Introducing the Newest Member of Our Family....CHARLIE, The Merle Great Dane!!!!

One night, while surfing the site, "Craigslist", Brett stumbled upon a listing for an 8 month old Merle Great Dane.  You're probably asking yourself, "Yeah, so what?"

Well, here's your answer.  For the last couple of years, Brett and I have been interested in getting a dog, but for various reasons had held off.  We had decided that when we finally did get a dog, that we would want a Merle Great Dane.  Brett had a Harlequin Great Dane (the ones that look like Dalmatians), and I grew up around St. Bernards pretty much my whole life.  Needless to say, we've both been around big dogs and knew what to expect in a Great Dane.  We just didn't expect to find one like we did.

Anyway, back to my original topic of how we got the dog.  I responded to the listing for this dog (at the time, we didn't know his name), and the next day got a reply from the person who had him.  She said that he was still available and gave us what she would want for him, etc.  I told her that I would need to discuss it with Brett and get back to her.  Brett and I discussed it, and decided that we wanted him.  I sent a reply back to the owner, but didn't hear back from her for a few days.  By then, the Craigslist listing had been removed.  Brett and I had pretty much figured that someone else had shown interest in this dog, and that he wasn't available anymore. I was devastated!

Fast forward to Sunday, October 30th, and I receive an e-mail from the lady telling us that he's still available.  I didn't see this e-mail until October 31st though.  When I finally did see it, I immediately told Brett.  I was so excited and I think Brett was as well!  I called the lady, and told her we were definitely interested and got more details on this dog.  Come to find out, he's crate trained, neutered, and very loving.  Oh, and his name?  Charlie!  Charlie was located just past Mt. Vernon, Illinois, which is just about a two hour drive from us.  We made arrangements to go get Charlie that afternoon.

Early on Halloween afternoon, Brett and I loaded up in our bus, and headed north to get the newest member of our family.  We were both excited and unsure about how things would go.  We didn't know if Charlie would warm up to us or not.

We finally arrived at our destination shortly after 2:30pm.  We met Charlie and instantly fell in love with him!  He was nervous, but still let us pet him and get acquainted with him before we loaded him up to bring him back to his new home.

Once loaded in the bus, he kind of paced back and forth for a bit before settling down in the floor by my chair and curling up in a ball.

Before heading home, we made a couple of stops.  We stopped first at my Aunt Gayle's house to drop off some things that I had picked up for her.  She and my Uncle Jerry loved on Charlie, and he enjoyed it.

We then headed to my mom's house for a couple of reasons.

1. I know better than to not stop when I'm in the area to see my mom!
2. She had candy, and who can't say "no" to candy?
3. We wanted her to meet her "Granddog".

After visiting with my mom, and her getting to love on Charlie, we decided to head home, because it was getting late (it was now approaching 6pm).  However, before we left, Brett went out to where my grandpa had housed his two St. Bernards (Bruzer and Gebe) before he passed away, and my mom found them new homes.  Out there, Brett was able to find some nice sized dog bowls.  Once again, we loaded up on the bus, told my mom "goodbye" and were on the road again.

We realized that we didn't have any food for Charlie, so we made a quick stop at Sam's Club in Marion to get some food.  We figured that a big dog like Charlie would eat a lot, and we'd get a good deal on food at Sam's.  While Brett went inside to get food, I stayed in the bus with Charlie.  He didn't really have anything to do with me, he just paced back and forth looking out the window at the people passing by and every once in a while looking out the window for Brett.  It was so cute!

Finally, Brett came out of the store, and we were really on our way home now.

Fast forward to today (November 15th), and I am happy to report that Charlie has adjusted quite well to us and his surroundings here.  He's kind of made friends with the neighbors' Basset Hounds, Otis and Etta, and is a good guard dog when someone knocks on our door.

We have bought him a few toys, and he loves to play "Fetch" with Brett.  He even does tricks!  We knew when we picked him up, that he could "speak" and "shake", but we didn't know what else.  Since we've had him, he's mastered "speak", "shake", and is getting better at "sit".  We've started working on "lay down" and he's learning pretty quickly.  He's also pretty good about telling us when he needs to go outside to do his "business".

In the little time that we've had him, he's been such a joy to us, entertaining us everyday with his antics.

Don't worry readers, I know that I wouldn't be a good "parent" if I didn't have pictures to show, so I've included some (of the many that we've taken so far) of him.  I'm also including a video of Charlie and Brett playing "Fetch".

Charlie Curled Up on the Way Home -- 10/31/11

Charlie Resting -- 10/31/11

Charlie Waiting on Brett to Come out of Sam's With Food! -- 10/31/11

Charlie Enjoying Some "Outside" Time -- 11/1/11

Charlie & Brett at PetSmart -- 11/1/11

Charlie Checking Out Brett & the Camera -- 11/3/11

And now for the link to the video.  Yes, our floor is kind of slick (it's laminate), otherwise, Charlie would be going much faster, I'm sure!





We are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and we will be taking Charlie with us.  He's already got a "running date" with my dad during Thanksgiving weekend.  I don't know who is more excited....my dad who used to run with his St. Bernard, Brutus until Brutus passed away last year, or Charlie!

I will be sure to post more pictures and stories about Charlie in the future, as well as an update on Ollie.  Ollie has kind of made himself scarce since Charlie moved in, though!!

And That's What Sarah Says!