Farewell To A True Great Dane

This is an email I received February 2009. It is a tribute to Genny, a gorgeous Harlequin Great Dane, from her owner. When I received it, I filed it "in a safe place;" recently I decided I wanted to post it on our blog, but I couldn't find where it was filed (isn't that always the way with a "safe place?). This morning I stumbled upon it and couldn't be more thrilled. It's a beautiful tribute to a dog that was truly loved.

Farewell To A True Great Dane
by
Nate Creasy

"I remember the very first day, we went down towards Oceana and I was young, maybe 8 or 9. I only remember the jets that flew by occasionally. When we pulled up, we saw her Dad jump on the fence and bark as if to say, 'I know you're here to take one of my pups.'

"When we first stepped in the backyard, I saw a bunch of Great Dane pups. They all looked the same, but then I saw her. She was different, black and white and grey splotches everywhere. She was smaller than the others, and I heard my parents start talking. This one would be ours. She was the runt, and the only Harlequin colored one. When I looked closer, I noticed something different. A blue left eye, a brown right. I'll never forget the ride home. We put her in a cardboard box with blankets on the bottom.

"My Mom decided on her name, Virginia, but she was known to everyone as Genny. She seemed so lost in our backyard, so tiny, and I'll always remember our neighbor Dennis peering over the fence asking about our "Dalmation." He wouldn't be the first to think she was a Dalmation, though.

"I tend to remember my dog's life in stages. After all we both grew up together. First was the vast fun of the potty training era. Oh the fun ...... At this point she was smaller than half the size of a Beagle. The small puppy stage didn't last very long, and before we knew it she was trained, and the size of a skinny Lab.

"This is what I refer to as her ear stage. She loved to try and bite your ears if she got the chance, and she also had her love of pig ears. We also noticed that she loved to have her ears rubbed during this time. That one would stay with her till the last day. This was the most playful stage of her life. And this is when she got her first piece of furniture, a grey chair. She would sleep in it while we watched TV all night.

"Next she got even bigger. She became convinced that there was buried treasure in our yard and in came the holes. Haha! The most famous phrase of this era became, 'Genny!! No dig!' She began running up and down at the side of our yard with both of our neighbor's dogs creating a mud pit. Then Dennis came over and shared his idea of a wooden walkway to build over top the areas. I like to think of it as her kong stage, for her love of her kong toy and treats we used to put in it. This is when my brother started taking her out for walks, and man did she love that.

"That fall she began a habit of running and diving into the leaves that I would rake up. Loved that extra work, not ...... I remember in the winter months that I would play football with my dog. She would literally tackle me and nip at me, so my brother's old winter coat was a must wear to prevent injury.

"The next major thing came in what I believe was the month of February. I remember there were snow flurries, and for some reason my Mom was wanting to go to the animal shelter. Well, we ended up coming back with a very erratic Beagle named Brandy. That was a fun phone call between Mom and Dad, as my Dad was at work and had no idea. At first Brandy and Genny didn't get along, but they soon became pretty good pals.

"Then she entered her catching stage. For some reason she had it out for the birds in our yard, the only animal she would ever catch. She used to love to chase the squirrels out of the yard and across the fence line. This was the prime of her life. Her bold bark would be heard anywhere in the neighborhood. Playing in the yard all day, walks with her oldest brother in the afternoon, and sleeping in her chair at night. Then she outgrew the chair; we bought a new sofa and upgraded her to the old sofa.

"Then she had a pretty funny stage. My Mom used to have a flowerbed where the old oak tree used to be. She would smell the flowers for a while, and then one day she gave that up and started eating them. Haha! I remember my Mom freaking out, and the next thing you knew we had these little fences around all her flowerbeds.

"The years came and went after that. My brother started driving, and her walks became almost non-existent. My Mom tried to walk her, but that didn't go so well. Then my brother left for college, and boy did she miss him. We had to pay extra attention to her starting then. Some of her dark splotches began turning white and grey, the most noticeable was the black splotch surrounding her right eye.

"At this point she began getting introduced to my high school friends. A particular few friends really stick out. Nick, he is a very sincere guy, and a dog lover for sure. Genny could sense what a good person he was and liked him a lot. David, he would play with her almost everytime he came over. He could really get her wound up quick, and they would go at it for a while. Kyle would always drop in to say 'hey' when he came over. Of course, Byron always paid her attention, and also Mackenzie was a good fan of her. To tell you the truth, she loved all of them.

"I was running track now, and I'll always remember when I ran on the 4x4 relay at districts and got one of my medals. I actually put it on her one day and told her it was the world's greatest dog medal. I'll attach the photo to this as well.

"I remember one particular scare where she got very sick. My Mom and I took her to the vet near the ice rink. We had to leave her overnight, so we left her with her favorite toy, a stuffed duck. Her being sick began to mark her downfall.

"I left for college at the end of that summer to go to WVU. My dogs were one of the biggest things I missed about not being home. She was really excited to see me during Thanksgiving Break. I made sure to spend time with her as she was getting pretty old. The next time I saw her was my Christmas Break. She was looking pretty old but still managed to be excited and somewhat playful for me. I left early to go to Vermont before school, not knowing that it would be the last time I saw my dog. Thank God I got my Dad to get a picture of me with her in the yard minutes before I left ...... I'll attach that as well.

"I remember I talked to my Mom about mailing me some food one day, and I asked how Genny was doing. She told me it's been rough, but she has good and bad days. Two days later I got the call. She was going to be put down Tuesday, February 10. I won't lie, I didn't like it one bit and neigher did my brother. She would always bounce back from bad times in her life, but this was just one too many bad times.

"Looking back on her life I would have to say she lived a pretty damn good one. After all, the average lifespan was only 6-8 years, not bad for a Dane with a small heart, bad hips, and Addison Disease to almost make it 11, right? My biggest regret is not being able to see her one last time, and for that I'm sorry. I hope she knows that I would have been there with her until the end if I could have.

"My Mom said something to me today that really made me think. Great Danes are proud dogs, they have dignity and don't want to be seen when they can't be at their fullest. Which is why it was time for her to go. I will always love my dog, and I know that I'll see her again one day. My Great Dane was truly Great, and I will always love Genny."