Our Little Boy Turns 2 Today!

 Two years ago today, Gunny was born.  Mickey went to the Breeder in College Station and there were 2 puppies left - a male and a female.  The Breeder said that the Female was the "pick of the litter" because she had good markings.  But when Mickey took the Female out of the crate, she was running around, digging and snapping and acting just generally crazy.  And there was Gunny, sleeping like a little Angel.

So Mickey picked Gunny instead.  We got him for a STEAL at $800.  And as soon as he made it home, Gunny began running around, digging and snapping and acting just generally crazy.  Seems he was just faking it for the viewers, as he had no doubt seen this work for the previous puppies who left to good homes.  He was a deceptively cute little puppy, but as soon as anyone reached out to pet him or pick him up, he would claw and bite with his razor sharp little teeth.  We began referring to him as our Pet Alligator.

The second day we had him he became sick and lethargic with a fever.  So we took him to the vet and, $400 later, found out that he had swallowed a rock.

At two months old, he began having oozing and bleeding skin rashes all over his body.  It took four months of treatments before the Demedex finally cleared up.  Seems that because he is a purebreed and also because he's white, he's very prone to sicknesses due to a naturally low immune system. 

At nine months old he began limping and then the limping became worse, to the point where he was holding up his left hind leg and trying to run on it.  Poor guy.  He had torn his ACL - an injury usually attributed to playing sports.  But in Gunny's case, we attribute it to him running around and generally acting crazy.  $1,500 and a surgery later, the leg is fixed, permanently.  We hope.

About the time Gunny turned a year old, we got his testicles removed (see photo left).  "They" had become somewhat problematic, in that Gunny was an aggressive "bully" to begin with.  But when I tried to get him into Doggy Daycare at the Pet Resort, he was expelled, with the suggestion that we should consider getting him neutered, because "Gunny was running and then ramming his body into the other dogs and humping all of them."  Oh, Gunny.    Incidentally, despite us getting his evil balls removed, the Pet Resort still wouldn't let him back into Daycare.  Apparently he made quite an impression.

Within a week of the ball removal surgery, I decided that it was now or never that we should get him a playmate.  Mickey and I really like Blue, James' Great Dane.  So I checked out some Great Dane breeders and found Lola, a female Blue Harlequin with beautiful hazel eyes.   I was really worried at first about Gunny brutalizing her and had to introduce them with Gunny on a leash for about 4 days.  Eventually I let them "play" together, which consisted of Lola taking off running and Gunny knocking her over, repeatedly.  But eventually Lola got big and big enough to take care of herself (which was the rationale for getting a BIG dog in the first place).  And now they love each other and are BFF.

And Gunny is a grown "man" now.  He no longer snaps when someone tries to pet him (although I am convinced he would EAT anyone who attempted to break into our home or hurt me, Mickey or Lola).  He's no longer an Alligator.  He's our sweet Gunny.  Happy Birthday Big Boy!  We love you.