Howdy!

My name is Hamish and I live in the big state of Texas where I was born and raised.

Hamish is pronounced HEY-MISH - pretty easy.

I added "Handsome" because my Lady friend calls me that, and she says it with such a sweet smile that I like it.

She thinks my blue eye is "pretty," and my brown eye is “soulful.” I'm just happy I can see.

The black stripes on my cheeks remind my Lady of a zebra, of all things, or so she says. I don’t like a lot of mush, but if it means head rubs, kisses and ear scratches then I’ll take it.

I say I’m “Great” not because I think I’m all that and a bag of chips, it’s just short for Great Dane. That’s a particular breed of dog, which is a species of an animal. No, I’m not a horse, a pony, or any other kind of saddle wearing beast. I’m a DOG. Enough said.

For the most part I love being a big dog.  I can smell what’s on the kitchen counter at any time without even trying.  I definitely get more scratches behind the ears since I’m easier to pet than the little guys. You don't have to bend down to pet me! Can’t say I’ve ever been bullied by other dogs, which is cool.  And generally speaking, most people are nice to me and my Lady.  Most of the time, I say. Sometimes, I come across someone really dumb and they need a little bit of encouragement, but hey, I’m a dog. We aren’t subtle.

I was one sick, unhappy pup.

I haven’t always been with my Lady friend. And we weren’t always friends.

We met when I was in the foster program at the Great Dane Rescue of North Texas.  Lady J volunteered to take me in, thinking I would only be with her for a month or two.  I just needed to recuperate from all my illnesses. The vets at Ohio Drive Animal Hospital had doctored me up something fierce. I needed so many surgeries that stitches and staples covered most of my body for a month. Every part of my body hurt, even my privates, and that sucked big time.  I was a really, really sick dog.  In fact, not to sound depressing, but I honestly thought I was a goner.  They wouldn't give up though, and the Rescue group spent thousands of dollars fixing me up.

And that’s when I met Lady J, or Crazy Lady J, as I sometimes call her now.

Me and Zoe girl. RIP my friend.

I'll never forget the day we met in April of 2009.  I stood at the door of her home waiting for her to come home.  The other pups in the house were waiting for her too.  There was Zoe Girl, a healthy big Dane like myself, although a lot older at the time. Two Scottish Terriers named Bonnie and Macdougal, and a crazy old cat name Chloe kitty. She and Zoe were really good friends. Considering I was a lot bigger than everyone, they were really cool to me. I think they knew I was pretty sick.

So there I was, feeling lousy, in this strange home with this strange man named Stewart, three other dogs and a cat, waiting for this infamous Lady J to come home.

I sat on her lap when she did sign language.

I watched her jump out of her car to meet me and stop when she saw me standing at the door. There was just something about the way she looked at me, maybe the tears in her eyes gave it away, but I could feel her heart break when she saw how banged up I was.

She came in and sat down in a chair and let me sniff her. Because of my nasty ear infections everyone assumed I was deaf, so Lady J tried doing sign language.  I took one look at this smiling lady with tears in her eyes, her hands softly rubbing my skeletal, broken body, and knew this was her. This was my Lady. And I was damn well going to keep this Lady and this home.  No more mean people and crappy homes, this was it for me.

Me and My Lady J

She kept trying to tell me something with her hands, I had no idea what she was saying, and I don’t think she knew either, so I licked her hands and stopped her.  She was surprised when I turned around, backed up and sat down on her lap, broken body forgotten. My Lady's laughter was the best sound I’d heard in a long time. Everything was going to be ok.

It wasn’t all sunshine that first month though; in fact it was plain rocky in the beginning. (She can be very stubborn at times.)

Sometimes during that first month, well, she kind of acted like she wasn’t at all sure she liked me.  I don’t know what I did except jump on her and knock her down a few times.   It was totally her fault for carrying things around that looked fun to play with.   I gave up when she started turning around and yelling “No” really loud.  I hate being told “No.”  Such a negative word.

That's my stuffed buddy Bear.

She actually blasted me with water from a blue spray bottle when I tried to sneak a jump. I really can’t stand that thing. “Gotcha!” she’d say, and I would moan at her.  But eventually I stopped jumping on her and that seemed to make her happy.

I’ll admit I had a few issues at first. If anyone put their hand near my head; I completely freaked out. It really scared the bejesus out of me. I kept thinking someone was going to clobber me. No one did though and I eventually forgot about being afraid.

I know pink's for girls, but it was cold.

I knew my body was bad, my hip bones jutted out really far, and you could count all of my ribs.  My muscles always ached. I didn't want to do anything but sleep all the time.

Having heart worms was the worst feeling in the world. I didn’t know if I was going to live or die. At any moment those little suckers could have killed me. I felt so lousy all the time. That first month was not easy on anyone. I got sick a lot. And then I felt horrible about getting sick, and then I got sick some more. Nothing worse than getting sick inside a home, crate, or car. Just feels wrong.

Everyone was very patient and Lady J kept me close, letting me sleep next to her on the big bed of hers. She talked to me until I fell asleep every night, a nice warm blanket tucked around me. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Someone sweet to pet my big ugly, banged up body and a soft bed to sleep in, regular meals and clean water, I wasn’t about to let anyone make me leave. I wasn’t going anywhere.

Me and my friend Olivia at the pub.

And I didn’t. That was in the spring of 2009 and now it’s the summer of 2013 and I'm as happy as can be with my Lady in our house.  It's just the two of us now, everyone else has either moved out, or sadly passed on.

It gets a little lonely sometimes, but she works from home now so life is awesome. I love it when she's home or takes me with her when she goes out.

Our house is in a great dog friendly neighborhood called the M Streets. Lots of pups to say “Hey” to when we go on walks.  And lots of opportunities to bark at anyone near the house, which is my job and I’m good at it.

That's O'Hagan - my Lady's friend

I have several couches, two big beds and plenty of big bears to suck on. Lots of treat when I want.  Lady J makes her own sometimes and I drool on the floor.  What can I say? Life is good when you have four paws and your name is Hamish.

A few months ago my Lady decided the house was just too quiet and we needed friends. That sounded good to me. Her friends were always nice to me when they came over.  More laps and pets the better.

I should have known she meant dog friends because she got extra dog beds and a bunch of dippy dog toys.  Well, some were cool but still. 

Soon after I added the "Crazy" part to my Lady's name.

She had signed us up to board dogs in our home through a website called DogVacay.  I have to say its been a riot - our home has been one crazy tail after another, literally.

It's gotten so funny I decided to do this blog and tell the world about some of the more memorable moments.  Trust me, you’ll get a kick out of some of these characters. I certainly do.

Paws Out,
HH