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Great Dane Puppy

I hate to say it but my last experience with a great dane puppy ended tragically but taught me an important lesson. Get a tissue and be prepared to cry. After the tragic loss of 2 dogs following the move to a new house, with an old fence, on a semi busy road, my wife and I settled on getting a great dane puppy.

We actually argued for quite some time about what kind of dog to get. I wanted something ferocious and dangerous, she being the wiser one wanted something that would not kill our children and scare the crap out of the neighbors.

My first recollection of a great dane is not good. As a small child I remember being barked at by one of these giant beast, not a good experience. And, little to my knowledge this jaded me into adulthood. I had for the last 25 years believed great danes to be ferocious killers and I was still scared of them. The realization that they are gentle giants came as a welcome shock, once I realized that they are scary looking but not scary I was easy to convince.

Surprisingly enough shortly after our agreement an old friend called out of the blue and offered us a great dane puppy, free of charge. Wow, these dogs are expensive and we were offered one for free. Talk about meant to be or a match made in heaven. We agreed to pick him up right away.

We named him Klaus and he was a fine little blue merle dane. He had funny markings and his feet were so big he could hardly walk. He was a darling and we fell for him. Having just lost two dogs tragically we greatly appreciated this new great dane puppy and went to work spoiling him with enough love to make our children jealous. We bought him toys, we taught him tricks, we walked him and let him sleep in our bed (not suggested for a great dane).

And for financial reasons we put his vaccinations off for a couple weeks. Not thinking this was a big deal we didn’t give it a second thought. I took him to the grocery store and we took him walking at a local, very busy park.

First, he threw up and we didn’t think much of it, it was after a long hike and it wasn’t all that unusual, but then he started spiraling downhill. He couldn’t control, his bowls, he threw up more, and he looked miserable. I took poor Klaus to the vet and they told me he had Parvo. This is basically a death sentence and the worst part is that it is totally preventable. All you need is to get regular shots. If you can’t afford them from a vet you can get them from a feed store and do it yourself for less than $10.

A couple thousand dollars later, yes we tried to keep him alive, our great dane puppy died 6 weeks after we got him. This lead to a long dark period for my wife but taught us some very valuable lessons. If you get a pet make sure you have the means and the knowledge to take care of them, they are a responsibility and a privilege. We have since had another great dane puppy, but we have never forgotten this painful lesson.

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