Happy Holidays!

Cassius and I hope this post finds you well, and that all of your holiday wishes came true.

It was Cash's 2nd Christmas, and I think it's fair to say he thoroughly enjoyed his presents and all of the company, attention, and delicious contraband he was able to devour.  Stolen bites of ham, dropped bites of deviled egg, and the rare morsel of sugar cookie all found its way into his slobbery jowls.

In keeping with Christmas Eve tradition, everyone got to open one present and his was a giant femur from the butcher!  As confused as he began, he quickly figured out how yummy it was and has only left it to go outside and to get drinks of water from the kitchen faucet... Yes, the faucet.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

On Christmas morning, he dug his claws into a box of squeaky toys and continued to prance through the house like a reindeer, squeaking and tossing them into the air, then catching them with his monster mouth.  My hearing still has yet to return, but as he's already lost two of three toys, there is hope that I'll one day rejoin the auditory crowd.

You can forget about saving the wrapping paper.

Do you think this means I'm off the Naughty List??

 He's now bigger than I am in every way, and with the exception of his rambunctious moments, is so gentle and affectionate with little awareness of just how powerful he truly is.  Of course, I'm not sure the former owner of the giant femur would agree.

<3 Happy Holidays <3 

Gobble, Gobble...

Happy Turkey Day, all!  This year, Thanksgiving found us less busy than in the past, which was perfectly fine with Cassius and me.  In fact, there is a belated bird in the oven as I type, prompting an excited pup in the house!  If a couple pieces of turkey make their way into his monster mouth, I'm sure he won't complain ;)

The end of this month officially marks Cash's 18 month birthday, which we celebrate with his first bag of ADULT dog food!!  Our baby's growing up... *sniff.  He's starting to become less of a goofy puppy and more of a territorial big man, which is wonderful when a stranger comes to the door, but not so much when the kids have friends over and he lets out one of his wall-shaking barks.  Socialization is key, I think, and I am reminded that I have fallen behind on those duties.  My next purchase will be a good training collar -- no prongs -- and we'll be back on the training wagon once again!

I hope this Thanksgiving found you and yours well, and Cash and I hope you found much to be thankful for.

Gobble, Gobble.

These car rides would be more fun if she'd let me jump out to introduce myself.

Back to Normal

Well, all the prayers did the trick and our feisty boy is back to his energetic, slobbery self!  It was only 3 days, (6) x-rays, (3) anti-nausea pills, and $500 later before he was trying to chew on everything in the house again!

He's back to riding in the car every morning to take the kids to school - head out of the window, jowls-a-flappin' in the breeze, barking at the occasional driver in the cars next to us at stop lights.  He gets a lot of stares and giggles and sometimes even gets to make a friend or two when he sees other puppies.

Halloween is coming up and the debate (non-Presidential thankfully) has begun in our house as to what, if any, costume Cashy's going to sport for the big night.  I don't feel confident that my puny biceps could keep him under control while trick-or-treating, but he still needs to pass out candy, right?  Well, the obvious choice has to be polka-dot Batman, but we're still open to suggestions.

Back to myself just in time for movie night.

A Wake-up Call

There are times in all of our lives that we get busy, get distracted with the daily grind and get caught up in our own world and forget that those we share our lives with are not simply supporting characters in our story, but main characters in their own and beautifully woven into ours.  Today was my day to remember that.  While I was waiting to be "inspired" to write Cash's blog again, waiting for my own life to resemble one I used to know, Cassius was still growing up.  Each day, he was sharing his precious self with me and our family and keeping a smile on my face and plenty of smooches on my cheeks and while I am sure he felt my gratitude, I failed to share his unique, silly exploits with all the other people that love him.

It's no secret that he's quite the chewer.  He chews anything and everything he can get his big ol' slobbery monster mouth around -- which is a lot!  During his patrol through the house, he found a ripped pillow (yes, he did that) in the laundry room and like any ornery baby boy, he grabbed it and ran like a Derby horse out the back door, shaking the filling out all over the backyard.  After I chased him down, took away his toy and started to pick up his mess in the dark, I could see that he was frantically trying to swallow any fluff he could before I could fish it out of his jaws.  I thought I got most of it, but this morning he got sick and up came the fluff... twice.  He seemed to feel a bit better, but after eating his breakfast, he got sick again, giving me my cue to get him to the vet, but not before he got sick in the car on the ride there.

Doc said he felt something in his belly, but the x-ray wasn't showing anything obvious, so they would need to keep him and take another one later.  So here we are... waiting at home, which seems really lonesome and different without my boy here.  I'm scared that he's scared.  I'm scared that this could be really bad.  Mostly, I'm scared that when I saw him earlier, that it may have been the last time I would ever see him alive.

If you would, Cash and I would appreciate any prayers you could send his way for hopefully no surgery, but even more, a swift recovery.  I think this is the part where I bargain and promise more consistent blog posts to share his amazing life with everyone who loves him.  He is such a precious boy, and so incredibly important to me.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Why do they have to make pillows taste so good?!

He's No Picasso

Who'd have thought that painting could be so entertaining for a puppy?!  Cash decided to let his girl know that her paintbrush looked a little dangerous!  I don't think he'll be making any masterpieces of his own anytime soon!

 

My Guard Dog

Cash has become quite the protector... keeping me safe from all sorts of threats like the kids, the FedEx guy, noisy toys, nighttime boogeymen and now the DirecTV screensaver.  His bark is getting so tough and very low!  I just hope if we really do have an intruder, that they won't come with anything smelling like peanut butter, or he'll turn into his usual cuddly teddy bear self!

Happy 1st Birthday, Cassius!!

We did it!  We made it through his first year -- through all the teething, chewing, jumping, slobbering, potty training, leash training, and more!  What an exciting first year, watching our precious puppy grow and mature!  Cassius is such a huge part of our family, so much so that even though it's only been a year (technically 9.5 months since we got him) it seems as though he's been a part of our family forever.  Having a Great Dane is such a unique experience;  he has such personality and a way about him that makes him almost human, more than we've experienced before with other breeds.  I'm so proud of him and he couldn't be more loved.

For his birthday, we made a trip to the Barkery and got him a few yummies, including a nice, big pizzle ;)  He loved his cookie and cupcake, making it worth every bit of green mess it left on the carpet.  It's been so fun to share our journey with you all.  Thank you for caring <3

Mmmm... yummies!

This dino is mine...

Mommy can't resist my big pink nose.

Miss Me Bad?

It's been a while, I know, and thankfully things are starting to settle down for us - or maybe, I'm just a little past it.

Cassius, of course, has been non-stop entertainment, from catching his first baby bird (not a clue how that monster mouth didn't hurt it, but it escaped unharmed with my frantic help!) to his first fence escape early in the morning (fence now repaired and secured).  He now officially outweighs me, which is great for my self-esteem, but not so good for my intimidation abilities - not that I ever really had that going for me with him, lol.  His 1st birthday is approaching, which means he has a surgery in his near future - snip, snip.  (Sorry, Cash!)  He's still not finished growing and although he is already taller than I am standing at the fence, he is still ALL puppy.  He loves to run (through the house, across my bare feet), lick (faces, hair, windows), chew (swingsets, shoes, bedding, arms), and play (rough and in the middle of the night).

We are sure, though, that with Cash, there won't be a dull moment!

Bobbing for basketballs!!

Baby's First Tooth

Well, it's not technically his first tooth, but it's the first one we found, or perhaps just the first he didn't swallow!  After a visit to see Dr. Brown, we were a little worried that his big boy tooth was growing in before he lost his baby tooth.  This would mean that Cash would have to be anesthetized to extract it. 

Danes and anesthesia don't go well together, from what I understand -- too much medicine, not enough support for their large and fragile neck, etc.  We were considering bumping up his neutering and stomach tacking (to help prevent torsion) to get the tooth out at the same time, requiring only one anesthesia for all.  Thankfully, we were able to avoid it when my silly boy lost his tooth - with mommy's help ;)  

I gotta tell ya, if any of my human babies would have had baby teeth like this one, they would have been bottle fed from the beginning!  Ouch!!

Check out the bling... bitches dig it.

Hostile Work-Out

Most who know me know that I've never been a fan of working out.  I'm more likely to jog from the car into Starbucks, while sporting 5" heels than spend time on a treadmill, trying to conjure a couple beads of sweat.  Taking Cash for walks offers quite a work-out, but that's about the extent of it.  Cassius, however, found my dusty free weights and decided to give them a go, only to find out that he disliked them as much as I do!  If he keeps this up, none of his collars will fit his bulging neck muscles;  we'll just have to opt for a bridle.

New Bed and a Familiar Bath

Cash's new bed arrived and he was ecstatic!  I got in to try and show him it was in fact a bed and not a huge, furry animal to kill, but my efforts were for naught.  He still sneaks into our room and comes out dragging this HUGE bed through the house, proud of his kill.

We also spent some time in the tub, as we do multiple times a day, showing how big he's gotten and how little room he's leaving!  It's not going to be easy to explain at Lowe's why we need an even BIGGER tub.  He loves to submerge his big ol' nose underwater and blow bubbles, chasing little flecks of dirt, but today he was more leisurely. 

We hope your MLK day was a great one.  It marks the birthday of our beloved Dobie, Apollo.  RIP, Handsome <3

Apollo 01/1996 - 06/2004

Do YOU know what a Pizzle is?

Yes, a pizzle.  There is much frustration among certain family members as to which treats our little glass cannon can eat.  Rawhides are out because they don't digest well and can cause bloat, along with many other treats.  Cow hooves and pig ears are out because they can splinter and puncture his digestive tract, as would cooked bones.  I am careful not to let him eat treats that aren't natural or healthy because I don't want to throw off the balance of his dog food.  This leaves lots of healthy fruits and veggies, but the pet food isle at the store can be somewhat limited.

One thing he LOVES and can have are Bully Sticks!  We get these at the Barkery and also at BestBullySticks (even though theirs tend to be stinkier) and people always ask me the difference between rawhide and Bully Sticks and I didn't know... until now.  After looking it up -- and holding back a couple dry heaves -- here's what I found.

Per BestBullySticks' site: "Bully Sticks are 100% Beef Sticks Dog Treats and dog chews that are made from the pizzle or penis of the bull."  "In recent years there have been new products introduced to the US market from India (these are water buffalo pizzles) and from Australia and New Zealand."

Water buffalo pizzles... really??  Who thinks of this?!  

So, there you have it.  If you happen to drop by and see the kids and I running from Cash, screaming, "Don't you touch me with that pizzle!" you'll know why.

I'm so hungry, I could eat a water buffalo.