Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, has announced that he plans to introduce legislation next year that will ban five breeds in Minnesota. Under the proposed law, anyone owning, housing, training, or breeding Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Chow Chows, Akitas, or wolf hybrids (or any mixed breed with any of the above traits) would be committing a crime subject to fines and jail time.
Apparently, Rep. Lesch has bought into the notion that specific breeds are inherently vicious and banning them would drastically cut down on dog attacks on humans. "You never hear stories about roving packs of golden retrievers attacking children in our streets," Lesch has said, "But you do hear about the pit bulls." It is my understanding that Minnesota dog attacks have been on a decline in the past few years, but Lesch has chosen to focus on a couple high-profile cases just recently in St. Paul that happened to involve pit bulls.
Here's the main problem with this proposed law: Any dog can become dangerous when bred and/or trained to be aggressive. It's ridiculous to think that restricting ownership of five breeds will stop or even cut down on dog bites, because the former owners of individual dogs who were bred or trained to be aggressive will simply acquire another breed of dog and train it in the same way. If they choose golden retrievers instead of pit bulls, and those dogs become aggressive, which breed do you think breed-specific legislation (BSL) proponents will target next?
Another problem with any BSL is that a lot of people can't positively identify dog breeds, and "pit bull", for example, is used by citizens as well as police and lawmakers to include a wide range of different breeds. I seriously doubt that John Lesch could tell you the difference between an American pit bull and an American Staffordshire Terrier, or the difference between an Akita and a Siberian Husky, for that matter.
I believe our state representative is just buying into the propoganda, perhaps even thinking his actions are noble. But how many of his family and friends own dogs, ANY breed of dogs? My understanding is that Minnesota law prohibits cities from enacting their own breed bans, and this is good. As far as statewide BSL, this proposal has many, many opponents; responsible dog owners who refuse to be punished and lose their best friends because of the irresponsibility of a few. Just because you may be (like me) the proud owner of a goofy, loveable, and extremely gentle dog, don't kid yourself. Great Danes can, and do, bite, and these few incidences speak volumes more about the breed from a lawmaker's standpoint than the thousands of sweet and well-behaved Danes in homes all across the nation.
Please take a few minutes to contact Rep. John Lesch, and in your own words, urge him to reconsider his stand on dog breed bans. Ask him to instead consider better enforcement of dog laws already in effect, including leash laws. There are laws regarding "dangerous dogs", and enforcement of these could prevent dog bites more effectively than breed bans. When Lesch announced his proposal at the Capitol on Friday, with him was a 5-year-old St.Paul girl who had been attacked by a "pit bull" last month. As Lesch called for support for his breed ban, the fact that that individual dog had previously been declared "potentially dangerous" by city inspectors seemed to get lost in the shuffle.
Following are a few links regarding breed-specific legislation. Not surprisingly, pit bull organizations are leading this fight. The Real Pit Bull site explains BSL thoroughly and gives alternatives to breed bans, as well as a petition to stop John Lesch's proposed legislation.
As always, Trail Center's website has pages of information for dog owners, and Sarah's views on BSL (as a Rottweiler owner).
An important, and truly eye-opening, exercise is the Find The Pit Bull test from Pit Bulls On The Web. I encourage everyone to take this short test and then visit this site's BSL page. There are also quite a few great articles under "Related Links".
The dogs pictured in this post are friends and acquaintances of Savage, and with the exception of the Brittany Spaniel, all dogs that would be illegal to own under the new breed ban. In descending order, the puppies are Savage and Mason, Wally, Roger, Mason, Elvis, Jones, and Savage, Willy, and Mason again. And yes, we do love our rotties!

Whenever Savvy and I need to rent a motel room I always get one with two double beds so he has his own to sleep on. I particularly like Days Inns because many don't charge extra for pets, and there is no weight limit on dogs.

Savage's hospital visit went well, and the doctor gave him a prescription for 20mg prednisone in case he got into any more hornet or bee situations. Her directions to me were to give him a dose of Benadryl as soon as he got stung and then the prednisone if symptoms presented themselves. So now we are well prepared. Also at the vet's office, he received his rabies booster, and seems to be doing fine; no vaccine reactions at all. The whole visit cost only $69.66.
I talked to his vet about getting him neutered soon, and she printed me out an estimate. The procedure itself will cost only $125.15 (I believe this figure is based on his weight), but the heart monitor, IVs, drugs, etc. altogether raise the price to $381.06! Which is a LOT of money for me to be spending at this time.
But it has to be done. Even though my puppy is the sweetest, mellowest boy with an excellent temperament, I've noticed him getting a little more of an "attitude" with other male dogs. Lately he's not as likely to back down when another dog growls at him, and even though this is completely normal, I don't ever want to see him involved in a full-blown dog fight. As far as neutering to curb roaming tendencies, Savvy has never strayed and still stays very close to wherever I am, so that's not an issue at all. Another clue that he's maturing is that just a month or so ago he began actually lifting his leg to pee, instead of squatting, especially when other male dogs are near. My little (!?) puppy is becoming an adult!
It's strange to feel this way about a dog, as opposed to a child, I guess, but I almost don't want him to grow up because it forces me to face the fact that someday I will lose him. Hopefully that's many, many years in the future, but whenever that happens will be too soon. Of course, I'm also very proud of him; all the things he's learned in the last year and a half, how well he's now responding to training (especially how attentive he's becoming), what a truly "good dog" he's growing into. He's really turning out to be an amazing boy. And the really cool thing is that he and I still have so many new experiences to go through together. It gives us both so much to look forward to.

Here are Savage's specifications, for anyone interested:
Age: 18 months
Weight: 149 lbs.
Height: 36" at shoulder
Girth: 39 1/2"
Length: 33" from base of neck to tail
Neck: 24"
This is why I'm finding it so hard to buy clothes for him. Most so-called "great dane" sizes fall short of his measurements, and custom sized clothes are way too expensive to even consider. Looks like I may have to dust off the old sewing machine (ugh).

Savage is happy and healthy again, after a scary hornet-sting episode a couple days ago. After giving it a lot of thought and retracing our activities I think I've established exactly what happened.
Saturday around noon I was outside talking on the phone when I spotted a hornet just resting on Savvy's leg, so I brushed it off without thinking much more about it. Saturday night I worked at the bar and Randy and Savvy came over to visit for a couple hours. That night my puppy threw up in the backseat of the truck, but I didn't discover it until next morning. Early morning Sunday I woke up to the sounds of Savage puking on the carpet, twice, and when I let him outside he browsed on grass and went to the bathroom. Later on I noticed him swiping at his muzzle with his paws a few times. His cheeks were a little swollen and when I checked inside his big lips, I found what I thought was a cut or pimple where his lip meets his gums. Again, not very concerned, thinking it was a puncture from a stick he chewed on. Other than being a little lazy, his behavior seemed pretty normal.
Randy and I took him with us when we drove over to our cabin on McFarland Lake to pick up some stuff, and at the cabin he was running around, happy like he always is when we're there. On the drive home, however, he became sick in the truck again, and we had to let him out to throw up. Almost immediately when he got back in the vehicle I noticed his fur looked very messy, which I found was caused by small bumps on his skin; legs, haunches, shoulders, neck, and face. Randy assured me that it was probably an allergic reaction to something. I worried the whole way home.
Sunday night I stayed up late with Savvy, watching over my boy. His bumps slowly disappeared, but he trembled a little as he fell asleep. Around 3:00am he woke me up so I'd let him outside, where he threw up another time. When he came in he was shivering and I wrapped him in a blanket and stayed with him until I was sufficiently reassured that he was safe. Throughout the whole episode his respiration didn't seem to change much, if at all.
After talking to my cousin (vet tech, dog owner) on the phone, and checking out Savage, we determined that he must be reacting to the hornet sting, which of course, the "cut" inside his lip turned out to be after further examination. In fact, I also found a sting under his chin, and because the hair on the rest of his body is longer he might have gotten more.
So, Savvy will go to his vet next Tuesday (the earliest appointment) for a check-up, and hopefully more advice and information about his allergic reaction. I'm hoping that there is some kind of doggie "bee-sting kit" that we can carry with us, with epinephrine or adrenaline to prevent anaphylactic shock in case of an emergency. Also, this reminds me that I really should have a thermometer on hand so I can take puppy's temperature. This is quite early for hornets to be nesting up here, and we have a long summer ahead of us.
Note: The pictures interspersed in this post are some taken during May, but that I haven't got to publish yet. Due to our evacuation from our home due to a forest fire in the area, I haven't had internet access until a few days ago. Thankfully, our home, lodge, and cabins are safe, though some of our friends and neighbors weren't so lucky. The "Ham Lake Fire" seems to be dying down, but fire crews remain, mopping up hotspots and maintaining sprinkler systems. Savvy, Randy, and I are safe at home and hoping for more rain.

Bayshek 10/13/98 - 5/3/07
This post is a tribute to Bayshek, my twin sister's German Shepherd. My sister, Laura, has always been in love with the GSD breed, just as I have with Great Danes. Bayshek arrived as a Christmas gift from her husband in 1998 as a tiny, fuzzy 8 1/2 week old puppy, and has been a big part of our family's life from that moment on. Laura chose the name "Bayshek", which translates as "number one" in the Ojibwe language, because that was the name of one of our family's favorite lead sled dogs back when that was their primary winter transportation.
Bayshek became equally important to my whole family, not as a working dog, but as a loved family member. At our resort he was the first one to greet guests and customers, and many of those people fell in love with him as well. At family gatherings Bayshek was always there sharing good times. He was an intelligent, gentle dog, and with my sister's guidance he grew up to be extremely well behaved. You rarely see a dog/human relationship as close as that of Laura and Bayshek. Together with her, he was intuitive and able to anticipate her actions, and was the perfect picture of an obediant, well-mannered dog. He truly did live to please others.
Bayshek died at 8:53pm on May 3rd of this year.
After a terrible seizure episode his health was deteriorating and my sister made the toughest decision of her life to put her boy to sleep. He is now buried next to our family's other pets on a hillside at our resort, and an etched stone marks his resting place. Bayshek was, and remains, my sister's best friend.
We miss you, Gingersnap, and we will never forget you. Rest in peace, big puppy.
To learn more about Bayshek you may visit his Dogster page or his memorial on Laura's website.

Here's 18 month old Savage and 11 month old Nala enjoying a day at Poplar Lake. They are very good friends that love exploring the outdoors with their humans.
By the way, you can get a cute, dorky collar like Nala's at Dork Clothing Company, which is owned by her mom, Sarah.

I brought Savage's Petsafe wireless fence system along on vacation to Texas with us, planning to use it around our campsite. What I didn't plan on was having to search for replacement batteries because I left the receiver collar turned on, so we never got to try it out while we were gone. In any case, on the way back home, both the collar and the transmitter unit got stolen right out of the back of my truck.
Contrary to what I expected, Savage began pushing his boundaries right away when we got back to the house, and I ended up having to order another wireless fence system ($270). Today I set up the system and put up the tiny boundary flags around the perimeter. (I spray-painted the flags bright orange because they are so small and easy to miss.) When I took Savvy out to introduce him to his new boundaries I lured him around near the "forbidden zone" with pieces of hot dogs, but once he heard the beep of the collar, he retreated back to the porch, and refused to follow me anywhere in the yard.
When we got the first wireless fence it took my boy some time to get used to where he was and was not allowed to go, so I know I just have to be patient and let him figure it out. But it still makes me sad to see him frightened. I hope it doesn't take him too long...

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.)