We are drawing ever nearer to the time that BHRR’s Dana shall be put up for adoption. I both look forward and dread that day for Dana and I have been taking quite the journey together; one of ups and downs and lots of laughter! Her new adoptive home is going to have to be really on the NILIF with this girl and not get sucked into her ‘sweet’ ways for they will be the one’s sleeping on the dog bed and Dana will be ruling the roost. She is such a mixture of personalities and characters and I still feel that I have not really gotten to know the ‘deep’ down Dana as of yet. I feel like there is a door or two that she is just not ready to ‘unlock’ at this time and that is ok. I think it relates to trust and I honestly have the feeling that Dana will save that and share that with her new forever loving home. I hold no thoughts or feelings that they are ‘bad’ things; just private things and it involves trust with her. I think that when she completely gives herself over(for there is no halfway with this Dane as I mentioned before) her loyalty will be absolute and I know from my perspective that this is a HUGE responsiblity to ensure that she is placed properly and that NO one ever betrays this sweet thing again for I think her heart could not take it. All that being said, Dana has a new past-time; sigh….she likes to stir up trouble with not letting ‘sleeping dogs lie’…my goodness is she a brat and a monkey and she is so deliberate in her attempts to ‘poke’ the sleeping dogs…she almost ‘stalks’ them and is she ever effective in learning what they are most ‘sensitive’ too. GOSH! She is just brilliant and there is truly NEVER a dull moment with this Dane. She does not take ‘guff’ and you have to earn her respect and if you have earned it; it is there for keeps unless you do something to betray her. She applies this with the dogs as well as with humans. She is so funny. I love her facial expressions when some people just ‘oooh’ and ‘awww’ over her and she just sits there with this bored look on her face and literally yawns in their faces; as if almost dismissal. LOL She KNOWS she is something else and if your opinion is of no matter to her; she ‘tolerates’ the baby talk! LOL She is easily won over with the loving and pats and pets and treats though…PSSSSTT….don’t tell her that I gave away one of her secrets! If you are going to ‘correct’ this girl; you had better be sure that she did something wrong for she is just like my BHRR’s RIP Alaska(GS); for she will let you know otherwise! GOD! I love this girl and she is so not for the faint of heart and once again, I find myself writing a huge Gwennie Novel about her! On to the sad news…..I came back from my shows to find out that she had gone on a play outing with a Volunteer(I so do not support dog parks….sigh) and she is sporting ear injuries on both ears and punctures to her one foot. While I trust my dogs and they are trained; I DO not trust other owners and their dogs and BHRR’s Dana is sporting the spoils of that outing. In the face of that dog aggression, Dana became the submissive sweetie I know her to be(she is so much bluff that one) and sought protection from the Volunteer. Apparently, a bunch of dogs were playing wonderfully and this new dog came into the picture and decided he had “Napoleon” Syndrome and went for Dana. What is the long term effects of this? We shall see. She has been no different at home yet I have been doing this a long time; there is always some kind of residual result and for some it is a lot larger than others…like BHRR’s Abbi. The rehab process takes a lot of time. Yet Dana has a pretty staunch and stable personality and I do not see her having any major lapse but this will delay me putting her up for adoption as I need to see if she will be somewhat nervous in public places. As of today, no problem…In the meantime, I have reviewed much with our Volunteers and I have pleased asked them to respect my wishes to NOT bring our dogs to such dog parks etc. We have so many gorgeous trails in the area; that there is no need to mosh pit in such a place. I get together with dogs all the time and the dogs are extremely well socialised that there is no need to visit such places frequented by people that are many times irresponsible with their dogs. Now, watch something happen on one of the rural trails… 🙄