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!