Meet George the Gr-r-reat Dane

Meet George the Gr-r-reat Dane-

George The Great Dane

Good afternoon my dearest Friends & Followers, well I have a great Animal Story for 
you all today. So grab a sit and a good warm cup of coffee or your favorite tea. Then have a 
great read about George the Great Dane. An great friend of my sent the lovely story to me. I hope you all enjoy the tale.
It starts with the folks who fell in love with George the great Dane & the first time they saw 
George, he was no more than a tiny, cowering ball of fuzzy fur. When they opened the door of the crate he would travel in, he would teetered to a standing position and look out at us, then 
move his head slowly from side to side taking in the wonder of it all.  Finally as George grew to trust the couple, as if to weighing them up and deciding if they were acceptable. George did decided they were acceptable and gave them a tentatively push with his little nose forward and finally gave the wife her first lick. As an puppy he even had comically large paws.
George came to the young couple in January of 2006, just a few months after they had got married and set up home  in Arizona. They both had busy jobs, the wife was busy selling medical equipment while the husband was a property developer. However, they have always hope to have a dog once they had a home of their own. Note it was the wife that wanted the 
family dog right away once they found a home. She wanted a Great Dane as they make
great family pets too. So the couple tracked down a litter of 13 born 1,000 miles away in Oregon. Their owner emailed them a photo showing a chaotic jumble of of paws, snouts and tails. Twelve were entangled with one another , however, there was one that their eyes were clearly drawn too. The one pup was standing apart from the rest of the litter. He was clearly the runt too, very endearing to the wife Christie immediately. 
Though it didn't really register, George's paws were comically large even then. However all we 
saw was this very 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 18 stones. As a puppy right now, he just look cute and bewildered. 
They made the long journey with George from Oregon to Phoenix by plane and they picked 
George up from the freight area, tired but unshaken. Once they got George settled into their home, they discovered their plans to be fair but firm parents were wishful thinking. All 
the things that make Great Danes wonderful pets, is their lack of aggression and their 
attachment to humans. Makes them more emotionally and sensitive then most other dogs.
These types of breeds need to be with their pack when their young at all times. At night with their new pup George, with his intensely blue eyes would turned into a caterwauling banshee whenever they tried to leave him alone in the kitchen.  
No matter how much they tried to reminded themselves that they gave George every comfort
a pet could every want - warm dog bed, warm blanket, warm kitchen, squeaky bones and lots of treats and love, each whimper created a picture in their heads of a tragic, abandoned puppy 
abandoned puppy, desperate for his mum. Eventually, they gave in and George's dog bed was brought into the bedroom. 
In the coming months, Christie really began to throw herself into being a mum to the puppy
George. As well as a photo album, he had growth chart that was amazing to read and that the couple was in awe of. At five months, George still acted like a puppy, chasing his tail and playing games of fetch and tug-of-war with his favourite rope. However, he was already the size of a fully-grown Labrador. George 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 too. His displays of affection could leave you pinned temporarily against a wall or even a piece of the furniture.
His size did not go unnoticed in the outside world. Their local park had a section for puppies but we bullied our own section for other owners, who were scared of George size or though that he might hurt their pups , but of course the opposite was always the truth. 
As George got bigger his measurements were more than 7ft from his nose to the tail and he 
weight at 18 stones which is the worlds biggest dog, but he's terrified of the small breed 
chihuahuas odd Eh! This could be one of the reasons; 
the smaller dogs-like chihuahuas would run around and under George, and he'd being constantly sidestepping them, obviously anxious and jittery around these tiny dogs. Slowly they realized that our enormous puppy was an big softy. Besides his terror of being left alone, he had a fear of water, He'd growl anxiously at the side of our swimming pool, alarmed that his pack members would so willing pace themselves in danger of drowning, Plus he had an anxious over very small dogs too. If the pool and small toy dog were George's most-hated places, his most favourite was their bedroom. 

Man best Friends hand/paw

Eventually George outgrew the single mattress that they placed in their bedroom for him, and had to get a comfort of a King-sized so that he could sprawl between the couple like a overindulged prince while they spent half the night clinging to the edges of the bed.
George's Paws were so giant that they made the husband Dave's had child size. 
In the summer of 2006, they solved the bed problem for all, by buying George his very own bed - queen-sized mattress, which he still sleeps on today at the bottom of their bed today. Later, they soon encountered another challenge as George reached dogie puberty. 
Once he had grabbed life by the lapels, now he was grabbing onto leg tables, chair legs, human legs, he wasn't picky and doing what all male dogs do with the vigour of a canine giant. Later George calmed down in the furniture humping after they had him neutered, but then he took up an new hobby. Eating as if it were a Olympic sport! A sausage on the barbecue was like a siren to a passing sailor. You could never turn your back for a second when it came to food. And he was so tall that he actually had to bend down to pinch food off kitchen counters, that is how tall! he is! 
George could reach the highest shelves as well, so they had to hide everything away in cupboards too. Soon, he was getting around 100lb of dry dog food every month.

On the way to the Vet office

When George approached his first birthday November of 2006, he was weighing about 14 stones, It was getting physically impossible to make him go anywhere he didn't want to go!
including the vet's for surgery. George had not forgotten the time he went there in possession of his manhood, and came out less than whole. As soon as he recognized the entrance of the Vet office, he refused to move. So what they had to do was to take George around to the less familiar back door instead. Which worked this time. It seems for all the troubles, that the couple had, George has given them so much more in return. And everything was worth every minute with their beloved George that they love very much. The Following year George was a great comfort for Christie when they lost the child they were carrying. It seems that George could since her grief and Dave's too. During that time George was a constant presence at her side. When she sat, George would sit with her, When she stood up , George would stand up with her and padded alongside her to whenever she was going, never leaving her side even at night time. Even thought that was a very difficult time for the couple, if it wasn't for George they felt they couldn't have made it through without their beloved George. 

George The Great Dane & Dave

As George got a bit older and bigger, his personality grew more delightful. A Male Great Dane
Typically will weigh from nine to 11 stone, but by Christmas time in 2007 our George weighed
at 15 stone (210lbs) , which is bigger than most men. At this point he loved being 
chauffeured around in Dave's golf cart and would sit in it, his haunches on the seat and front legs on the floor. How that would be a sight. By the year 2008 Christmas time George was weighting in at 18 stone. 
[note if you look at the bottom of the post I have added a chart showing thee stone/lb weight difference for you all. I hope this will help in the post] 
It seems when George got to the weight of 18 stone /252lb pounds a friend suggested that they
might be a contender for the Guinness Book of Records, however we had other things to think about Christie had discovered that she was pregnant again.
Well, there was new adventures with George when their daughter Annabel arrived that 
September. George made it clear he wanted nothing to do with this interloper.
Its seems that George was used to spending nights in delightful oblivion at the foot of their bed. How with Annabel's high-decibel presence simply wasn't on. When she would cry, George would wake up, harrumph and then turn over in annoyance. It was clear that 
George was jealous from this new baby that was part of their family. However, once he figured out it was clear that the crying was going to continue, he exhale heavily, till one of us finished that mysterious feeding thing they did with the noisy intruder. Well, its seem that it took a while for George to get use to the newest member of the family, he did love the little girls dolls,
especially a stuffed green one that he would play a nursery rhyme when he squeezed it with his huge paws. So whenever he could , George would place it between his paws and pressed it so he could hear the tune. It later became like a security blanket for George. There was a period of such a big adjustment for George that if this made him happy then it was perfectly fine by the two parents and their patience was rewarded. Slowly, as Annabel got a bit older

George & Annabel 

George began to understand that she was the packs youngest member and in need of his affection and protection too. And on Christmas morning it happened after his three-month sulking ended acknowledged her presence with a lick of her hand. To the couple it was the best every Christmas present they could have ever had. But the good news didn't stop there for the beginning of 2010. It seems over the previous weeks, Christie had applied to the Guinness World of Records People on their George's behalf. That February, one of their adjudicators came to watch George being measured in the presence of a Vet. He was officially declared not just the world's tallest living dog at 43 inches from paw to shoulder but the tallest dog ever. 
Well the story doesn't end there it seems that the following week they flew to Chicago to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show- when it was still on- and were put up in one of the city's most luxurious hotels. They had a huge sitting room, dining area and even a bar, but there was just one problem. There was nowhere for George to Sleep! 
As they enjoyed a gourmet meal and a bottle or red wine that night, he struggled to settle on two roll-out divans provided for him. Infuriatingly, they wouldn't stay together, George had his head on one and back end on the other, but his stomach was sagging onto the carpet.

George the largest Dog ever
and the kindest dog Ever!

After seeing their beloved George struggle to get comfortable, in the hotel the two decided that that they needed to give George their bed to sleep and they sleep on the divans that he was trying to sleep on. So later  their boy was sprawled in splendour in their huge fluffy king-size bed.  Since he appeared on T.V. their beloved Giant George has built a following around 
the world with his own fan club, website and 70,000 fans on Facebook too. Of course none of this means a thing to George. He still spends his days eating, playing , sleeping and is cherished by his family.
I hope that you all enjoyed another Animal tales.. I love animals stories and I love you all my dear Friends & Followers very much hugsss
YOUR WENDY

 

 Stone is an old unit of mass and has been used commonly in agriculture in some European countries and still in use in UK and Ireland to measure body weight. It equals to 14 lbs and 224 ounces. The abbreviation is "st".

Pound is a unit of mass in imperial and U.S. customary systems. It is defined as 0.45359237 kilogram. The abbreviations are "lb", "lbs".

Conversion Table

1	14		26	364		51	714		76	1064
2	28		27	378		52	728		77	1078
3	42		28	392		53	742		78	1092
4	56		29	406		54	756		79	1106
5	70		30	420		55	770		80	1120
6	84		31	434		56	784		81	1134
7	98		32	448		57	798		82	1148
8	112		33	462		58	812		83	1162
9	126		34	476		59	826		84	1176
10	140		35	490		60	840		85	1190
11	154		36	504		61	854		86	1204
12	168		37	518		62	868		87	1218
13	182		38	532		63	882		88	1232
14	196		39	546		64	896		89	1246
15	210		40	560		65	910		90	1260
16	224		41	574		66	924		100	1400
17	238		42	588		67	938		125	1750
18	252		43	602		68	952		150	2100
19	266		44	616		69	966		175	2450
20	280		45	630		70	980		200	2800
21	294		46	644		71	994		250	3500
22	308		47	658		72	1008		300	4200
23	322		48	672		73	1022		500	7000
24	336		49	686		74	1036		750	10500
25	350		50	700		75	1050		1000	14000

WendyTales-The Baby-Sitter Dog

~WendyTales~

Welcome to my New Post Called

~WendyTales~

Like TipsFromtheGarden~ This too will bring you

helpful tips for your Garden, Stories, Poems and

some of my own experiences in life. These which will include 

how my Garden/Hummingbird has helped put light and 

happiness in my life.  You will find its new home on 

Sunday's. So when I get myself together I hope that you all 

will come and visit me also on Sundays as well. 

For my Next post 

~WendyTales~

-Its an story about a Man and his bond with his dog-

Its a very touching story that I found called Animal Tales 

 The Baby-sitter dog

Since I love Animals and I know all of you do too

my dear Friends & Followers do too. I wanted to share this 

delightful story of Luck the rescue dog and his bond with

his  best friend FOREVER! 

THE STORY ISN'T MY IT IS BY AMANDA PAGE IN COLUMBUS OHIO

So I hope that you all enjoy the beautiful story 

by Amanda Page.

It Starts with the young girl talking about her dad

being retired the year she adopted her dog, Brodie.

It seems in the story that her dad had 

renovated a rental property to occupy her dog Brodie,

he would take days off to baby-sit her little puppy.

They would play fetch, took long walks and ate 

bacon together. Her dad started telling the puppy 

stories to anyone who'd listen.

 It seemed one day her dad hired a young guy to 

help him with carpentry projects at the rental property.

The kid said he was getting a Rottweiler.
As the story goes it seems the boy that got the
puppy Rottweiler, after a week at home, started to 
complained that the original owner had lied to him
about the breed of the puppy. So the kid didn't want
the puppy anymore just because of the rottweiler for the 
status. And didn't even want the cute puppy for companionship.
So the next day he told Amanda's Dad about it, and said
he was just gonna have to hit the it on the head with a
rock. The Dad had said the heck you will and he drove
the kid home and found the puppy tied to a tree with a rope,
with less than a foot of space to walk around in or even to go
to take bathroom at the tree if need. 
Well you probably can figure out what happened next! 
I would have done the same!
Well her dad put the mixed Rottweiler puppy in his truck
and told the kid, to don't worry about ever coming 
back to work!
Luke is what Amanda's Dads called the puppy, which 
kinda looked  like Brodie with a short brown hair, a black
muzzle and a tail that looked as if it had been
dipped in black ink.
So Luke grew way passed Brodie, in less than two months.
The puppy got bigger and bigger. 
Very muscle and loved to run. They took Luke to the 
Vet to see what breed he really was? It turned out 
Luke was not a Rottweiler. 

The Vet confirmed that Luke was mostly part 
German Shepherd and part Mastiff too.
Her Father asked aren't Mastiff's huge?
The Vet said Yes! however, they are called
Mastiffs baby-sitter dogs. 
They are very gentle and kind animals said the Vet.
Here are a few stories of their Luke the gentle
Mastiff the baby-sitter dog.
One day when her brother started bringing his 
Yorkie (toy dog) and Schnauzer around the house,
Luke, took them both under his wing, If he wanted 
to take a nap, he would gently pull the Yorkie to his chest like
a teddy bear. If the little dogs started yapping, 
Luke nudged them gently until they stopped. 
VERY COOL 
There were many other story's to this tale
but mostly its about the kindness of of 
of most people in the world and how animals 
love us with unconditional love. 
As Luke does with Amanda's Dad
I hope You all enjoyed my Sunday 
~WendyTales~
I love you all very much
my dear Friends & Followers
I hope to see you all next Sunday with 
another story, poem, etc 
YOUR WENDY

TipsFromtheGarden-HummingbirdsBringingIntheSpringBlooms-

TipsFromtheGarden-
HummingbirdsBringing-
IntheSpringBlooms-

Hummingbird
Feeding on yummy
Nectar in Spring blooms

Good Afternoon My dear Friends & Followers and

Welcome to Saturday's 

~TipsFromtheGarden~

For today's Tips I thought I would talk about 

the Hummingbird and how they are the best 

Pollinators with the coming spring blooms.

Yes, Hummingbirds are nifty pollinators, yet they are 

also not to bad at eating their share of those nasty 

tiny bugs that start hanging around your garden and 

porch too. For me during the up coming of spring is the sheer

joy that I experience when I watch these marvelous miniatures 

creatures of the sky, feasting on their favorite flowers, sparkling 

the sky's as they hover in midair, deftly sipping nectar from the newly beautiful blooms for 

spring. During the winter if you happen to have 

these beauty that stay over the winter, you can enjoy them and help them survive by setting up feeders year around with you own homemade sugar feed. This way you can enjoy the beauty of the hummingbird even in the rainy or snowy weather too. Which I have 

with my Rosy Anne hummingbird for the last 7-years. 

I have found a good pair of binoculars can help with these tiny jewels of the sky.

These hummingbirds are tiny only about 3 to 4 inches long from the bill to the tail.

They move very fast, and often look alike at fist glance especially immature birds 

and females, because they don't sport the showy colors of an full grown male hummingbird.

In fact, its is easier to identify adult male hummingbirds more than any other

because of their flashy feathers. 

Also because the males are always trying to impressed the female hummingbirds

with their amazing flight patterns too.

So Here are some of the most common male hummingbirds that you 

might see in your area flitting around you fuchsias; 

Allen's Hummingbirds

The Allen is a coastal California hummingbird that look

and behaves much like the Rufous hummingbird. 

The two distinguish looks between the two different Allen's are

Look for the male Allen's all green back and crown, reddish sides and tail 

with a fiery-orange throat. Also Allen's have spectacular 

display flight patterns in the sky. its a series of U followed by a 

slow spiraling upward path that ends with a final dive to show that the 

Allen 's is defending his territory. 

This hummingbird is also known to been aggressive to drive away Hawks

They have a various vocalizations and wing noises accompany his 

airborne acrobatics. 

Rufous HummingBird

The Rufous Hummingbird mainly breeds in the Northwest 

and is the only hummingbird you're likely to encounter in Alaska. 

Despite spending winters in southern Mexico, the Rufous hummingbird

will occasionally shows up in places like Nova Scotia or even Florida. 

One well publicized Rufous hummer spent last winter basking in the 

warmth of an enclosed outdoor hot tub near some offices in eastern Pennsylvania!

So what do these jewels look like?

The Rufous have red-dish sides and tails and bright or angle-red throats. 

Like some other hummers, Rufous will feed on the sugary sap oozing 

from sap-sucking holes. These hummingbirds are also very 

aggressive and will readily chase away any other types of hummingbirds

that may come near their territory. 

Anna's Hummingbird

Well we have come to my Anna 'Rosy' hummingbird! Even though I live

in Northern Washington Seattle he has made his home here with many of his lady 

Anna's and a few young males have stayed here year around too. It seems when 

doing this post they say that the Anna hummer is most common to visit your

garden in any area. I seems it is a year -around resident in coastal California 

and parts of Arizona. Not to mention Northern Washington coast of Kent too.

and Parts of Arizona. They look very much like the Costa' hummingbirds but its 

head feathers and iridescent throat are an rosy-red rather than the 

Costa's purple. The Males song , however is very different 

It is a distinctive buzzing and sputtering noises.

The hummer also has the habit of often hovering in midair before dive-bombing 

and intruders [which I have seen Rosy do many times!!!]

Their breeding begins in December, which is very early by any bird standard,

Note; I have seen Rosy get very busy around this time of the year

in his tree that I have finally found where his nest/home is. That is why

I always keep fresh sugar water for him and the female that I do see

around this time of the year too. I must clean it the feeder at least four times a 

month. During this time I have no blooms or flowers for my tiny friends

and since they have decided to make their home here year around I make sure

they have plenty of food for them and their little ones which I have never got to see.

When the spring does come they love my Bee Balm flowers mostly the Red. 

Black-Chinned HummingBird

These beauty's are more common as a summer visitor, and will come to 

feed on your feeders and flowers in the Western gardens. 

The Black-Chinned Hummingbirds range from British Columbia to Southern Texas.

And all the way to through much of California too.

In the wild, you might find these beauty's near the tree-lined streambeds  where

they feast on the nectar and small insects. The Male Black-Chinned tends to flip

around during its U, shaped flight display and has a distinctive 

violet border low on its back throat. It's rarely seen in the U.S.A during the 

winter months; this one mostly always migrates down to Mexico for the off-season.

The Black-Chinned female sometimes builds her new nest right on top of the old one

when she returns each year to Mexico.

Costa's Hummingbirds

These beauty's hummingbirds primarily will dwell in the lower parts 

of California and Arizona desert areas. This hummer is known for its vigorously 

defending his territory with its chattering sounds it makes and a passionate 

chases it will do. They have a beautiful Iridescent purple feathers covering the 

top of their heads and throat that will extend downward like old-fashioned muttonchops. 

The males also protects their territory with a grand display of flight patterns

repeatedly flying up and down in an oval shaped path, he will continue this

until the intruder is gone , then he will return to his perch on a tall plant near 

his nest/home. They make a interesting sound these Costa's hummers, 

It is his shrill, high-pitched whistle. that makes them very different.

Like all hummingbirds the Costa can fly forwards and backwards and up and down,

sideways and cross ways too.

Calliope Hummingbird

These hummingbirds are very very tiny at only 3 inches in length and a mere 

one-tenth of an ounce; which is 2 grams! in weight.

The Calliope hummingbird is the absolute smallest bird you will find in 

the North America. 

The Male has a golden-green back and sports purple throat stripes, which 

may be hard to distinguish until you see them from the exact right angle.

These tiny Jewels breed throughout much of the West,

especially in the mountainous areas. Could be because they feel safer there.

The male has a display of flight pattern too for his female during breeding time,

It is a distinctive U-shaped flight path, of hovering at each end of the female before 

dropping down. Females lay two pea-sized eggs in a well-hidden nests. 

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Well we have the Broad-Tailed Hummingbird, these beauty's prefer 

higher elevations and are mostly seen by western backpackers in the high mountains 

than by backyard gardener's. So if you happen to be in the mountains Look and 

Listen for this mountain hummingbird, especially near streams and flowering 

meadows any where along the Rockies. 

The Males resembles the Ruby-throat in appearance, however you wont have to

distinguish these birds from one another because their ranges don't overlap.

The Broad-Tail male produces a loud and constant musical trilling or zinging sound, with 

its wings and performs a U shaped dive; display when he is defending his 

territory or  courting a mate.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Lastly the Ruby-Throat Hummingbird, this beauty is only commonly seen 

on the east coast, Southern, Midwest and most of all Canada. 

The Males are quite beautiful with their ruby-red throat and metallic green back are both

iridescent, however seen only when the light strikes the feathers a certain angle. 

The Ruby-Throats often fly across the entire Gulf of Mexico to reach their winter

homes in Central America. Look  for them hovering in your garden and along the

edges of the wooded areas...

I hope that you  all Enjoyed my Post 

for Saturdays

TipsFromtheGarden 

Hummingbirds

I love you all very much my dear 

Friends & Followers 

YOUR WENDY