Many people ask me how we ended up with a Great Dane so I thought I would share the story.

Many years ago, my sister Shannon ended up housesitting for a coworker who owned a Great Dane. She fell in love with her, which isn’t surprising given their gentle nature. So when it was time for her to get a dog, there really wasn’t any other choice but a Great Dane.

Abby was set to arrive the very afternoon of my wedding shower. She was on a planed headed for SeaTac, and although a wedding shower is very fun and exciting, I’m convinced we were both more excited for Abby to arrive.

I still remember the first time that little black face timidly came out of her crate. We fell in love immediately. It was then that I knew I would have to get a Great Dane as well.

Fast forward through a wedding, the purchase of our first house, and a year later we start talking dog.

We actually went to our local dog park many times breed shopping. We narrowed it down to a Great Dane and a Mastiff. We ended up choosing a Great Dane because Mastiff’s tend to shed a lot more and the possibility of drool is a lot higher with a mastiff.

Gracie was part of a litter of 5 little girls. For the first 7 weeks, her breeder sent us pictures of the puppies, each with their own color of collar. Gracie was the little blue collar.

Look at the babies!

Gracie came home to live with us April 2, 2004. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited in my entire life to pick her up. When we got there, her sister’s ears had just been cropped. We decided not to crop Gracie’s ears for a number of reasons and I’ll never regret that decision. Gracie was roaming around with a big toy in her mouth and then proceeded to chew on her sister’s bloody ears.

We signed paperwork, learned how to cut her nails, watched her go potty on the carpet, and then packed her up and drove her home.

We always laugh about the first time we brought her into the back yard. She wasn’t scared of us, or the neighborhood kids, but something across the yard terrified her. We could not figure out what it was for about an hour. We finally realized that she was looking at the shadow of the tree on the fence. To this day she is still scared of random things like the trash can lid blowing around in our street or the basketball hoop outside.

That very first day I took an image of her with her Daddy that started a series of images showing her growth. My husband is still in trouble for refusing to wear the same outfit all three times. This was our Christmas Card one year and I think it is still up at our Vet’s office.

I don’t think I really realized how unprepared I was to fall head over heels in love with this girl. She has truly changed our lives for the better and has taught us so many things.

People always say to me “you take more pictures of Gracie than I do of my kids!”

Of course I do. She is my daughter and I can’t imagine life without her.