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  :(