Zeus in the Rain

The words Zeus and Rain do NOT go well together... I know most dogs don't like rain, but I have to wonder if Zeus is different than most dogs. He can't stand water! Of course, he loves to drink water out of his bowl, but anything else is like putting Superman and Kryptonite together! Puddles? Forget it! He won't walk puddles. He'll walk around them or jump over them - every time!
With the weather being as rainy as it has been today, I'm reminded of how difficult it is to take Zeus outside when it's a rainy day. Just an hour ago, I take him out against his will, he walks around about 20 paces, squats to pee (yeah, he still squats) and then bounces right back up ready to trot to the door and call it a day. 'Uh uh, Buster, there's still some REAL business to be done'. So I give him the sign for bathroom, which he knows well, and we forge on to another area for him to 'lay some tracks'. He must've realize I was serious so he quickly gets in to his tripod stance, shakes like he's having an epileptic seizure and sure enough, out comes the real deal! Success :)  As he guides me/pulls me back to the house, I notice that he glances back at me right before we get to the section of the sidewalk where most of it is covered with a long puddle, leaving only about 8" for someone to walk on. Being the gentleman that he is, he walks around the puddle and into the grass so that the leash is actually straddling the puddle while I walk on the 'dry' sidewalk. Is he smart or what?? I thought that was very considerate of him... considering that the other times we've walked in the rain he's had no qualms about walking on the sidewalk and leaving wet grass for me to walk on... He's growing up, my Baby...  :)

Zeus' Mealtime

I'm surprised I haven't written about this yet. It just makes me giggle so I have to share it with you!
Zeus loves to eat! I mean he LOVES to eat!! I realize that all dogs love to eat, but I've never seen a dog do what Zeus does.
When I first got Zeus, Steve (who has had a Great Dane for 11 years before I met him) told me that he should be trained to sit and wait for me to put his food bowl in front of him. Why? So that when Zeus is older and B-I-G-G-E-R, he won't knock me over to get to his food bowl. I didn't see it as being that big of a deal, but I trained him anyhow to honor Steve's request. Looking back on things, I'm so glad I did!
We keep Zeus' food in a sealed container in the basement so he can't get to it at his leasure. When I go to the basement, he starts getting excited and wimpers whether I'm going down with the intention of getting his food or just to do laundry. If he sees me carry his empty bowl down the basement stairs, he paces back and forth at the top of the landing just watching me. One time, I sent my daughter to get his food and when she came to the top of the stairs with his bowl, he was so excited he stuck his nose in the bowl and he ended up knocking the bowl out of her hand and the food spilled out all over the stairs. I was so proud of her for not getting angry. We calmly cleaned up the food together while Zeus laid down watching us... waiting to be fed. So now, when we get to the top of the stairs, we hold the bowl behind our backs so he can't get too close to it. This makes him back away from the stairs and he immediately goes over to his food stand and waits for us. When I take his food bowl towards his food stand (large dogs typically have their food bowls elevated so they don't have to bend down too far to get to their food and water), I stand in front of him and give him the hand command for 'sit'. He quickly sits and then I put the food bowl in the stand. Sometimes he is so ready for his food, he sits before I even give him the command. Then he watches me so closely... and stares at me. We look at each other eye-to-eye... and he will NOT move out of his sitting position until I give him a hand gesture that says he can go to his food bowl while at the same time I nod my head. In these few seconds that he's waiting for the 'ok' he drools! Literally drools. It's so strangely adorable to see. Usually his drool will just come out of one side of his mouth. This morning it came out of both sides of his mouth. It was so cute yet there's a part of me that feels sorry for him to know that he's so hungry and so anxious to eat every morsel of his food. And he DOES eat every morsel of food at every meal.
I just had to share this  - it just tickles me to watch him drool for his food.  If only I could get my kids to be as anxious about eating vegetables :)

I Thought I Might Kill Him

Last year, when Zeus was still quite young, we lived in a small house we were renting. Most of my time was being spent at work (I was working at a wellness center then) and my oldest son, age 19 then, was not working and spent most his time home. I left my son in charge of my puppy. Little did I know that was a HUGE mistake. My son really didn't like Zeus and completely resented the fact that I bought him even though the majority of the family was against it. His resentment towards Zeus was noticeable in how he took care of him... or rather, in the lack of how he took care of him.
Being just a puppy, Zeus took great pleasure in finding and ruining things in the house. It was his 'Search and Destroy' game... Anything he could get in his mouth was destroyed. At one point he came to realize that the bathroom trash was filled with exciting goodies! On a couple of occasions, I would come home and find the bathroom trash was spilled over, rummaged through and spread around the bathroom and the hallway. Not so bad, and fairly easy to clean up...But the rule became: Close the bathroom door so the dog can't get in!! Pretty easy right?? Apparently, not easy enough. One day in particular, I came home to a complete disaster! My son was gone. I have no idea when he left the house, but he did NOT close the bathroom door. I came home from work to find the bathroom trash spread ALL OVER the downstairs, toilet paper pulled off the roll and dragged through the bathroom, the hallway AND the living room... and the toilet bowl cleaner was chewed, opened up and spilled all over the living room carpet!! I was furious!! I couldn't decide if I should scream, laugh or cry... I did all three! I must've looked like a lunatic, talking out loud to myself, having imaginary conversations with my son, my deaf dog, myself and God... It took me over an hour to clean up the mess and wash out the carpet. Our living room smelled like a fresh toilet for weeks, it was a strangely refreshing aroma :) I can't even remember the words I had with my son after that, but I know I threatened something near and dear to him (probably his laptop) and it never happened again. And by the way, the 'him' I thought of killing... I think it could've easily been either Zeus OR my son... Thank God I love them both dearly and decided to let them both live :)

Our Prayers May Have Been Answered:)

OK, if you've read this blog since the beginning, you know we're having problems with Zeus' shit... no pun intended. It seems to go from nice and solid to stench and mush. This has been going on for the last 4 months or so and to deal with it, I've been cooking rice to mix in with his dog food. Now... he's been on some good quality dog food for over a year. It's Natural Balance and the flavor is Venison and Sweet Potato, a 28 lb. bag costs $55... That's expensive stuff... but he's worth it :)  The whole reason we put him on this stuff was diarrhea - he had diarrhea probably around this time last year and we asked his doctor what might be causing it. She said food sensitivity. See, I didn't realize it at first, but when I took Zeus to his vet for the first time after I bought him, she told me that deaf dogs tend to have a really weak immune system (wish I'd known that BEFORE I bought him!) and they usually have more health issues... It was at that time I saw this little thought bubble over my head with a picture of me paying thousands of dollars for vet bills and medications... Anyhow, we asked her opinion on what food he should be eating and then went dog food shopping at some different stores and asked managers for their opinions as well. We ended up loving the help at Pet Saver in Greece. The manager there really seemed to know her 'shit' about dog food and we followed her advice. She said he probably needed a grain free diet because most likely he's allergic to grains. She also said that sweet potato helps dry up diarrhea. She showed us a few different brands, pointed out what flavors would be good for Zeus and we ended up with the Natural Balance. All was good in our world for almost a year. His stool was solid, he had very little gas and everyone was happy in Poopsville  :)  Until 4 months ago...
We couldn't figure out what was causing his diarrhea to act up again. We went to the vet's office, had his anal gland expressed a couple of times thinking it was impacted again. We put him on steroids and antibiotics a couple of times. He's been on rice and dog food and one day he's got solid poop, 3 days later it's mush again. The madness has been driving me crazy. Calgon, Take Me Away!! Remember those commercials?? Well, that's me lately...
So, I decided to start asking about food again. I talked to the owner of Orchard Kennel about his diarrhea and his food. She suggested that we put him on grain free food (during our conversation I didn't remember that he's already on grain free food) so she gave me a spiel about why grain free is best. I took her info and went back to Pet Saver and spoke to the people that were there. I didn't see the manager who had helped us last year, but all 3 of the people I DID speak to said the same thing: grain free is NOT best for sensitive stomachs. Grain actually firms up the stool and clears up the diarrhea. I was told the best food would be one without fruits or vegetables, the fewer the ingredients the better. So I was shown a food that literally has 2 ingredients: lamb and rice. It's called California Natural. A 30 lb. bag costs $44 and because it's so few ingredients, they said that it won't take weeks to switch him over gradually. It'll be more like days... Oh Happy Day!! This is a win-win situation... if this works... I'm very hopeful that it will. Everything they said makes alot of sense to us. AND at 4:00 in the morning Zeus had to go to the bathroom since he hadn't gone all day... AND IT WAS SOLID POOP!! Yeah!! :)

We share some similarities

... as humans and dogs. We wear sunglasses, so do dogs. We eat 3 meals a day, so do dogs. We like to make our loved ones happy, so do dogs. After walking around barefoot our feet get dirty, so do dog's feet. Humans can get into the yoga pose called downward facing dog, and so do dogs (hence the pose's name). However, I also notice a number of differences in us. Such as when MY feet are dirty I wash them like a civil human being with soap and water or in the shower. Dogs lick their feet cleaned (thank GOD we don't have to do that too!). Also, when I do downward facing dog, my back cracks... several times. When Zeus does HIS downward facing dog, he farts...several times!! It's a good life being human...  :)

We Gotta Go Back to the Vet

OK, we are STILL having issues with Zeus' poop! For almost 2 months now (seems more like forever) we've been feeding him chicken and rice until his diarrhea goes away. Then we give him 1/2 rice with 1/4 chicken and 1/4 dog food. Once the 'stuff' is firmer, he gets 1/2 rice and 1/2 dog food. I can't even remember the last time he had a full meal of just dog food!
This morning already he's gone out twice for 'dooky time' and they've both been mush. The second 'drop' even had some blood in it! Steve is thinking we should have his anal gland removed. That just screams FUTURE PROBLEMS to me... We were told that if his diarrhea didn't clear up it's possible he has allergies and the vet wants to test him for those, which runs $170 just for the test. Then if he tests positive, he'll be prescribed allergy shots which we'd have to administer daily!! I can't even imagine how much that'll cost!
Here's another issue he needs to see the vet for. He's got really long and thick toe nails. We can't clip them ourselves - he won't let us. Trust me, we've tried and it's not pretty... There's this one nail in particular that scratches up against the pad of the toe next to it and makes it bleed. It doesn't matter what the length of the nail is and it doesn't happen all the time. It's when he runs. He loves running and I know it's good for him to get that kind of exercise... but when he runs, he comes in the house and leaves blood everywhere he steps. Last night we had another episode of "The Bloody Paw" (sounds like a horror flick, right?) and didn't notice it right away. Finally, my daughter says "Oh my God, he's bleeding! Mom, there's blood everywhere." And sure enough, we ended up bandaging up his toe with gauze and medical tape then proceeded to clean up blood stains on the hard wood floors, the carpet in the living room, the ottoman and the ceramic tile in the bathroom... Let me just say that Formula 409 Carpet Spot & Stain Remover is an AWESOME product!! But I wish I didn't need it for blood stains from my dog's toe... I'm actually thinking of asking the vet if that one toe nail can be removed. Sounds horrible, I know... but drastic times call for drastic measures...

Freckles on Dogs?

When we first got Zeus, his nose was as pink as a baby's butt! Just take a look at the large photo above! When he was somewhere around 8 months old, we started to notice 3 dark pink dots on his nose right around the fur line. We washed them, scrubbed them and even tried to scratch them off. I was convinced that they were dirt spots at first. Then when they didn't come off, I thought maybe they were some type of bug that embeds itself into dog's skin. That grossed me out and I stopped kissing him for awhile... But these dots got darker... and larger... then darker again... and even larger! At some point, it dawned on us that he was getting freckles! I had no idea dogs could get freckles but I'm so glad they do cause they're so damn cute! As a puppy he always had one big black spot on the left side of his nose. It kinda looks like a big booger. But NOW he's got several small ones all over his nose. One day a few weeks ago, I saw some dirt inside his nostrils so I got out a Q-tip to clean them out... and low-and-behold... the dirt was a bunch of freckles, too! So he's got little freckles inside his nostrils. You know how while your kids are growing you don't notice it so much because you see them every day? You don't notice their growth until someone else sees them for the first time in a long time and comments about it? Well, same thing is true with Zeus. We hadn't really noticed all the new freckles and spots he's been getting over the past year until recently someone else pointed it out to us how many little spots he has. He's looking more and more like a Dairy Cow as time goes on.  ~Moo~

Is It a Tail or a Whip?

It all depends on the moment, really... Zeus has a 26" tail. That's pretty darn long!! There are times when his tail is just a tail. It's got a cute curl to it about 8" from the tip. And when he's scared or nervous he tucks it between his legs so that the skinny part of it curls right next to his stomach. It's amazing how he has such precise control over such a long tail!
But there are times, and these are painful times, when that tail is swinging back and forth, to and fro and even up and down and IT HURTS!! It's hard to get out of the way when that thing is in motion. And it's even harder to try to push him away when it's in motion... What has shocked me from the get go is how he swings his tail into stuff... like the tv... and it hits so hard. Not only will it hit once, but it'll hit 2, 3, or more times. It sounds like it should hurt... but he just keeps swinging it! And he's whipping it really hard and fast...I know he can't hear the sound it makes, but I would think severe pain would sting through his body and he would stop the madness!! When he gets his tail swinging, all hell breaks lose. He only does it when he's playing or chasing his tail (go figure). And when either of these 2 things are happening anything can go wrong. I've been whipped in the butt, the thigh, the crotch and the eye, believe it or not! I can't even remember all the things he's knocked over or knocked off tables... He should come with a warning:

WARNING!

This dog may be hazardous to your health

It may bite you, step on your toes and whip you

It may knock you over if you have unstable balance

It may piss and shit on your floors

The Attorney General suggests you may want to wear

protective gear while around the animal

Including Gloves, Safety Glasses, Steel Toe boots and a Jock Strap

Strange Positions

What IS that?? Well, that's the view I get when I lay on the floor and do sit-ups. Those are Zeus' lips dangling over me and upside down. I can't seem to do any exercises on the floor without him hovering over me, literally. Unless he's sleeping. I try to time my workouts so that he IS sleeping for just this reason. My daughter and I were both laying on the floor doing sit-ups and we BOTH got out our cameras and took photos. It was fun... We had a work out and a lot of laughs!  :)

Zeus' Paw-decure

It's been difficult keeping Zeus' nails clipped. He does NOT like us clipping them so we've taken him in to have them done at a couple of local grooming shops. It's not pretty! We have a hard time getting him into the shops cause he knows exactly why he's there. So it's a matter of dragging him in through the door and trying to control him enough to turn him over to the groomers... Dragging a 140 lb. dog... Yeah, right!! It's more like a game of Tug-of-War in my opinion!

The last time we took him into the vet we asked them to clip his nails while he was there and they did a FANTASTIC job. So naturally, that's where I took him yesterday when he needed them clipped again. As soon as we got to the vet's office, Zeus started to freak out in the car. I pulled into a parking space and a man randomly walks over to my car, peaks into the window and takes a look at Zeus who is standing up in the back seat of my Dodge Intrepid. The guy says "Wow, you don't have any back seat LEFT with him in it!" I replied "Yeah, I need a new vehicle that'll fit my Great Dane." He laughed and I thought I'm not kidding... So I'm able to get Zeus out of my car and into the vet's office and we spent about 15 minutes waiting for his name to be called. All the while I get to listen to all the comments the other pet owners throw at me in reference to my dog: "Wow, he's huge" ... "I've never seen a dog that big" ... "How much does he eat?" ... "What do you give him for treats? Rabbits?" ... "How old is he?" ... "Is he full grown?" ... and so forth.

Once we finally get called in for his 'pedicure', I hand over his leash to the vet tech and off he goes. About 2 minutes later, the same vet tech comes back out and says "He's not happy and we can't work with him. Do you have signs you use to tell him to sit and stay?" And I said "Yes, would you like me to come back with you?" And she said "Yes"... So I followed her back to where they were trying to hold him still... and he was terrified. I could see it in his eyes... I told him in signs that he was 'ok' and told him to sit. He sat down, and the ladies (there were 4 of them) thought it was amazing... Zeus buried his face in my stomach and I rubbed and scratch behind his ears and under his chin. He was still afraid, but my presence made it much easier for him. It ended up taking 4 women to hold him steady and one clipped his nails. What took about 10 minutes total felt like half an hour! By the time it was over, we were all covered with his white fur  :)

Owning a Great Dane requires speed, agility and balance...

They certainly don't mention this in the Great Dane Ownership Manual - but it is very true!! I can't tell you how many times my years of yoga have saved me from disaster where Zeus is concerned. Dogs are quick and they can be sneaky... I can see it in Zeus' eyes when he's scoping something out, thinking about eating an abandoned morsel of food on the counter. He'll look at the food, he'll look at me, he'll look back at the food... waiting for me to turn my back. Remember - he's 38" tall at the chin and my counter tops are only 36 " tall... so he can see everything on the counter and he's certainly able to reach it, too!!
The problem isn't just that his head is above the tops of the counter tops, but also since he can't hear me, I can't just say "Zeus... I SEE you. No, no... no!!" and have him look at me and then walk away. So this is what happens: he looks at the food, looks at me, looks at the food and if I'm not able to walk over to him quick enough to touch him and distract him, he'll snatch the food. However, I can't even remember how many times I've been able to intercept his attempt while I'm washing dishes, my hands or preparing food at the sink. I glance back at him, see that he's eyeballing something and with a quick raise of my leg and a swift tap or push with my foot, I'm able to save the morsel. It's kind of like a TaeKwondo move. There have been times when I'm eating lunch or something quick in between clients and I'm also switching over loads of laundry while Zeus is asleep in the living room. I assume that he's going to stay asleep, I put my lunch on the counter and run down into the basement... and next thing I notice are his big feet shuffling around upstairs -thank goodness for hard floors. I quickly drop what I'm doing, run up the basement stairs (usually skipping every other step) and pounce into the kitchen just in time to grab my lunch before he does!
On several other occasions, my agility has come into play while defending my cats. I have one cat who's kinda slow, mentally, and another who is paranoid and skittish. The slow one, Mittzy, lays down anywhere and everywhere and big 'ole Zeus comes trotting through like a bull in a china shop paying no attention to who or what is in his path. He's stepped on Mittzy I don't know HOW many times! And the skittish cat? That's Smokey... he's so nervous around Zeus that sometimes watching him try to escape Zeus' giant legs and paws I feel like I'm watching a squirrel that sees the car coming but keeps going back and forth not really sure which is the safest direction to run to... My job as the 'Keeper of all Peace' is to save the felines from pain and mental torture. So what do I do? I pick whichever one is about to be obliterated, hold it in my arms like a football and throw a stiff arm at Zeus to keep him at a distance. See, when he was a puppy he would torture the cats, chasing them around the house everywhere. We would pick up whichever one was being tortured and run with it in our arms and take it to a safe spot - which was usually just the other side of the gate we used to keep Zeus from going upstairs. This daily ritual became a game to Zeus and he would try to nip at the cats while they were in our arms during their rescue. Still to this day, there are some times he wants to play a quick game of Cat & Mouse and when he sees me pick up the cat he'll come at it in my arms. I've been known to react with a quick karate kick at him to fend him off. One time my motion was so quick I even hurt my hip! OWWEEE!!

Zeus CAN hear!!

At least he can hear some things!! We've had Zeus since April of 2009 and we were told by the breeder that he's deaf... completely deaf. Before I decided to get Zeus, I did on-line research about owning deaf dogs and what to expect. I read that although they're deaf, they may react to certain sounds that cause vibration... Since having Zeus, I find myself being much more aware of what noises make vibration. The lower the pitch, the stronger the vibration... However, some of the noises that Zeus reacts to are actually higher pitches. MUCH higher. I remember the first time Zeus 'heard' sound; one night I was putting away dishes and a couple of pans clanked together... HE FREAKED OUT!! Barking over and over and looking around with a startled looked on his face. I thought maybe that was a vibration thing... but since then he's had the same reaction over different things. He's been startled from the snapping noise when we put his collar on him, the clicking noise our computer chair makes when we get out of it and some other random sounds caused by daily living. I have a friend who is deaf but she can hear with hearing aides. I told her about this and she said that without her hearing aides on, SHE can hear certain pitches and not others, also!
Since we can't always control the pitches of sounds in our house, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing for Zeus. I DO know it's gotta be confusing as heck for him! Imagine your day being spent without hearing sounds... and then out of the blue you hear something that you have no idea what it is or where it came from. It must scare him every time it happens... which is why he reacts with barking and fear in his eyes. It makes me sad :(

We love Orchard Kennels

www.orchardkennels.com

We just got back from our honeymoon and had a wonderful time. While we were away we wondered how Zeus was doing at the kennel. Recently we took off for a weekend with the kids and took him to a kennel in Mendon. We assumed because of location all things would go great... We were wrong! He came home dirty, stinky, with scabs on his legs, his elbows were raw and his whole disposition was showing fear and stress. We were sick to our stomachs that we'd left our baby at a kennel that didn't take good care of him... However, we went away for New Year's Eve and took him to Orchard Kennels in Walworth for 2 overnights and we were happy with their care for him then, so we took him back there for our honeymoon. And again, we are so satisfied with how he looked when we picked him up. He's clean as a whistle, he smells like he was bathed (although we didn't ask them to bathe him) and he seems to be very happy and content. What a difference! And the other kennel charged us to walk him and to have someone sit with him for 'alone time'. When we picked him up, they admitted that they were all afraid of him so he hadn't been walked (and I highly doubt that someone sat down with him if they were afraid of him). They (the bad kennel) charged us over $73 for 2 overnights, and Orchard Kennels charged $86 for 4 overnights! Plus, Orchard Kennels specializes in caring for large dogs so all their kennels are big. And... get this... they have a heated floor so during the winter the dogs are on heated flooring!
We did call and inform the owner of 'the bad kennel' of the problems we experienced taking Zeus to her kennel and she was apologetic and DID refund our money. We felt that was very honorable of her... but we won't take Zeus back there again.

The Shuffler

This has become Zeus' other name... The Shuffler... We give all, or at least most, of our loved ones nick names: Honey, Baby, Munchkin, Beaner, Muffin, Lover... The list goes on forever. These are terms of endearment we use for our spouses and our children. We also create nicknames for our pets - and these names are usually derived by the animal's name or personality and typical activities. Growing up we had a large cat whose name was McDuff, but we called him Dude because he was just so lovable and lazy and we had his sister whose name was O'Mailey and we called her Maggie - I think just because it was a cute name for a girl cat. But needless to say, we rarely called them by their real names.

Today I have 2 cats, Smokey and Mittzy, and Zeus. All 3 of our pets have nicknames. Smokey is a.k.a. Barf - because he throws up all the time. I swear he must be Bulimic. As a matter of fact, as I was writing this entry just now, at 4:30 am, I could hear him throwing up in the basement down below... I'm not kidding... Mittzy has a nickname also. Hers is Click - that's because she has a toe pad on her left front paw that is dead. It's hard and deformed so every step she takes with that paw, you can her a 'click' noise when the pad hits the floor. Zeus? Well, quite honestly, Zeus could have many nicknames and has had many nicknames at different times. It has changed as he's changed or gone through phases. We call him Sir Licks-alot because he loves licking his paws. He probably has the cleanest dog paws in Rochester! He's also been nicknamed Stinky... if you've read any of my earlier entries (about his anal gland issues) then there's no reason for me to say anything more... We've also called him Chewbacca - because when he's really trying to get our attention he lets out this whine/moan/whimper that sounds just like it came out of the Star Wars movie! But the best nickname for Zeus is The Shuffler. That's exactly what he does - he shuffles. When he walks, he picks up his front feet to step, but he drags his hind feet, shuffling them along the floor. He makes such a loud noise walking/shuffling through the house, even our guests have noticed it and commented. They find it fascinating. WE find it a little frustrating. He's got HUGE paws and we have hard floor surfaces in 5 rooms downstairs. Since he doesn't go upstairs or in the basement, his life is predominately spent on these 5 hard floor rooms. And he walks around ALOT! We can hear him shuffling around when we're in the basement and he's up above us, too. He even shuffles when he walks outside! I was amazed when I noticed that his paws were dragging on the sidewalk and on the streets! I thought for SURE he only shuffled in the house. I can't imagine it's very comfortable to drag his paws on the pavement, but he does it! You can see him shuffling along - he sort of shimmies his hips back and forth instead of picking up his feet like normal dogs... Although this gives him character, we've also noticed that his hind feet get raw spots and bleed often. We're thinking about getting him some leather boots or something like Converse High Tops to protect his hind paws. That would be so cute!

Dog Owners Should Know Better!!

I am shocked how many people randomly walk up to Zeus and just start petting him! What shocks me even MORE is when the person starts talking to me and they say "...my dog this" or "my dog that"... It surprises me that dog owners don't know enough to be cautious when you walk up to a strange dog, especially a BIG strange dog!

Zeus does not like to be touched on the top of his head by strangers and yet... that's the first place most people go to touch him. It's his vulnerable spot, I guess... When Zeus meets a stranger, he wants to smell him or her first. I believe that's true of ALL dogs actually... But if Zeus smells someone and doesn't like their scent, he will growl, snarl and some times nip. I love it best when a person asks me "is it ok to touch your dog?" and I say "yes, but let him smell you first. Then if he's ok with you, don't touch the top of his head. Touch him under his chin and along his neck." Most of the time, if I get all those words out, the person will respect what I say and do just what I suggest. But every now and then, I'll run into someone who thinks Zeus is just a big lug and he (it's usually the men who do this) will go in for the head rub and start flopping Zeus' ears around... and next thing you know, Zeus will pull his head back and nip at the hand that's in his face. Then I get the slight attitude from the person, like I've created a monster and they back away and leave in fear.

I'm sorry... but if a dog owner tells you not to do something around his or her dog, doesn't common sense prevail and you actually honor what you're told?? I was attacked by a black lab in 5th grade totally out of the blue. I was sitting on a couch, the dog came in and just attacked me. I've always been afraid of dogs ever since and even today, I don't take for granted that Zeus loves me and doesn't want to hurt me. But dogs are unpredictable... and they have been known to attack their own family, or pack, members. All dog owners should know this... :(

Downward Facing Dog

I have heard of classes available for humans to take yoga classes with their dogs... It's true!! Not that I've taken this class nor do I plan on attending anything of the like any time soon (maybe never, actually). But I have to say: I think Zeus is way ahead of the game and he's NEVER taken a class!

When he was just a wee tot (wee.. right!), we created a bed for him out of the bottom half of a small dog crate. We dolled it up with blankets galore so it was soft and comfy... And he'd always end up in these positions. He's more flexible than most dogs, I'm sure of it  :) In these photos he's completely twisted and forming a backwards circle with his nose touching his toes!

This is Zeus at 12 weeks old practicing his Toe-ward Facing Dog

Zeus and his Snuggie :)

For Christmas, Steve's parents gave me a royal blue snuggie... I know exactly what you're thinking and TRUST ME - it was not a gift I asked for! I'm not a 'Snuggie Person' and I had no idea what to do with this good intention gift. One night, Steve put it over Zeus when he was laying down on his bed and he covered him up completely, just letting his head peek out ... Zeus kind of looked surprised, sniffed it a little, then laid his head down. Next... he let out the loudest and longest moan... sort of like us humans make when we've had the longest day of our lives and we've finally retired for the night in freshly cleaned and lavender scented sheets... (that's my fantasy, so leave me alone :)  ). Steve and I looked at each other with BIG eyes, smiled and laughed. It was so cute! And we've let him have my snuggie ever since. Every night (even on some of the hot ones) we cover him up with his snuggie and it's lights out for him. He totally sacks out when it's covering him. Sometimes in the winter he'd wake up in the middle of the night because it had fallen off him and he'd whimper over and over again until one of us got up to cover him with his snuggie again. Once we did, he would lay his head down, moan and it was 'Good Night' all over again... :)

The Super-Duper Great Dane Doorway Gate

So this is what we were faced with: we needed a gate that could withstand the weight of a 150 lb. dog, we needed a gate that was taller than 4 feet and we needed a gate that could be moved easily by all of us in the family. So we bought 4 Luan doors and actually hinged them together. Can you believe that?? We seriously did just that! Since I work from home with clients coming and going, we needed a gate that would keep Zeus away from clients, especially those afraid of large dogs. We needed a gate that he couldn't lean on because more than likely he'd knock it over with his weight and size. We also wanted a gate that wouldn't allow Zeus to see my clients. He's quick to bark at strangers and we didn't want him to know every time someone came into the house. He can't hear them come in, but he can smell them come in. So we figured if we could keep him from seeing people, we could scoot them into my massage room before he'd smell their presence. It works most of the time, but every now and them, someone with a very distinct scent will walk in and Zeus will smell him or her and start barking. But for the most part, this monster size gate has done the trick! We put a plug-in air freshener in his back room so he smells that mostly, and we also run a fan on him so he doesn't notice a change of air from the opening and closing of our front door (these things are typically very easy for deaf dogs to notice: change of air flow, scent of a stranger and also vibrations around the house). I've even put a perfume sprayed t-shirt of mine on his loveseat so he can smell me when he's down there.
Sometimes when the need is big, you gotta think big!

I'm Famous!!

Well... at least I'm known within my community... Honestly? It's more like I'm recognized... Zeus is really quite an awesome creature. He's very tall, very white and his blue eyes really stand out when you look at him. So, once you've seen him, you never forget what he looks like and he's easy to recognize when you see him again, even if it's from a distance.
Last night, I took him for our typical walk/run. It's only about a 25 minute walk (if we don't do any running). We got onto St. Paul Blvd. and after about a minute, a female jogger came towards us, she took off her Ipod ear buds and stopped jogging to say "I see you walking your dog ALL the time... He's SO beautiful!" And I politely thanked her as I held him by the leash and the collar so that he didn't try to get too close to her. Although she thinks he's beautiful, she may not want him to approach her since his large stature can be frightening when his face is only inches from your own... We smiled at each other and then kept going in our opposite directions. Zeus and I jogged down a few streets - not being able to actually see what we look like running side-by-side, I can only imagine how interesting and comical we may look together - me practically sprinting and Zeus just trotting along, as if to humor my pace...
As we got to the end of our run, we are about 6 houses away from our home and a man on a bike comes around a corner from a side street and he shouts out "Hey, Zeus!" Now remember, Zeus can't hear him, so he didn't bother to look at the biker, but I looked at him and smiled saying "Hello"... and I thought to myself... 'I have no idea who that guy is - yet he knows my dog??'
One time about 6 months ago, I went into Breuggers to get lunch and I went through the line ordering and waiting to pay. When I finally got to the register, the manager (who was cashing people out that day) said "How's your puppy?? Is he getting any bigger?" I looked at him and said "you know my dog?" and he replied "Oh yeah, I see you walking him on St. Paul. You can't miss him!"
So this is now my identity... I'm Zeus' Human  :)

Cats and Dogs

I think it's funny to watch Zeus with my 2 cats, Smokey and Mittzy... When we first brought Zeus home, he was just 11 weeks old, but he towered over both the cats. And Smokey didn't like that at all! Smokey is a very independent male cat who wants to dominate the house and for a long time he did just that! He's 6 years old (and Mittzy is 3 and a 1/2) and he's used to dominating her docile self. She's just a lovable lugg and she's easily pushed aroung by Smokey's controlling personality. If she walks by him, he hisses at her. It's pretty sad to watch. But she keeps on doing her thing - which is usually... nothing :) 
Anyhow, Zeus used to chase the cats absolutely everywhere in the house when he was a puppy. I think he thought they were playmates that were playing hard to get. Smokey would hide and hiss. He'd even try to hurt him by batting at his face with his large declawed paws. That was comical to watch!
Now that they've lived and survived the last 15 months together, I think they've come to realize the order of dominance in the house. This is how it goes: Steve, me, Zeus, Smokey, all of the kids... and then Mittzy  :) Although I'm sure it was hard for Smokey to succumb to Zeus, he's managed to get his groove back. He spent months moping around, not playing, not wanting to be pet by any of us, and pissing randomly throughout the house  :(   Now, he's back to playing and purring. He comes up to us for love when he wants it... and he's peeing in the litter box again. Ahh... harmony... And, by the way... we had our furniture professionally cleaned several times!

Zeus' Greatest Trophies :)

Living with a Great Dane is sort of like being at a picnic... You know how when you're eating outside, you have to constantly watch your food to make sure flies and ants don't 'take over'? Well, same thing is true every day in your house if you have a Great Dane. Great Danes average 30" tall at the shoulder (I read this yesterday on a dog chart at the vet's office while waiting for Zeus' anal gland to be expressed in another room). The average kitchen counter tops out at 36". The bottom of Zeus' jaw measures 38"... You do the math... That gives Zeus 2" of height to overlook the counters and procure whatever tasty morsels might be on them.
In the time that we've had Zeus, he's been able to capture a few good finds: a blueberry muffin taken from on top of the stove, a Lean Cuisine meal from the counter top, a piece of pizza off the table, and 1/2 a tray of brownies also from the top of the stove. These are just a few items that come to mind - there are many others... most of which I have blocked from my memory.
We bought our house in October and we've had our kitchen remodeled. We decided to put in high counter tops in some of the areas and they reach 42" and 44.5"... So if we have to walk out of the kitchen, we put our food up on those counters now. We also have a bar height table with tall stools - that's also 42" high  :)  It's funny to watch Zeus walk around with his head up looking at our plates and sniffing the air to take in the aromas. His nose twitches and you can just see it in his eyes. He's waiting for the moment one of us forgets to put our food out of his reach. And it does happen every now and then.

The Anal Gland - a necessary evil

I feel as though I could be considered an expert on anal glands now. I've learned alot since having Zeus... unfortunately. There are anal glands inside the opening of a dog's rectum. Yeah... we're going there... These glands secrete a lubricant that make it easy for the dog's feces to pass through when it's 'duty time'. Sometimes these glands get backed up, or impacted, with extra lubricant IF the dog's feces isn't hard enough to push up against the gland and force the liquid to be excreted while passing the poop, for lack of a better word. When there is a system 'back up', it's not a good thing. The dog will most likely start licking his butt excessively, he mighty start doing that butt scootch thing where they rub their butts on the floor and drag themselves along (that's so disgraceful - have they no shame??) but most of all, dogs with impacted anal glands will start to smell like dirty dog ass!
You HAVE to do something when it gets this bad. You can go to your vet's office and have the glands expressed... meaning the vet will stick a finger in the hole and squeeze the glands until the stuff comes out (it'll make the whole office stink!), you can express it yourself if you are so bold (and sadistic) OR you can just try switching the dog's food. We like the later option.
Zeus has gone through impacted anal glands probably 4 times now. We got him on a GREAT food that costs a small fortune... and we haven't had any anal issues since he was about 7 months old  :)  BUTT... lol... for some reason... it's back and in full affect!! YUCK!!

People always ask us...

How much food does a Great Dane eat? That's a bit of a sore subject for me... When we first got Zeus, he was eating Iam's Big Dog Puppy Food, which you can pick up at Wegmans, Target or most pet stores. And it's reasonably priced! But he's had some 'sensitive stomach issues' (I'll go into further detail another time) that have caused us to shop around and find a really high quality food that has little to no filler in it. We ended up with Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison. This stuff is expensive - $58 for 28 lbs.! The amount of food he eats makes me want to vomit, too! Large dog means large stomach... He used to eat 6 cups of food a day when he was a small puppy. By about 7 months, he was eating 9 cups a day! A bag of food didn't last me 2 weeks. I could pay for a new car with the amount of money I spend on pet food (I have 2 cats that are on a prescription diet, also!).

Now that Zeus has grown up, his appetite is different day to day. Some days he eats less than 6 cups, other days he still has 9. It's hard to predict. We've noticed that when it's really hot outside, he eats less. Drinks WAY more, but takes in less food. He's not supposed to get any taller at this point, so I imagine whatever he eats will be used for just energy... and he's got alot of that still  :)

Top 10 List of Comments We Hear When Walking Our Dog

1) You got a Saddle for That Thing?

2) Who's walking Who?

3) What kind of Dog IS That?  btw, my favorite answer is "a BIG one!"

4) Is That a Dalmation?

5) Do you let the kids ride him when they get tired?

6) Where'd you find your Pony?

7) Oh My God ! He's HUGE!

8) I've never seen a dog THAT big before!

9) That's not a dog - that's a HORSE!!

and my favorite one... what another dog owner says to his own dog...

10) I wouldn't get too close... he'll eat you for lunch!!

'Talking to a deaf dog'

It's actually quite challenging owning a deaf dog. I knew it would be a challenge, but I didn't understand just how difficult it would be, especially in the beginning. Zeus hadn't been taught any commands by his breeder. He was sort of being thrown into the pack with his litter mates and parents. He just followed what all the other dogs did. I know that this is how dogs in the wild function as well... but being deaf made this different for Zeus, I'm sure...

As soon as we brought Zeus home, we started teaching him (and ourselves) signs that are relevant; bathroom, stop, sit, good... and the much needed 'no'. We used bathroom and no the most  :) 
In the research I had done before actually deciding to get Zeus, I had read on-line that you can teach dogs American Sign Language - that's the most common language of the deaf community in our country. The average 5 year old dog can understand 50 or more signs. I find that fascinating! Zeus right now is almost 17 months old and he knows the ones I mentioned above plus food, water, lay down, bite, treat, ok, walk and leave. That's only 13 signs. I'm currently trying to teach him collar and play. Part of the challenge is trying to sign to him while he's outside on his leash. Signing takes 2 hands and I only have one available cause the other is holding onto the leash. You know what I mean?? That in itself is a challenge  :(

Our Adventure at Stony Brook

We spent a day at Stony Brook Park and, of course, we took Zeus. It was interesting, to say the least. It was early June, so Zeus had only been with us for about 6 weeks. We were still dealing with some diarrhea issues but figured we'd take our chances. The weather was gorgeous that day and we so badly wanted to take a hike at Stony Brook, so off we went!

The trip seemed like it took forever. Zeus sat in the middle seat with Alicia and Sara. Alicia loved sharing the seat next to him, Sara was disgusted every time his body touched hers. At the time, I couldn't figure out what her issue with him was. All I knew is since she didn't want him initially, she wasn't willing to warm up to him at all. She was really stubborn about getting her point across - and she was very successful at it, too.

Once we finally go there, we unloaded out of the vehicle - all 6 humans and one large, very clumsy puppy. Since it was a warm day, we made sure we carried a few water bottles with us and we took poop bags, too. About 1 hour into our walk, Zeus found it necessary to squat... and really soft poop was left behind. I bagged it as best as possible, but it's not easy to scoop up anything too mooshy. I'd say about a 1/2 hour later, he squatted again. This time it was diarrhea... Not pretty, and not in a good spot. He hadn't quite learned yet that he is supposed to go off the beaten path when he goes to the bathroom. So he'd squat right where he was walking and, of course, where we humans were also walking. Ever notice the look of disgust you get from the general crowd when your dog is taking a crap? Try imagining it happening in a highly populated park... it's 100x worse... I was embarrassed and Steve was angry. It was now to a point that we couldn't pick up his 'poop'. We ended up pouring our drinking water on it in hopes of washing it away. He squatted probably 10 times that day and at one point, we had run out of water to pour over it... so Steve covered the spots with leaves  :) 

Zeus, asleep on the ride home. He was pooped!

How He Was Named

When I found our puppy on-line, his breeder had named him Tundra which means ‘a treeless plain of arctic and subarctic regions’. This was sort of appropriate since he was mostly a vast white region… he has very few dark spots on his body. However, we hated this name with a passion. It just didn’t flow from our mouths. It seemed awkward saying it. So we renamed him and called him… Newman! Paul Newman had the most beautiful blue eyes and Steve thought that naming our blue-eyed baby ‘Newman’ would be fitting. But we tried that for a few days, and that didn’t seem to flow either… So we held a sort of contest within the family to come up with the best names for this puppy that so badly needed an identity (even though he’d never know the difference since he couldn’t actually hear us call out his name). We came up with all kinds of names. I spent hours on the internet searching for rare and masculine names; something that would be appropriate for an exceptionally large 4-legged creature. We had a list of over 20 names and then by a show of hands we narrowed it down to 10… and then down to 4 names. And then the pressure was on. There were 7 of us voting and the name that got the most votes was gonna be IT!! I couldn’t take it anymore. For days we’d been calling him Newman or puppy. And quite honestly, puppy felt better than Newman – and I knew puppy wouldn’t cut it for long… So we did another show of hands and there were 2 names that tied; Zeus and Zander. Personally, I really wanted Zander to win. It is Greek for ‘Defender of the People’. I thought that was sweet and everyone else thought it was questionable… because how would a deaf dog defend its people?? So, needless to say, Zeus won out. In Greek mythology Zeus is the‘God of all Gods’.

In the First 3 Days...

We found a new product we fell completely in love with; Cesar Millan's Natural Odor and Stain Remover.
Why did we love this? Because it really cleans DIARRHEA out of carpets and wipes out any scent of it!! Oh Yeah... for 3 days our new puppy had the nastiest diarrhea. Not to mention that the breeder hadn't house trained him at all! She had said that it was way too cold outside to have the puppies going to the bathroom outside (he was born Jan. 23 and it was now mid April) - so they were all using newspaper as a potty  :(  We made every effort to nip that in the bud immediately. Every chance we had, we took him outside and he was successful with it at times. But I can't even remember how many accidents we cleaned up, and the pee spots on the carpets. It was very frustrating and every time I had to break out Cesar's spray I mumbled obscenities directed towards Hazel.
We kept the puppy in a crate in our bedroom and on the second night I woke up to his barking and whining so I let him out of the crate and before I even had a chance to get him out of our carpeted bedroom, he started squatting and squirting instantly. Then after I thought he was done, he ran a few steps away and squatted again directly over Steve's sneakers!! OH NO!! I couldn't get there quick enough to pull the sneakers out from under him, so the squirts went on and inside Steve's sneakers... it was disgusting. And I was so impressed with how Steve responded. He didn't get angry, he was patient and compassionate towards this creature that had no 'shut-off valve' that night. We must've cleaned up at least 8 different crap spots that night, including inside his crate. I'm not sure who I felt sorrier for, him or us??

It wasn't easy at first

...and it's still not easy today. Getting the whole family interested in having a deaf dog, that is. I truly believed that having this puppy would bring us closer together. I was sure that we'd all take the time to be patient with compassion and unconditional love for this creature that didn't ask to be born and didn't ask to be deaf.

When we first told the children, my 3 children and Steve's 2 children, about this puppy and asked how they felt about getting him, they were thrilled... until we mentioned that he's deaf. When I saw the disappointment on all of their faces, I was heartbroken. I guess I expected everyone would be on board and feel like he deserved a good life and that WE were the one's who could give it to him. But they didn't. Instead they asked questions like "how was he born deaf?" and "how will we talk to him?". Since I was the only one who had done research on raising a deaf dog, I was the 'expert' who answered their questions. My oldest son and Steve's daughter seemed to be the most leary and uninterested. They felt it would be a mistake and came right out saying "no, I don't want him"... My heart sank even further.

Being that I can be a stubborn woman (I won't admit that very often), I was determined to make this work. I still believed he would bring us closer. Little did I know what lied ahead in the days and months to follow.

Fate Brought Us Together

I believe in fate and have believed in it for many years. Fate has been a guiding factor in my life, especially very recently. A couple of years ago, I started working on a deaf couple; she is hard of hearing and he is completely deaf. Initially, I was very nervous to spend time with him because I had so many questions about deafness and when I’m unsure of something, I get nervous about it. Anyhow, I would meet with him, Ronnie, twice a week and our communication was in writing. I would write everything and he would have to write back to respond; how was he doing, did he have any body pains/issues I should work on, and also stuff about his social life. It got to be really frustrating, not only for me but for him as well. So I made a decision to sign up to learn American Sign Language at the Rochester School for the Deaf (RSD) and my classes were scheduled to start April 14th, 2009. About a week before my classes started, I felt an urge compelling me to get on my computer and look at puppies on a website called Puppyfind.com . At this point in my life, I had absolutely no interest in having a dog. I liked my life the way it was and I didn’t want to be bothered with raising a puppy, no matter how cute it was! But something still pulled me to the computer to look at this website. When I opened it up, I did a search for puppies in New York – I definitely wouldn’t want a puppy that I had to drive too far for or would have to have it shipped it to me! I remember a few puppy profiles showing up on the screen and I scrolled down through them until this one caught my eye. He was almost all white with a big black spot on the left side of his nose – it kinda looked like a booger! His left ear was flipped back in the photo exposing his pink flesh inside… and his eyes were as blue as the sky! He was adorable and pathetic looking at the same time. I opened up his profile to find out that the breeder was looking for a very special family to raise him because he was deaf. Aww… My heart immediately went out to him and I started crying… I had never heard of a dog being deaf. It seemed like an outrage that this could even happen to a dog or any pet for that matter. I wondered how does one even relate to a deaf dog…? I immediately opened up my browser and did a search for how to raise a deaf dog and loads of information popped up! I couldn’t believe there was so much available on this topic. It made me wonder just how many deaf dogs are there??

What I found out surprised me… You train a deaf dog with hand signals and American Sign Language… the very thing I was to start learning the following week. I absorbed as much information as I could in a couple of hours and when Steve came home that day from work, I told him about the puppy I found and I explained that this dog was meant to be mine… Fate literally drew me to him.

The Day He Came Home with Us

Zeus at 11 weeks old

It was a day in mid April that we met Zeus. His breeder, Hazel, agreed to meet us 1/2 way since she lived in Green, NY and that was about a 4 hour drive away from Rochester. We drove to a plaza of shops and met her parked vehicle outside a McDonalds. As soon as we pulled up, I could feel her eyes sizing us up and down. She wanted to make sure that someone special was going to take care of her 'baby'. I knew in my heart that I was the one she was looking for - I was destined to be his owner. We all got out of our vehicles; Steve and I got out of my car and Hazel and her son (his name escapes me now) got out of his SUV. We greeted each other cordially like strangers even though we had spent weeks emailing and talking on the phone... It was awkward, I'll admit. We walked to the back of the SUV and they started opening up the window so we could see the puppy. He was covered with dog feces on his feet, legs and a little on his face. He had thrown up what little food he had in his stomach and he had scratches in random places on his legs, back and ears). He stunk like dog pee and cigarette smoke... and I fell in love. He was beautiful! I knew he'd clean up like a shiny penny. His eyes melted my heart immediately. Steve and I both looked at him like he was our new born baby - a 42 lb. baby, that is! He was enormous for an 11 week old puppy.

I was a little nervous to pick him up so I had Steve scoop him into his arms (which was not easy due to his size) and he carried him into the back seat of my car. I promised Hazel that I would love him and give him everything he needed. I also assured her that we'd be patient with his deafness. She asked that if by any chance we decided not to keep him, that we call her because she would take him back in a heartbeat. I agreed... I paid her $200 for him (his littermates who were all hearing dogs were being sold for $375 - Zeus' defect made him a discount puppy) and then I got into my back seat with my new, very scared little puppy. We sat in the car with him for about 20 minutes just letting him get used to our car, us and the idea of not being with Hazel. Even though we knew he couldn't hear us, we still spoke to him in gentle voices reassuring him that he was ok and that we were going to love him. Eventually he laid down and I inched my body close to his, but not too close. I wanted him to come to me when he was ready. Before the end of the 2 hour ride home, he had fallen asleep some, looked out the window some and put his head on my leg some. I remember crying - tears of happiness, sadness and fear of the unknown. It's been a journey ever since.