Ask anyone who has multiple children which one is their favorite and they will all answer the same way every time, whether they are real teacup humans or furry ones. I love all my kids equally.

And for the most part it’s true.

Yet dividing attention between two furry children is hard enough when you own two dogs as attention seeking as mine. Add in 2 attention grabbing cats and you find yourself asking how I have anytime for myself on a daily basis. The dogs need to be walked. Fed. Bathed. The cats need fresh running water. Food. New litter.
The list goes on and on.

However, this year my boyfriend and I were in for something new. This year, we had a Great Dane. Darla the Dane; the baby of the family, the newest pack member.

Officially, she became a member of the family September 23, 2012 at 3 1/2 months and 35 lbs. And while she made life interesting the last months of good ole ’12, the real fun, we were to learn, was just beginning.
Tia has been undoubtedly the year of the Dane. Our other dog, Thor (a shih tzu), was crate trained since he came to live with us. After he hit 9 months, the light went on. He knew what we wanted. He was perfectly potty trained. He got along with the cats. Aside from his absolute loathing towards children, he shaped up to be a well behaved, social, happy pup.
Darla is quite another story.

As she got older, we uprooted our family and due to some unforeseen obstacles, ended up living at an Extended Stay for a bit. After losing my job in March, Darla received the brunt of her potty training during this time. While a small studio sized hotel room is not the ideal living situation for a then 75 lb. dog plus 5 other living beings, we managed quite well. When we moved into our apartment, I honestly thought it would be roses and cake after that. and as usual, I was wrong.

My boyfriend and I long since realized that Darla was picking up Thor’s habits. Unfortunately, she didn’t pick up on the good ones. Or size appropriate ones: Darla is the only Great Dane I have ever met who enjoys jumping as much as a shih tzu. To be honest, I find the relationships she has developed with the rest of the animals to be fascinating. She submits to our oldest cat, Willow, hangs with Tiberious (our Norwegian forest cat) and just worships Thor.

Everyone kept telling us that when she hit a year she would begin calming down, to the more calm, lazy Great Dane temperament that we expected. But first, we had to deal with her heat cycle. Most vets recommend that big slow developing dogs should be allowed to complete one cycle.

Before I forget, let me let you in on a little secret: a Great Dane’s cycle lasts a month.

One month.

to be continued tomorrow, since the Starbucks I am at is closing. More tomorrow furry fans…