sunday-family-humour-15th-july/sunday-family-humour-15th-july-page-2
Sunday Family Humour 15th July Page 2
Meet George, the Great Dane
Thanks to David M.
First time we saw George, our beloved Great Dane, he was no
more than a tiny, cowering ball of fuzzy fur. As my wife Christie
opened the door of the crate he’d traveled in, he teetered to a
standing position and looked out at us, moving his head slowly from
side to side, taking in the wonder of it all. Finally, as if weighing us up
and deciding we were acceptable, he tentatively pushed his little
nose forward and gave Christie her first lick.
Puppy love: A young George with Dave's wife Christie. Even as a pup he had
Comically large paws .
He came into our lives in January 2006, just a few months after we
had married and set up home in Arizona . We both had busy jobs,
Christie selling medical equipment while I was a property developer,
But she had always planned that, once she had a house of her own,
she would also have a dog.
She wanted a Great Dane as they make great family pets, so we
tracked down a litter of 13, born 1,000 miles away in Oregon .
Their owner emailed us a photo showing a chaotic jumble of paws,
snouts and tails. Twelve were entangled with one another, but our
eyes were drawn to one pup standing apart from the rest. He was
clearly the runt, endearing him to Christie immediately.
Though it didn’t really register, George’s paws were comically large
even then. But all we saw was this cute puppy. We certainly never
dreamed he would one day become the biggest dog in the world,
Standing nearly 4ft high at the shoulder, 7ft long and weighing
nearly 250 pounds. Right now, he just looked bewildered.
George made the long journey from Oregon to Phoenix by plane and
we picked him up from the freight area, tired but unshaken. As soon
as George settled into our home, we discovered our plans to be fair
but firm parents were wishful thinking. All the things that make
Great Danes wonderful pets — their lack of aggression and their
attachment to humans — make them more emotionally sensitive than
other dogs. They need to be with their ‘pack’ at all times and at
night the cute pup with intensely blue eyes turned into a
caterwauling banshee whenever we tried to leave him alone in
the kitchen.
No matter how much we reminded ourselves that he had every
home comfort (warm dog bed, warm blanket, warm kitchen,
squeaky bone), each whimper created a picture in our heads of a
tragic, abandoned pup, desperate for his mother. Eventually, we
gave in and shunted George’s dog bed into our bedroom.
Magnificent: George measures more than 7 ft from nose to tail and weighs
250 pounds and is the world's biggest dog, but he's terrified of Chihuahuas...
In the coming months, Christie really threw herself into being a
Mum to George. As well as a photo album, he had a growth chart —
we were soon reading it in awe. At five months he still acted like a
puppy, chasing his tail and playing games of fetch and tug-of-war
with his favourite bit of rope. But he was already the size of a
fully-grown Labrador . He was putting on more than a pound a day
and he bounded around like Bambi, skittering on our wooden floors
and hurling himself at everything he fancied, including us humans.
Old Fighter Pilot Commercial
Thanks to Ray O'.
FighterPilotOldCommercial.wmv
Coyote Buttes
Thanks to Lee
Eleven Creative Ideas
Thanks to David H.
Interesting Slide Show
Thanks to Ray M.
High Speed Trains
Thanks to Ray O'.
CHINA 's CRH2
TAIWAN 's THSR
KOREA 's KTX
JAPAN 's SHINKANZEN
SPAIN 's AVE
UK 's EUROSTAR
FRANCE 'TGV'
DUBAI 's METRO
And INDIAN 's ALL ABOARD !
.. BUT the ultimate prize winner
THE BIRMINGHAM TO BRADFORD EXPRESS, ENGLAND
Flowers
Thanks to Lee
Flowers and floral arrangements
Be the first this week to click +1