60 degrees!

We hit 60 today. Woohoo!

Rumors and the weather services have it that we may hit 70 sometime this week.

I took Odin to the park. I threw his squeaky toy, and he ran off after it. Sometimes he made me run to go get it. Smart dog, knows Daddy needs his exercise!

Later we moseyed over to where I saw a group of people with two adult rat terriers and a litter of puppies all on leashes. The tiny little puppies were barking their heads off at Odin, though he didn't bother with them at all; he knows they'd only be a mouthful. The adults sniffed all over and accidentally got a leash wrapped around a couple of his legs, and he nearly went down like the Imperial AT-AT walker during the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. The people and I managed to get him untangled before he did trip and fall.

All in all, a very enjoyable day.

Well, more updates as events warrant.

In Local News...

Well, yet more snow. It's coming down something fierce right now.

Odin loves the snow, truth be told, it's like a giant slip and slide for both of us. He tries to eat the snow and ice. Yes, we still have ice. I've not walked on solid ground for a week.

And the story featuring Odin has run in the Eagle today (the picture isn't available on the Net, but I hope to get a digital version shortly). No telling how long that article will be available, either. At least a week or so.

Odin likes his celebrity, but I told him the gold chains and cigars have to go...

We're Making News!

At work, I told the story of how I unexpectedly met Lori, Odin's former owner, and what an excellent experience that was. Well, one of my coworkers (you're reading this and you know I will find some way to get back at you for this!) called the Wichita Eagle's Pets journalist.

My first knowledge of this was sitting down to an email after lunch telling me to expect a call from the newspaper about Odin and meeting his former owner, and that the journalist was very interested in writing a story. Whoa. My first thought was, "Oh dear Lord, they're going to want to take pictures and come to my apartment and I have to clean!"

The journalist called me later in the day and I granted her a short interview and set up a time for the photographer and herself, possibly, to come out and take pictures. I got ahold of Lori and let her know what was going on and if she would call the newspaper and so forth, and she seemed pretty enthused about the whole deal. So, hopefully she'll be able to come to the picture shoot on Monday.

The pictures will be around the corner where we met, and, if we can get Odin to calm down long enough, or the photographer has a very fast shutter speed (say, 1/500ths of a second?), we'll have a nice picture or two to go along with the article.

Odin will be a Wichita media darling for the length of time it takes groggy Wichitans next Saturday morning to sip their coffee, comment on his picture, "Dang big dog", and turn to the sports section.

Awesome Coincidence

I was out walking Odin during my lunch break when a lady came around the corner of the apartment building, looked at the dog, and said, "Odin!".

Odin then proceeded to run full tilt to the lady, dragging me behind like a little rag doll. Turns out the lady was his former owner! She and her husband were in the process of moving and they were unable to keep Odin, so they made the very difficult decision to bring him to the Humane Society, where I adopted him less than two, three days later.

She and I had a good visit and talked about the dog and exchanged info to stay in touch. Now, out of 300,000 plus people in the city of Wichita, she would drive by at the right moment and see me walking the dog. That's one of those God moments.

Turns out that Odin is in fact registered with papers, was stood to stud and helped litter ten puppies, and they were intending to show him, but life circumstances got in the way over the years. It's very sad how things like that happen, and I have the deepest sympathies for those who have to give up a companion and family member of many years. I've lost my own dogs over the years, and I know how it hurts. His owner thought she would never see him again, would never know what happened to him. Well, now she knows! He's warm, safe, healthy, and happy with me, though it's pretty obvious he misses his momma terribly. I have never before had to pull on him as hard as I had to to get him to go back to the apartment with me.

He's pretty wired up, been looking out the window and running around the apartment, and I know what he's got to be feeling. The poor guy will probably be a little sad for a few days.

His former lady is going to get me his papers, as well as bring some puppy pictures of him and of his litter (awwwwwww!). So, I am going to get some pictures together of my dogs over the years and print off some current pics of Odin that I took recently.

Other things I learned today: he does have a kind of sensitive stomach. A little Pepto-Bismol will clear him right up. I can identify, I myself have stomach trouble. So does the cat, come to think of it. I'm sensing a pattern here.

He's also been a good Catholic doggie all his life, as his former people are Catholic as well, which is also another nice thing to know. However, I will not be putting him on the no-meat-on-Lenten-Fridays rule.

Also, the ear infection, he's always had, ever since he was a puppy. They cropped his ears to see if that would help (nope). He likes rope toys, balls, squeaky toys (another trip to Petsmart...), and, as I figured right away, has a need to be with me at all times if possible. He will tolerate showers, but you have to get in with him (we figured this out too).

So, this is one of those bittersweet moments of life for dogs and their people. He was, as she said, a blessing for her to be able to see him again and know what happens with him, and he certainly is a blessing for me to have and to take care of. God does watch out for even the least of His creatures.

Owning Big Dogs

Well, I've had Odin for a little over two weeks now. What have I learned from this gentle giant?

• If the food can be reached, it will be reached. Odin is an equal-opportunity-eater (EOE), and makes no discrimination as to animal, vegetable, mineral, human food, nonhuman food, or even nonfood.
• The larger dog's, er....leavings...are proportionate to their size. Many, many paper towels may be required if there is an accident.
• There will always be some drool and slobber. It will find its way to your hands, clothes, furniture, and monitors. The sooner you accept this reality, the better
• Danes in particular like to follow their pack around. Literally one step behind you.
• Danes are all legs. These present a new and immediately exciting opportunity for testing your balance should you accidentally trip.
• Any snacks you might feel particularly inclined to eat later on should be placed as far back on the counter as you can. Better yet, stick them in the cabinets.
• Leaving food on the stove to serve yourself from can be dangerous to the dog if it's still hot and he just has to try it.
• They love you no matter what. Even if you lose your temper and yell at them, their perfect contrition comes through and melts your heart.
• They likely will sleep in your bed, whether you like it or not.
• Everything is bigger, and therefore more expensive: medicines must be delivered at heavier doses (bodyweight ratio), kennels or crates are major pieces of furniture running to the many hundreds of dollars, collars and leashes need to be stronger and bigger, and they eat alot of food.
• Puppies must be trained from the very youngest of an age to be obedient in all things, and you must be very assertive. Ever see wee yappy little terriers? They only think they're a Great Dane's size. A Great Dane really IS that size and knows it, too!
• Adopting an older dog may be better than a puppy. Older dogs generally have a better sense for housebreaking and understand what NO means.
• You have to make yourself aware of illnesses and conditions that giant breeds are prone to, and even more so for senior citizen canines. Bloat (gastric torsion) can occur quickly and kill them very, very fast. Knowing first aid for this may be crucial.
• Unless you're standing them to stud or breed, have your dog fixed. If you are standing them to stud or breed, be responsible and have registration papers. There's many types of diseases that can be passed on genetically.
• Don't believe everything you read on the Internet about dogs, especially when someone speaking from their own experience says, for instance, you must elevate food bowls. Personally, I do. There are others who do not, and they have their reasons. I won't cast any sort of judgment or aspersions at them, because they are doing what they feel best.

More might come later as this dog keeps teaching me stuff.

Dog Days

I'm off work this week (thanks be to God!) and so I have more time, of course, to spend with Odin and Suki.

I received a very nice package of goodies yesterday, from back home, for Christmas. Brownies, cookies, peanut brittle, banana bread, etc. All good homemade stuff A little taste of home.

And a little taste was all I got. I ate one cookie, and set the rest of the bags aside for later consumption. Well, I didn't set them aside far enough. While I was at KFC, gone for less than 15 minutes, Odin had methodically pulled down, shredded, and ate the contents of everything but the banana bread.

Daddy was not happy. I called Odin down off the couch and began to scold him for the mess. The poor dog peed in fright before I got a good head of steam built up. Real dignified, that. I immediately took him outside and consoled him for a bit. I would have never hit him, of course, I do have a pretty deep voice and he knew what he did was wrong, so I probably did put the fear of God into him. I let him go to the bedroom to think about it for a little while while I ran the sweeper and cleaned up the mess.

At least I still have the banana bread and the hot chocolate. Oh, and the party mix and mulling spices. Needless to say, he did not get any of my chicken and biscuits. I've been watching him for awhile now to make sure he's not had a poison reaction to the chocolate; he seems to be okay. I have also altered my food placement policies accordingly; this dog's reach is incredible.

And, we finally met the gigantic, loud, and messy St. Bernard that lives on the other side of the building. She's very friendly, very vocal, and I imagine a handful on the leash. Odin didn't care for the barking, but was content to be sniffed. His little dachsund pal a few doors down was watching from his window, green with envy.

Bath Time!

Well, I had to try it once.

I manhandled, sorry, doghandled, Odin into the bathtub. A fun time was had by all.

He plunked his butt down, and refused to budge. I was forced to take out my hearing aids, strip and get in with him. After lathering, scrubbing, and repeating, I turned on the shower.

Then the water began to run a little cool, and I frantically rinsed him off before he could get too chilled.

Then the real fun started. One extra large towel was not enough. Nope, I should have done towels at the laundry first.

I got him as dry as I could, but I am painfully aware of the delicate odor of chien en l'eau.

Next month I am taking him to a professional. I can't take him out til he's good and dry, so I hope he can hold it.

And who could have thought such a shorthaired, thin furred dog could hold so much water?

Either way, he is NOT sleeping in my bed tonight.

Housetraining the Dog

Well, with an adult dog who's been previously housetrained, it's hit and miss when you move him to a new home. Lately it's been more miss than hit, as our schedule has been upset some.

However, there is good news, bless St. Francis, and that is that a friend of mine may have a crate big enough for Odin. Crate training is about the best thing around currently for housetraining dogs. It works on the principle that they won't soil their dens, where they sleep.

Now, if a dog has to go badly enough, where holding it is painful, then he will go. But more likely than not, he won't. I'm off work all next week, so if the crate thing works out, I can spend all that time doing three things: Working with Odin, cleaning my closets, and perhaps more importantly, getting back into the habit of praying the Liturgy of the Hours regularly.

Tomorrow is the office Christmas breakfast, so I have to cookity cookity cookity tonight. Cinnamon-swirl coffee cake with blueberries and peaches. Mmmmm. The others are bringing enough food that we could probably serve a homeless kitchen afterwards. Probably.