue with that.. while we may live in an apartment and not be as well-off as others, there is nothing we wouldn't do for any of our dogs. We do whatever it takes to make sure our dogs are happy and healthy. And most importantly, we love our dogs unconditionally.. so with all due respect, if THAT makes us unfit as parents, then maybe that's your own insecurity and not ours. And again with all due respect while we may not have human children, we do have four-legged children, and we worry about them and love them just the same. We raise them to be decent adult dogs in public and at home. We worry when they get sick or have surgery. We have to potty-train them and teach them manners.
