This time of year gives me a whole new reason to worry about my dog. As the weather gets warmer and the snow melts, the ice over the lakes gets thin and begins breaking up. My Savage, who doesn't think twice about wandering out on the winter ice, has to be watched extra carefully in late March and April when we are near the lake. Thankfully, the ice on Poplar Lake has disappeared completely as of yesterday, and we enjoyed splashing around on the shoreline today, though the water is much too cold for Savvy to attempt to wade in further than his knees. I'm hoping that this is the year that my boy finally decides he likes to swim.
We're now walking on the Old Gunflint Trail again, every morning. Sav starts whining and moaning in the truck, every single time I turn onto the road. His arch-nemesis, The Evil Bicycle, is back, and he's determined to bark it into submission again. Lately we've been taking a friend of Savvy's, Bubba the black lab, along with us. We're seeing more wildlife on the trails. A few days ago we saw a woodchuck while driving. When I hopped out of the truck to get a closer look at it, the miserable little 'chuck stood his ground and hissed at me, and Savage went crazy barking. What a brave boy.
We're both looking forward to this, Savvy's second summer; hiking, swimming, boating, biking, exploring, and just laying on the deck soaking up sun.

I created this graphic as a joke for a friend on a great dane online discussion forum. After seeing the picture Tiffany posted on the forum, with Nova in such a cute pose, I had to do it. It got lots of laughs from the forum members, and Nova is enjoying being a cover girl.
(By the way, the picture quality didn't turn out as well when I resized the photo. The original is much clearer.)

For anyone who doesn't actually own a great dane: yes, they DO think they are lap dogs, and they don't care much about YOUR comfort at all. Savage doesn't seem to be aware of how big and heavy he is, or how bony his elbows are. He sees anyone sitting on the couch as an open invitation to crawl all over them. This is my 17-month-old, 145lb puppy sleeping on my boyfriend's lap. When I get home from my bartending job at night they are usually relaxing just like this, and more often than not, I have to wake both of them up in order to claim my own spot on the couch. Sometimes I wonder why I spent so much money on Savage's huge crate, and big, comfy dog bed. At the new house we're building I am already planning to buy another couch just for him.
Postscript to Randy: I just know you'll be understanding about me posting a picture of you in your underwear on the internet for the whole world to see ; ) !

Introducing Albert! This sweet boy is an older natural-eared brindle dane, rescued from an animal shelter by my friend Sarah (owner of the late Teddy, who has been featured in this blog before). Not much is known about Albert, except that he came from a family with children, and was very good with them. His original owners told the shelter he was 8 years old, but his age was estimated at 5-7 years by a vet. Lately he has had an infected tooth removed, which may have contributed to his low weight (103lbs). His skinny appearance is quite shocking, earning him the fond nickname "Fat Albert" and hopes for weight gain. The shelter had him neutered, and he is recovering from the operation, but his overall health remains suspect. Along with his near-emaciation, he continues to have a persistant cough, and his legs are very weak. His inner eyelids are blocking much of his sight, which could be corrected surgically, but his other problems take precedent at this point.
In spite of all this, Albert is true to the dane breed, being very friendly and sweet, with no hesitation in meeting new friends. I took him for a short walk so I could get to know him, and he proved obediant and attentive. His color is fascinating: a very light fawn with black and blue brindle stripes. His black mask is peppered with grey (making him look very old and wise, in my opinion), while his ears are completely black. Albert is curious about his new surroundings, and gets along with Sarah's other dogs and her cat. He will go to the vet to get checked out on Monday, and because his problems are unknown, and he is still weak, he will not be meeting my big, overwhelming Savage for awhile. I look forward to when I can take them both out walking together this summer.
Albert is a foster dog, and Sarah will be caring for and watching over him until he gets better and becomes adoptable. This boy needs lots of love and attention, and above all, stability. Sarah will be posting updates on the new dane on Albert's Blog, so check it out to see how he's doing. Hopefully we can help Albert recover and find him his forever home.

Well, I finally went and established a Dogster account for Savi. Almost every dog I know is registered, and it seems to be a cool place to meet other dogs online. I regularly search for my favorite breeds in Minnesota. If you want to visit Baby Sava at his other online home CLICK HERE. As always, more pictures will be added as soon as I get the time.

On the way back to Minnesota, Randy, Savvy, and I spent a few days in Missouri at a friend's house. He lent us his boat so we could go crappie fishing on a lake near Appleton City, and Savage was ecstatic to see freshwater again. He went absolutely wild charging around in the water and was soaking wet by the time he got in the boat, as usual. Randy and I caught a bunch of crappies and sunfish, and Baby Dog kept an eye on the turtles sunning themselves on the shore.

Here's the lazy boy kicking back at our campground on Port Aransas, Texas. We camped right next to the beach, so every morning Savage and I walked along the shore, waded in the ocean, and picked up seashells together.

Here's Savvy keeping an eye on his "daddy" shore-casting. When Randy turns back to return to shore, the puppy will bounce out through the waves to meet him.

We parked the truck right on the beach on Mustang Island and let Savvy run around while Randy and I fished. Baby Dog loves playing in sand so the beach was like a big playground for him. This was the very first time he had seen the ocean, and he went wild splashing in the surf. Even the big waves coming in didn't scare him. We had to wade in up to our chests in order to cast our lines out far enough to catch fish, and Savage wasn't about to let us out of his reach. In the beginning, each time we casted out, he followed us right into the water. Randy and I caught some little fish called "whiting", and I filleted one so Savvy could eat it, which was when we discovered that he refuses to eat fresh saltwater fish. (He loves the stuff that comes in cans, though!)
We were on the coast of Texas during spring break, and the beaches were inundated with college kids, and of course everyone wanted to meet the big blue dog and take his picture. Our friends started calling him a babe magnet because he attracted so much attention everywhere we went. He got to meet a lot of other puppies (thank god for dog-friendly beaches) and even a couple danes! He behaved very well under the circumstances, even though I could tell he was a little stressed with so much going on. Even though he is a pretty sociable dog, and I should be used to answering "dane questions", at the end of the day we were both exhausted...

About 3 weeks ago our little family drove down to Port Aransas, Texas for a vacation/fishing/hunting trip. Savage had a good time overall, though he wasn't too pleased about sitting in the truck for so long during drive time. (Neither were Randy and I.) Of course, half of my vacation pictures involve great danes, so I'll be posting a few on the blog. Enjoy!!