July 8, 2009
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I had a Great Dane once...
I was walking in the park the other day and saw someone walking a Great Dane. Our family had a Great Dane once. She was really more of a watch dog than a family pet. She was fiercely loyal to us and did her job tirelessly. She was a wonderful dog and despite her size, she was very gentle with us. The only time she would growl at us was when she was eating. My brother and I would try to get our hands close to her bowl when she was eating. That was the only time she would start to emit a low growling noise. But she never bit us and was always happy to play with us. When my parents made the decision to move to Canada, we had to leave her behind. My dad found someone to take care of her.
The new owners came with a pickup truck. My dad was at work leaving mom and the 3 of us along with the dog. One of the man lowered the gate at the back of the truck and slid a wooden ramp down. But our dog refused to get on the back of the truck. There was one man pulling at the leash while the other man was trying to push her from behind. She was too strong and refused to budge. We watched all of this from the porch with very mixed emotions. Our dog held her ground but kept staring at us. Finally one of the man asked my mom to help.
My mom approached the back of the pick up truck, put her hand in the back and said "come here". Our dog waltzed up the ramp towards my mom's hand. The man shut the gate and pulled up the ramp. We watched as the truck drove away with our dog staring at us. My mom started to cry and felt so guilty. When dad came home, she related the story and started to cry again.
To this day, I still find it difficult to look at a Great Dane without thinking about our old dog. It wasn't a storybook ending. I almost feel like patting each of them looking for some sort of closure.
Comments (22)
Hug hug...
if only we can explain to the dog why we have to leave it behind...
How old you were when this happened? I would have hated losing a dog. My aunt has 2 G.Danes - they're huge!!! I myself love German Shep's.
Hug Hug. Matt! I love dogs also. Your blog make my eyes mist a little bit, as this reminds me about the doggie I had.
awww.. *pat pat*
That is so touching...
But you know...when I first saw the title, I thought you were writing about: I had a great DANCE once...
I think it probably would have been just as touching coming from you
So touching Matt! I have never had a dog (or any pet for that matter)... I like them, but I am a little afraid to get involved with them.
Dogs really must know more than we thought. Similar thing happened with my family's puppy when we had to sell him. He was hiding behind my legs shaking when we met the buyers, and then he started to cry when I bent down and hugged him for the last time. I felt like crap
You were lucky to have such a loyal companion. I'm sure the new owners took good care of her, but I can understand why you still feel a lack of resolution. How old were you when you moved?
aww... that is so sad! i think pets (dogs and cats in particular, at least as far as i have observed) are smart enough to know what is going on; they know when you are leaving for a while, and get very anxious until you return even if someone else is watching them for you. it's interesting that pets really do seem concerned, in their own way, about their owners.
You are such a sentimental person, Mattie! I hope someday, you'll get another Great Dane!
@ZenPaper - yeah... I'll probably run into her in "doggie heaven". And she'll growl at me for leaving her behind.
@dikdoktor - I was 13. Yeah, she was huge and was a taller than I was when she stood on her hind legs.
@stevew918 - aww.... hugs back Steve.
@tomatoboi - thanks
@Wangium - lol... I can't dance. I look like a zombie on drugs.
@Dezinerdreams - pets are like a member of the family, it's tough especially when they pass away too.
@caihwei - aww... wow, that's pretty sad too. Those images just stay with you forever.
@christao408 - I was 13 at that time. Dad never told us much about the new owners except they had a lot more land for the dog to run around.
@kunhuo42 - that's true. When I moved out, our cat waited for me every night by the front door. When I finally showed up to visit, she took a fit at me and ignored me for a long time.
@curry69curry - I probably won't get a pet for awhile. A Great Dane would be too much in a condo. It'll probably destroy my furniture and kick me out of my bed.
Oh God, that hurt me so much to read this Matt. I cried. I had to do that with Sayeed's cat once. That was very traumatic too. I can just see the three of you standing there and see the look in the Great Dane's eyes. SAD!!
matt, as unfortunate as it happened to you, this actually makes you wiser. my family had a dog once when i was a kid, but she was never appreciated. she wasn't loved as a pet at all. she was treated merely as a guard dog and all of her puppies were given to strangers. she even got hit a few times probably for doing stuff she wasn't supposed to do. nobody at home knew how to properly take care of a dog.
i have always reminded by those years whenever i see a dog. i can't stand looking at others who don't or can't provide proper care for their pets. now that i'm an adult, as much as i love dogs, i swore to myself never adopt one if i can't provide enough time to take care of one and can't provide a suitable living environment for my dog.
i do have a soft spot when it comes to dogs, though. i immediately melt and got all soft whenever i'm around them. sigh... so much for trying to be a tough guy.
Awwwwww.... what a sad story!
awww...what a sad story... :'(
I'm sorry for your loss. Your great dane did go to a good home, though. But, I can totally understand that you'd feel sad. Unfortunately for my first dog, a rhodesian ridgeback (big dog), when my parents took him away to be let out into the streets with me screaming them not to-I saw my dog being released into a park. I feel guilt when I think about it and I feel guilty that my current dogs have it good and my first dog didn't.
Did you ever see your dog afterwards?
@rudyhou - ugh, i can sort of relate to that, and i see it often. i'm sorry that that happened, i can sympathise. i also feel that dogs should be treated very well because they are totally innocent and very loving.
@ZSA_MD - oh gee... that's got to be very difficult.
@rudyhou - I always knew you were a softie.
Yeah, pets just have a way of entering into your heart. It's really hard sometimes when I see owners who don't have a clue how to take care of their pets. You just feel like hitting them.
@mmmagination - @icebladz - yeah... I guess I felt a bit better after writing it.
@stepaside_loser - no, I never saw my dog after that. We left the country shortly afterwards.
That's quite sad but I'm sure the new owners took good care of the dog.
no lah. i'm not a softie lah. but yeah, don't you feel like you wanna just smack their head and slap them around a bit? I DO!
andrew, i totally agree with you.
I love Danes too. My neighbors had two growing up, and they were the closest I ever got to having a dog until I got Oreo. They are truly gentle giants!
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