Our Fur Babies

I haven't posted anything about our dogs in a while. They may just be dogs, but
they're a big part of our life. They are like our little children. So if you haven't yet,

meet Harper and Brutus....

Harper is our Great Dane and Brutus is our English bulldog.

Harper is an AKC registered blue Great Dane. My husband got her for me from a 

breeder in AR when she was 8 weeks old. She was 8 pounds, and she was a clumsy, 

floppy little puppy with huge paws and loooong legs. It took her almost a year

 to grow into those legs! 

When I first got her, she would take naps on my chest or lap, now

only her head will fit in my lap! She still thinks she's a lap dog and will sometimes

sit on me (like a person) as if I'm a chair! She grew up SO fast. Since danes grow

at such a rapid pace, it's recommended that you strictly schedule 2-3 feedings a

day in certain size portions. It is also highly recommended that you feed them high

protein, large breed puppy food until they are 2 years old. I use Eukanuba large

 breed puppy. Harper just turned 2 on July 27th and she is about 150lbs now! 

I've been through so much with this baby since I got her. At about 4 months old,

she got parvo. If you know anything about puppies with parvo, you know it's 

pretty much the worst thing ever. She stopped eating and threw up constantly.

She lost tons of weight and refused to even drink. It got to the point where I 

had to force Gatorade down her throat with a large feeding syringe to keep

her hydrated. FINALLY, it got so bad that my husband drove 5 hours (where

his veterinarian uncle works/lives in Chattanooga, TN) in the middle of the night. 

His uncle quickly put her on an IV drip and treated her for about 2 weeks. Thank 

God she pulled through. We traveled back to Chatt. and picked up a hyper, healthy

pup. I could probably write a book of stories about Harper growing up, but that

would take forever!

Brutus is my husband, Cody's, CKC registered English bulldog. Cody got Brutus at 

6 months old from some friends who could no longer take care of him. It's sad that

we didn't get to raise him from puppyhood but Cody loves him so much. He's a feisty

character who is VERY protective. We also think he's partially blind because he barks

at anything out of the ordinary... even if it's one of us wearing something like a motorcycle

helmet or holding something large. It's like he can only see silhouettes and can't clearly

 identify things. Kind of strange. 

Brutus has remained fairly healthy. He has a form of mange that is hereditary and treatable 

but not curable which makes him unsuitable for breeding, so we got him neutered pretty 

quickly to get that over with. It also makes him shed in massive amounts which kind of

get annoying to constantly clean up. Can you tell which pup I like better? Haha. 

I do love Brutus though, he's very playful and energetic. He likes to rare up on his

hind legs and slam his front feet down on the floor when he plays. He also bounces

around and turns circles when he's excited. It's very cute!

So... These are our children! They are definitely more than just pets. We love our little family.