| MEET: NYKA GREAT DANE |
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| STATE: ME AGE: 4 years DOB: 9/20/04 WEIGHT: 110 pounds UTD/SPAY: Yes/ No- in 3 weeks SEX: Female COAT COLOR: Black DOCKED TAIL: No CROPPED EARS: No CHILDREN UNDER 4: Yes CHILDREN OVER 4: Yes SEPARATION ANXIETY: No OTHER DOGS: Yes CATS: Possibly CRATE TRAINED: Unknown HOUSE TRAINED: Yes LEASH TRAINED: Partially OBEDIENCE TRAINED: Yes MICROCHIPPED: No ADOPTION FEE: $300 |
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| UPDATE 9/8/09 - We can't remember what life was like without Nyka. Other than being a little bit protective of her food, she gets along great with our other Dane Xena. Our friends who come over cannot believe how big she is; much bigger than Xena and how friendly she is to everyone.
I think we wasted time and money though training her for the invisible fence. She doesn't roam anywhere near the outskirts of our property. She likes sticking close to us and will just walk by our side or lay up on the deck while we work in our yard. She is awesome to watch when she does decide to run after a ball and prances around like the queen bee she is when she gets a hold of it. All in all, we feel very blessed that she found our home! UPDATE 6/3/09 - Nyka is doing wonderfully. She was very skinny when we brought her home, but she has filled out nicely and seems very happy to be with us. She is very sweet. She thinks she is a lap dog and loves to cuddle up on my lap to watch TV everynight. We usually don't let our pups sit on the furniture, but I just can't resist her. She just had her third class of obedience training. Her "sits", "waits" and "downs" are progressing but her "leave it's" are a little tougher (especially when it comes to our cat). I think she sees all small animals are squirrels and therefore, fair game. We'll continue to work on that. She's learning about the invisible fence as well. She is up to #6 on the correction and I think she finally can feel it a little. I can't wait until we can finally let her run without a leash with our other Dane. By the way, they are still trying to establish who the lead dog is between them. Our only other issue is not having a high enough place to put our people food. I came home from work yesterday and there was an empty bag from some bread rolls on the floor. I guess we'll have to make sure everything is kept in the cabinets at all times! 5/3/09 - Nyka is to go to her forever home today!! 4/13/09 - Miss Thang can't catch a break. The vet wouldn't do her spay yet. Because she's so big, there's a greater risk of swelling and bleeding. But, he explained to me this morning, there's also a greater risk that she'll exhibit signs of a false labor, including all the lovely hormone changes and milk production. We don't want to go through that- either of us- so we're going to wait until April 30th. Then she'll be more than a month out of heat and good to go! 4/8/09 - Nyka has an appointment on Friday for her spay. After that, she is perfect and ready for some lucky family to come snatch her up!!! She has shown me so many sides to her since she's been here. In the beginning, she was competing with the other "momma" (long time breeder) dog that was here over who was going to take care of the lab puppy. Then she was a little stand-offish when she went into heat. I think she just wanted the boys to leave her alone.... until she DIDN'T want them too. The little hussy. Now all she wants to do is be attached to my side. She's learned to "wait" until I get all the way settled in bed or on the couch before she comes and stakes her territory. She's also become more gentle taking treats and more patient when it comes time to gather the whole pack. Oh, yeah... remind me to tell you why she can't have stuffed toys.... We haven't done much leash work, so be forewarned, she's a bit inconsistent with it. I have found that she does better with a longer leash than just a short (4 ft) one. She doesn't feel the need to pull. She loves loves loves loves to ride in the car. She'd be in the car all the time, I suspect, if I let her. I suspect she'd be alright in a crate, if you had one big enough. However, I've left her free to roam when I'm not here. I haven't had any problems with that, other than the fact that she can reach the back of the counter without effort. I've learned to keep the bread in the cabinet. She comes to investigate what you're cooking and inadvertantly sticks her nose in your peanutbutter sandwich. She can't help it. Its like she doesn't know where she starts and ends. I joke that she thinks she's a teacup chihuahua, but I'm not that far off... Doesn't she sound cool???? Aren't you excited to make her part of your life?!?!?!?!!? 3/31/09 - Nyka has almost completed her heat cycle and thus ends the parade around my house with my (neutered) male dogs following behind her in a trance... must sniff! must sniff! Since she's cut back on the "hormones", she has turned into the world's best snuggler. When she first got here, she was more than happy to spend her days with herself, only seeking out company when she felt like it. Now, in the last week or so, she comes out and joins us in the living room, takes a place (or two) on the couch and curls up with her head in my lap. She can be a bit pushy if somone is sitting next to me and, of course, she'll win. Sometimes, I have to set literal boundaries for her, or she'd sleep on TOP of me in bed... and then do that pusssssshhhh thing dogs do until I'm hugging the edge of the mattress. She loves prancing around the back yard and (whew!) the first time she saw a squirrel: Lookout!!! Poor squirrel didn't realize she could get halfway up the tree when she stood up!! She's very smart and always wants to go somewhere. She beats me to the door if it appears like I'm getting ready to leave. She loves the car and does very well on a leash. She even "defended" the yard once against a neighbor's dog who had slipped out. She found herself springing over the fence and chasing him home, only to realize she was on the wrong side of the fence to get back to her bed. Instead of taking advantage and having a holiday, I found her waiting at the front door to be let back in! She's figured out the dog door, but would still rather I open the door- seeing as she IS a princess... She's still a mommy at heart and will let the lab puppy get away with anything. I went to play with newborn puppies today and when I got home she sniffed me so long and hard that I ended up having to take off my t-shirt and letting her have at it before she tried to climb onto my chest! Nyka is a quiet lady of a dog. She's a little aloof when she wants to be, but when she's not, she's IN your face! She can't help it, I don't think she realizes she doesn't need to get that close, her nose will do it for her! She would be just perfect for a family that she could nurture; kids she could snuggle with and a mom to commiserate with. She'll be ready to go in a couple weeks, are you ready for her?!?!?!? 3/12/09 - Nyka came to us as an owner surrender when they had to move from their home to an apartment and just couldn't take their dog with them. Before that, she belonged to a breeder and its obvious she's had some puppies. Nyka is still fertile- in fact, I tried to take her in to get spayed today and they sent her home because she's gone into heat. This means its going to be a few weeks until they'll do the surgery and she's ready for adoption. She also has a growth/tumor on the outside of her ear that was going to come off today, but for now, we're going to treat with anti-biotics instead of putting her under anesthesia twice. Other than being a little groggy today, Nyka is just a big mush of a sweet girl. She is independent in that she's happy to go off by herself and lay on the bed (like in the picture, nose to tail, she fits end-to-end on the king bed), surveying her domain through the big bedroom window. When she wants attention, she'll come put her nose in your face. She really has no choice, since her nose is so long! She gets along wonderfully with all the other dogs here. I have a puppy and now two former mothers, so I wondered if there would be some motherly competition over him. No much yet. The puppy, as big as he is (when not compared to Nyka), still has to jump up to reach her nose, so she only let's him instigate when she feels like playing. When she wants to, she loves to snuggle. She'll come sit with us all on the couch, but gets a little pushy if she'd denied that coveted spot next to Foster Auntie. Since she's 3X bigger than anyone else who wants that position, she wins! I can't think of a situation where should wouldn't be a teriffic fit. She'd be great with a single person. She'd be great with a family. She'd be great with or without a yard. She doesn't do badly on a leash with reminders- and with some training and practice, she'll be a perfect walker. Its really just too bad that this girl won't be quite ready to go for a while. Some lucky owners are just going to have to wait until she can grace their lives. |
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| Quinn is the black lab puppy I'm now calling "mini me" (he's only 40 pounds) |
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