The Tripawd Times of Nova the Great Dane

Sorry it’s been taking so long for Mom to get more pictures on of me.  She has been studying like crazy for her first Anatomy and Physiology and Medical Terminology tests.  She says she had learned a lot already just from all of my health issues.  Glad I could help!  haha  Anyway, I’ve giving her the head butt every time she is on the computer and she FINALLY got the message.  So here is the next batch of pictures.  These were taken once I came home to my new family.

Settling In

I took charge of the house in no time.  Isn’t it funny how much bigger Emmy was than me back then?  That was back when I could walk under her legs.  That lasted for about, uh, 2 months!  Now she has to walk under mine!

Lovin' Life

As you can see, I just loved my new family.  There were two wonderful leather couches to lounge on, and people all around to spoil me.  I was so glad that they chose me to to join their pack.

Loving Sisters

Emmy and i were the best of friends from the very beginning.  She took me under her wing as a little sister, and showed me the ropes. Emmy was very well-behaved, and I learned a lot from her.  I didn’t chew on the furniture or steal underwear like a Lab that Mom once had would do.  I graduated with honors from my puppy socialization class.  Emmy did agility for awhile, but I never really got the hang of that.  I was a little too uncoordinated, and was  much more interested in snuggling with and leaning on people.  That led my brothers to give me a few nicknames.  One being the McDoofus.  I am definitely very Marmaduke-esque, that’s for sure.  Let’s see… other nicknames included “Bossy Nova” (I have a big mouth and speak my mind, the “Golden Turd” (because I like to lay around like a, uh, turd), Oaf, Wildebeest, oh and get this… “Grape Brain” (as opposed to Great Dane, because my brothers said my brain was the size of a GRAPE.)  Brothers can be a pain!

Me and Sissy

 Oh how I loved my sissy!  We would always nap together (and still do!) and she would always lay a protective paw over me (and still does!)  I have always been able to count on her to be by helping paw.  Especially when I went blind last year, Emmy became even more of my protector, helping me find my way to all my favorite places around the house.  I don’t know what I would do without her!

Growing Fast

Mom always said that growing up I was so funny because I had so much extra skin, but then the next day I would have grown into it.  And of course I had huge feet that I would trip over all the time because they were growing so fast.  Nearly every week we were going to the pet store to get a new collar.  Mom decided that she was just going to buy the cheap nylon collars for me until I was full grown, THEN I could get a leather collar.  Same with my crate.  My puppy crate lasted about a month, then I moved into the “colossal” crate.  Luckily, Mom trusted me pretty quickly and it didn’t take me long to get free run of the house.

Lap Dog

Here you can see how fast I was growing, napping on my Uncle Bryan’s lap.  You can still see all the loose skin, I guarantee you a week after this picture I was 10-20 pounds heavier!  As I got bigger it was hard to understand that people did not always want me on their laps anymore.  I really wish I could still be a lap dog!  I remember just a few years ago when I was in the hospital right before my bloat surgery.  I was so scared that I jumped up in Mom’s lap in the waiting room (all fours up in her lap, shaking like a leaf).  All the people there thought it was so funny to see such a big dog be such a big baby.  I was lucky that Mom did not care that I was making big bruises all over her legs from all the weight, she just cuddled me like a little chihuahua.

Can't Fit

It was hard to grow so fast because I couldn’t always understand why I couldn’t fit in places where I could just a few days before.  Here I am inside the crate of my cousin Stella, a weiner dog.  I didn’t get why Stella’s crate had shrunk.  Today, I don’t think I could even fit my head in there.

Love, Licks and Leans,

Nova