Conspicuous Character in our Chronicles
(Now say the title as fast as you can five times.)
For those of you who may be new to our family or simply haven't met Huck and are wondering why he gets such a prominent spot in our lives, this piece is for you:
The year is 2000. Jaime and I just got married! We wanted a dog and fantasized about what kind of dog he/she would be. I said "Labrador." Jaime said, "Great Dane." Well yeah, we both want a big dog, but I protested that the Dane was too "pointy all over." (Remember, I am speaking from no experience with Danes at that time...) Jaime had a brilliant idea to negotiate with me by offering to find a Great Dane with natural ears--not cropped. Would that make me think of him/her as "less pointy" and more "soft"? Agreed.
2001. 2002. 2003. We searched far and wide and high and low and put our names on waiting lists and looked at every shelter. NO Great Dane. Not even the Dane Rescue Society had any dogs young nor old available. Strange. There's always dogs that need homes, right? Right? Nothing came of it.
Fast forward to the year 2004. Jaime and I were experiencing burnout from the rigors of everyday life. We were quite moody that spring from the ongoing stresses. One day I was trying to hang up pictures and needed help. I was stuck holding pictures on the wall and could not move without dropping them. I figured, "Maybe Jaime will come into the room and get a drink soon." Slowly the blood drained from my arms and I was forced to let go, dropping the pictures. Another time while we were asleep (around 4 am according to the neighbor's report of hearing something) someone broke into our home and stole Jaime's backpack. We woke up and found the doors left wide open. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. We looked at each other and said, "That's it. We need a pair of ears that work around here! We are getting a dog NOW!"
Jaime went on his routine run, except he went a different way than usual June of 2004. Right around two corners of our block, straight behind our backyard on the other side of the street was a sign in the window that said, "Great Dane puppies." Jaime could scarcely believe his eyes. Seriously?! Yes! It says Great Dane puppies! He made it home in three bounds after that. He went to work and then after work, we went over there to look at the puppies. They had just been weaned from their mother a few days and already there were only 4 of the 12 left. We chose a gorgeous black female Dane and said we'd be back the next day to pick her up. While we were doting on this little gal, another puppy came up behind me and gave me two distinct tugs on the hem of my dress. I turned around to see which one it was and the puppy seemed to get bashful and ran off.
[Hold on. Did I get the story wrong? Actually that's right.] It's true! We chose the black female. That night, I had a dream she was difficult to manage. In my dream, she was not very obedient and I don't know why it had to be so negative. I woke up the next morning and told Jaime. He said, "Funny you should say that, I sent Dad an email asking him his opinion about gender in this breed. He said females can be a little feisty." Hmm...
Back at the neighbor's house: now suddenly we're not sure about this black female. We watched the puppies play a while and we thought one of them was really cute. Unfortunately, he was kind of lethargic. He was like that yesterday and the entire time today. We needed a puppy who was more curious about the world and was not afraid of it. One who could learn easily without needing to be riled up first.
Suddenly, we saw him and wondered how we could be so oblivious to him all along! Here he was, using his paws to tap us on the leg! Already deaf-friendly, huh? I recalled this puppy tugging on the hem of my dress yesterday. Seems he knew we needed him. The owner then told us, "This puppy is a strong one, even if he's a little smaller. He is the eldest and was born outside. We didn't see him and we brought Salem inside to give birth to the rest of the pups. He was hidden well, so he was left outside all night alone. The next afternoon, my grandson was playing out in the yard and he found this one. He was hungry but otherwise fine." The other owner added that this puppy seemed to have a zest for life and would wake up his brothers and sisters from naps so he could play. They didn't need to say more. We were ready to claim him.
A few days later when we had a place for him at home, we picked him up!
I called a random vet from the yellow pages and asked if he knew of any service dog trainers in the area. He said, "No," but he gave me the number of a lady that had a service dog herself. I called her up and she invited us to class. We showed up to class with Huckleberry and introduced him to the trainer. This trainer, bless him, trains service dogs out of the kindness of his heart because he believes it is worth it. It was exactly what Jaime and I needed being in college and all.
If ever there was a match made in heaven for a dog and a family, this was it.
By the way, the inspiration for his name is a certain character, from Mark Twain's book, whose childhood is filled with boyish innocence mixed with an occasional life lesson.
2001. 2002. 2003. We searched far and wide and high and low and put our names on waiting lists and looked at every shelter. NO Great Dane. Not even the Dane Rescue Society had any dogs young nor old available. Strange. There's always dogs that need homes, right? Right? Nothing came of it.
Fast forward to the year 2004. Jaime and I were experiencing burnout from the rigors of everyday life. We were quite moody that spring from the ongoing stresses. One day I was trying to hang up pictures and needed help. I was stuck holding pictures on the wall and could not move without dropping them. I figured, "Maybe Jaime will come into the room and get a drink soon." Slowly the blood drained from my arms and I was forced to let go, dropping the pictures. Another time while we were asleep (around 4 am according to the neighbor's report of hearing something) someone broke into our home and stole Jaime's backpack. We woke up and found the doors left wide open. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. We looked at each other and said, "That's it. We need a pair of ears that work around here! We are getting a dog NOW!"
Jaime went on his routine run, except he went a different way than usual June of 2004. Right around two corners of our block, straight behind our backyard on the other side of the street was a sign in the window that said, "Great Dane puppies." Jaime could scarcely believe his eyes. Seriously?! Yes! It says Great Dane puppies! He made it home in three bounds after that. He went to work and then after work, we went over there to look at the puppies. They had just been weaned from their mother a few days and already there were only 4 of the 12 left. We chose a gorgeous black female Dane and said we'd be back the next day to pick her up. While we were doting on this little gal, another puppy came up behind me and gave me two distinct tugs on the hem of my dress. I turned around to see which one it was and the puppy seemed to get bashful and ran off.
[Hold on. Did I get the story wrong? Actually that's right.] It's true! We chose the black female. That night, I had a dream she was difficult to manage. In my dream, she was not very obedient and I don't know why it had to be so negative. I woke up the next morning and told Jaime. He said, "Funny you should say that, I sent Dad an email asking him his opinion about gender in this breed. He said females can be a little feisty." Hmm...
Back at the neighbor's house: now suddenly we're not sure about this black female. We watched the puppies play a while and we thought one of them was really cute. Unfortunately, he was kind of lethargic. He was like that yesterday and the entire time today. We needed a puppy who was more curious about the world and was not afraid of it. One who could learn easily without needing to be riled up first.
Suddenly, we saw him and wondered how we could be so oblivious to him all along! Here he was, using his paws to tap us on the leg! Already deaf-friendly, huh? I recalled this puppy tugging on the hem of my dress yesterday. Seems he knew we needed him. The owner then told us, "This puppy is a strong one, even if he's a little smaller. He is the eldest and was born outside. We didn't see him and we brought Salem inside to give birth to the rest of the pups. He was hidden well, so he was left outside all night alone. The next afternoon, my grandson was playing out in the yard and he found this one. He was hungry but otherwise fine." The other owner added that this puppy seemed to have a zest for life and would wake up his brothers and sisters from naps so he could play. They didn't need to say more. We were ready to claim him.
A few days later when we had a place for him at home, we picked him up!
I called a random vet from the yellow pages and asked if he knew of any service dog trainers in the area. He said, "No," but he gave me the number of a lady that had a service dog herself. I called her up and she invited us to class. We showed up to class with Huckleberry and introduced him to the trainer. This trainer, bless him, trains service dogs out of the kindness of his heart because he believes it is worth it. It was exactly what Jaime and I needed being in college and all.
If ever there was a match made in heaven for a dog and a family, this was it.
By the way, the inspiration for his name is a certain character, from Mark Twain's book, whose childhood is filled with boyish innocence mixed with an occasional life lesson.
- You tell your dog to sit and he backs up until he finds a chair.
- You purchase a large screen TV and you STILL can't see the program because your dog is standing in front of the television.
- Your dog stands in your lap and reaches over you to stick his head in the drive-through window at McDonald's and nearly gives the cashier a heart attack when she turns around to give you your change.
- Your dog can see what you're cooking and he tries to assist you in the preparation.
- The donuts you put on top of the refrigerator are gone when you get home and your dog has powdered sugar on his nose.
- You have had to train your dog not to lick dishes, and the dishes are in the sink.
- You've learned to force a smile when asked, "Do you have a saddle for that thing?"
- You go to vacuum your car and most of the fur is up there on the ceiling.
- When stopped at a stop light, everyone stares as your car rocks back and forth because your dog is panting out the window.
- You have to move over when brushing your teeth because your dog wants a drink.
- Your two dogs decide to play in the house, and they end up pulling the ceiling fan down--for the second time.
- You have given up on water dishes and you just use the bathtub.
- You take your dog for a ride and he rests his head on your arm, causing you to make random right turns.
- You toss your dog a ball and cringe when he almost hits his head on the top of the doorway.
- Visitors enter the house holding their privates protectively.
- You carry a tape measure with you when shopping for a new vehicle.
- You walk your dog and everyone knows him by name, but you have no idea who these people are.
- Your dog can hide an entire tennis ball (among other things) fully inside his lips and give you that innocent look that says, "What? I'm not eating anything?"
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