Titan and Asha arrive

Titan and Asha

 
The decision to get Great Danes was not a light one. After moving into the house and deciding that we would get dogs, my ex and I debated for months over which breed to get. I did a lot of research and finally convinced him that the best breed for us was Great Danes, and we had the space.

We had just settled on the breed when fate stepped in. On Friday, 2 October 2009, my ex walked into Sandton City to get some lunch. He decided to walk past the pet store, and the little ones caught his attention.

Within a matter of minutes they were ours. We almost got three, as my ex didn't want to leave their brother behind!

I had to wait until that evening to meet them. I was so excited, I had phoned my parents and my sister to let them know. So my sister was there to meet them with me.

My ex brought them inside in a box that they outgrew in a week. When he set it down on the floor I called them, and it was Asha that climbed out to come say hello.

Instant love.

That was a  busy weekend. Having made a quick decision to get them, we weren't quite prepared for their arrival. And so that weekend, we had to go shopping for their bed, toys, etc. We also had to clear out the "box room" so that they had a place to sleep and to stay during the day.

It also happened to be a weekend filled with visitors. My parent's, friends and my ex's family had to come and see.

My ex named Titan, a dog name he had been fond of for a while. And I got to name Asha. She looks like ash, but her name couldn't just be Ash, and was certainly not going to be Ashley.

Both names are much better suited than the names they were given by the breeders - Marmite and DJ, as we were to find out from their Vet certificates. We also found out that they happened to be born on my sister's birthday - 22 July.

Acrobatic Juno

Another dog in my past worth mentioning is Juno. He was not my family's dog, but rather my ex's parents' dog. Juno was a smaller breed rottweiler and incredibly agile.

He didn't like custard very much, and would actually run away from it. And this dislike is most likely the result of the following experience:

Once, my ex and I arrived back at his parents' house to find Juno particularly fond of his bed. He didn't run up to the gate to greet us as he normally did. And on closer inspection, he didn't look very well and was bleary-eyed. Then we found out why.

One of the female dogs was on heat, and Juno had been keeping the whole household awake with his cries to get to the female. Out of desperation to keep him quiet, my ex's mother had given him quite a bit of brandy in milk. The result was that Juno had a heck of a hangover the next day, and would never come close to brandy in milk or custard ever again!

Juno could jump. He would jump over fences, and once gave the neighbours quite a fright when he got into their yard this way. He would jump up and down at the gate, barking at strangers, and was obviously quite intimidating, because a lot of people walking by would cross to the other side of the road to go past the house.

Juno also liked to swim. And it was this combination of jumping and swimming that made him an acrobatic superstar. When he learnt how to, the only way for Juno to get into the pool was to jump in. And he could take some flying leaps, jumping across the breadth of the pool, and even jumping from the elevated platform by the deep end (as in the picture). And he loved it! He would jump in, just to climb out and jump in again.

Juno jumping into the pool by the deep end

My dog history

I've always had dogs in my life.

First was Brack, a male Golden Labrador. He was there when I was born and took a particular fondness to protecting me while I was in my pram in the garden.

Me and Brack in the Joburg snow of 1981

Then there was Brandy, a brown female Ridgeback cross, who was not very energetic, but was an inspiration to some of my childhood art.

Brandy

Then came Toga, an almost white, male Boerboel Labrador mix. He came along with I was in Std. 5 or Grade 7. We used to call him Pig, because he used to snort at the back door.

Toga or Pig as a puppy

Pig as a pup

Of all my childhood dogs he had the greatest affect on me. My sister and I harassed our parents for months before we finally got him. They didn't want to get another dog because we wouldn't love it when it grew up. Needless to say, I know my sister and I still love him.

Pig had a few quirks. The first being the snorting at the back door which earned him his nickname. It was some sort of sniffing to let us know that he was there and he wanted to come in, or he was hungry.

One of Pig's quirks

Pig also had a fondness for bread - we think that was his main diet before he came to us. And he very quickly learnt the sound that the bread cutter made - yes, it was still back in the day before sliced bread was on the market - and would come running. In fact, my sister and I used to purposely make the bread cutter squeak if he wasn't responding to our calls. No matter where he was in the yard, he heard it and was there in a few seconds.


Some of his more memorable exploits happened as a puppy. I remember coming home after school one afternoon, to find the kitchen floor covered with potatoes and sweet potatoes, with some bites out of a couple of them.


Another time, my mom and sister found a couch pillow and my dad's jacket perfectly positioned in the 'sunny spot' on the floor of the lounge. Mid-winter, Pig had managed to escape his den in the kitchen, and had made himself a cosy retreat in the lounge that day.


He was subjected to all manner of childhood activity, including obstacle courses in the lounge around the chairs, and obstacle courses outside, jumping through a hula-hoop.

He loved chasing a ball and would give you an intense look to "on your marks" and "get set". Of course, we would trick him by shouting "go" and then not kicking the ball - as children will do.

Pig's "on your marks, get set" looks

He also loved walks, and very quickly learnt the word. Another word or phrase that he knew and responded to was "Are you cute?" As soon as we said it he would act all cute.

While Brack and Brandy died naturally, Pig, unfortunately, was the first dog we had to put down. He developed cancer in his tail that had been docked too short. It was heartbreaking, particularly since he had come to know that going to the vet meant getting better.

The other dogs at my parents' home are Shimba, a brown female Boerboel Staffie mix, and Rebel, a blonde male Boerboel Great Dane mix. They were bought after I left school and are still around.

Shimba (left) and Rebel (right) with Pig in the front

Shimba used to do the craziest thing when she was a puppy. She would get super excited and would run, darting from one place to another with no particular aim. We called this her "mad hare" state. We still get a good laugh out of that.


Rebel was a strange puppy - very distant. However, the older he got the more he became dependant on human affection. The funniest is how he "tells you stories" when he is upset, with lots of moaning, especially when no one has been at home for some time.