HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW?

 

         My age might be showing here, but as kids we used to sing the popular Patti Page song as we rode our bikes (un-helmeted) along the sidewalks of our small town. Feel free to sing along with me (and Patti Page herself) now by clicking here…

Ah, memories of childhood.

Listening to this reminded me of the time my sister peddled puppies on the sidewalks of the aforementioned small town. Our neighbors bred Great Danes. She would walk them through the quaint commercial district, two at a time. People would literally race back into stores when they saw her coming. Yes, they can be quite intimidating. They can grow, on average, 36” at the shoulders, and weigh up to 170 pounds. Now that’s a lot of dog!

 For a time, the largest dog in the world was George, the Great Dane. He measured 43” tall at the shoulder, 7’3” long, nose to tail, and weighted 245 pounds. He became a TV celebrity.

Here is a picture of George.

He’s a pretty boy, isn’t he? His record has since fallen to Zeus, another Great Dane.

Like all dogs, the big ones start out as little puppies, a mere two pounds of wriggling cuteness. They can expect to weigh around 15 to 20 pounds by the time they are kicked out of the proverbial nest. One late-1970s summer my neighbors had some puppies to sell. My sister took a basket up to the annual sidewalk sale and hawked her charming canine wares.

Alas, most people that day were looking for bargains on summer clothes and outdated

books, not a 20-pound puppy that would eat them out of house and home. The puppies went unsold, but she had her 15 minutes of local fame when her picture appeared in the local paper (and yes, this was many many many moons ago.) 

Where is this story going?

About two years ago we were told about an emergency re-homing situation for a puppy living in an apartment. He was twelve pounds of exuberance who needed some room to romp. We took him in and fed him, and fed him, and fed him some more. I swear he would grow, right before our very eyes! As he grew, he took on the unmistakable hanging jowl and perky ears of a Great Dane. And the associated gentle nature and a love to cuddle. He quickly outgrew my lap—but don’t tell him that. He still thinks he’s a twelve-pound puppy. Thankfully, he is not a full bred Great Dane, but he’s a big boy, currently weighing about one-hundred pounds. But we love him, and thus make room for him on the sofa, even if it means we are scrunched up in the corner ourselves.

His sidekick is a forty-pound street dog from Puerto Rico. But that’s another story for another day.