Six months ago my family and I set out on a new adventure,
we opened our home and our hearts to a new four footed friend. Back in August, we started the process to
bring an adorable Great Dane puppy into our lives. After weeks of searching we
finally found the perfect baby, a European Blue Great Dane. Next, came the
waiting game. We waited for weeks. Finally, he was old enough to come home and
our life would never be the same.
We named our beautiful boy Ares. We figured a dog like him deserved a powerful name. We should have known we were in for a wild ride when at 8 weeks old he already weighed 20 pounds. He continued to grow like a weed and at just four months old he was tipping the scale at 70 pounds, which is 20 pounds more than an average lab puppy weighs at six months.
The last 4 months have been filled with triumphs and
tribulations, as well as just the craziness that comes with having a 70 pound
puppy in the house. We have gone through
more dog food then I imagined possible. He eats around 3 pounds of food each day. He is also on a grain free high protein diet to ensure proper growth (our food of choice is Blue Wilderness Large Breed Puppy), which means we spend a pretty penny each month on
feeding him. Like most puppies his age he is a chewer, but because he is so big
he is able to do more damage than most puppies. To date he has destroyed his
temperpedic bed, at least 100 rolls of toilet paper, several toys (dog and
child alike), the arm of a leather sofa, countless leaves, a vanity drawer, the
edge of a coffee table, countless sippy cups, and he has even helped remove wall paper from the
bathroom walls. Although the chewing is
frustrating I keep reminding myself this too shall pass, he is just a puppy and
this is just a phase.
Some days I find myself wondering what was I thinking
bringing this massive baby into our already chaotic life but then this sweet
gentle giant lays his heavy head in my lap (it is the only part of his body
that will remotely fit into my lap anymore), nozzles me with his cold wet nose,
and all the stress from that day melts away as he warms my heart.
“A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have
that in your life, things won’t be too bad.”
—Robert Wagner
