This is a variety of pictures of Deco and Kitty when we first got them. They aren't organized by anything, ie, chronolgy.
We first applied to Great Dane Rescue, Inc. in the spring of 2005. The homecheck came by, and the volunteers brought along a Great Dane for us to see in our own space, as well as give them an opportunity to look at the house. It gave them a chance for them to see how our cat might react to their Dane, just in case she became frightened enough to attack. She wasn't, and didn't.
We were approved, but months went by as we waited to find out when we would get our Great Dane. We got a call from the coordinator in November of 2005, telling us that we had been matched. We got a call from their previous owner, Marilyn, on a weekend that we were staying at a hotel, because Sarah was coordinating a conference. On the Friday night, Marilyn left a message at the house telling us that if we wanted to meet up, we could do it at the Toronto Great Dane meetup, being held the next day, down at Riverdale Park West. Well, that was very close to where we were staying, but I decided not to tell Sarah. Those conferences took up a lot of her time and focus, and I didn't want her to be distracted. So I went to the meetup, met with Marilyn, and her two Great Danes, Mystic (Deco) and Dixie (Kitty). I guess that she got a good vibe from me. Mystic and Dixie both seemed to like me, and I was charmed by them. At the end of the meetup, we walked back to her vehicle and said our goodbyes. That night, there was a cocktail party at the conference, and I told Sarah what had happened. She was aghast that I had done all of this without her, and told me that we needed to make a date for the next day. Nevermind that Sarah would still be working. Marilyn lives in Ajax, so it was close enough to arrange in the morning. And meet we did.
We went to Marilyn's, and at the time, she had 3 great danes. The third was Sabre, a brindle male who impressed me with his size. He was older. 9, if I remember correctly. We sat down in her living room, and the dogs, and cats, all got familiar with us. It was going well, and Sarah said that she would like to take them for a quick walk, to see if she could manage them both by herself. It was a short walk, and we all returned to her home quickly. Marilyn explained why she had to give up her baby girls, and I was moved by her. It could not be easy, for someone who loves her dogs dearly, to rehome a couple of dogs whom she loves. I can sympathize. I believe that it would take incredible strength, and hope that their new home would be good to them.
As we were leaving, Sabre, who wasn't in good health due to a poor heart and wobblers, decided to suddenly climb up me to put his front paws on my shoulders. He seemed to tower over me. At the time, I thought that he must be the bouncer of the great dane world. Little did I know, as time would tell. Sarah chastised me, even though I had done nothing to encourage him.
A couple weeks later, we had the handover. It was held at night, off the side of a side road, if I remember correctly. Deco and Kitty, we immediately renamed them, got into car with us, and came home with us, forever changing our lives.
