Needless to say, due to Herc's owners inability to provide him the attention he deserves, he was listed on the club's Great Dane rescue books. Herc now lives a lovely life with his new family John and Judith. Below is an e-mail excerpt from his new owner John.
I sit here pecking away at my keyboard with the great boof head resting his head on my knee. The long and the short of it is, Herc has not settled in! He has taken command! I do confess that I was quite unprepared for all this attention! After thirty years of bitches who have bonded unreservedly to Judith, I naturally assumed that Herc would fill the void and I would be left out in the cold as usual. Not so! Like it or not Herc and I are absolutely inseparable. One hundred and six acres and Herc always needs to stand on the same one square foot I occupy, under vehicles, chest deep in water (my chest, not his).
Swimming is still an issue. Standing with rear legs on the river bed and splashing about with his front paws does not really cut it. I did draw the line when he tried following me up the ladder and onto the roof! The processes of getting him down from the roof would have been all too hard. Herc is now banned from ladders!
:: Herc at his 'forever' home! ::
Herc continues to run like the wind! In our early morning walk I cover three to four kilometers while Herc must cover twenty to thirty. While he remains unreliable in terms of coming when called, he is starting to respond to my whistle (mostlly...well sometimes). The beach and surf were new experiences and he seemed seriously disconcerted when water actually jumped up and chased him up the beach. He has no problem jumping in or out of cars! Regardless of whose car!
Socialising with both people and other dogs is going well; perhaps a little too well. In the past all our hounds have put up quite a show when visitors (particularly strangers) arrived. Not Herc - tail waging, seeking attention, bounding about the place quite happily. Our concern is that he would happily go with anybody. He displays such an inviting personality! My son brought my new grandson to visit for a few days together with Bailey, his American Staffordshire. Bailey is a two year old and full on; one hundred miles an hour from sun up to sun down, then he gets his second wind. Herc maintained the pace but both slept very well each night.
Herc's other friends include my neighbours pair. Zeus, a male St Bernard (who certainly out weighs Herc) and Pip a miniature Fox Terrier. The trio wrestling and romping together is a ridiculous sight. Unfortunately Zeus has taken to visiting uninvited when my neighbors are out and Herc has taken to following Zeus home. Although neighbors, they are some kilometers away. Coming when called and staying at home unless accompanied remain a 'work in progress'.
Herc's appetite is fine but he is quite a finicky eater. Lean beef seems to be his preferred meal and dry biscuits while available all day, are only touched occasionally. While at the vet for micro-chipping we took the opportunity to have Herc weighed (an interesting exercise trying to get all four feet on the scales at the same time). The result was a weight of 48kgs. This seemed light on and I had it all double checked suspecting the scales to be faulty. Our last girl was 78 kg's and was not heavy set. Our last dog was 110 kg's when full grown. A ten month old puppy girl, who may come to live with us, is over 50 kg's. Herc is not that small so I will watch his development with interest.
Thanks for your concern over the chooks. We think they may have come good! They were producing ten to fourteen eggs per day, but after 'the swirl' (what else do you call a significant willy, willy of feathers, wings, cobs, feet and dust and a really really excited Herc doing the high speed anti-clockwise concentric circumnavigations of its perimeter), the production rate dropped to an average of two per day. However following a month of familiarisation the girls are back up to a production rate of about ten eggs or so a day.
:: Herc with the chickens! ::
Winter is approaching and the temperature dropping so the slow combustion wood fire has been brought into play. Herc thinks it is wonderful! However I think him sleeping on the mat in such a close proximity to the heat may fry his brains. It is interesting to us that Herc hardly ever barks. When in the car he will bark at other dogs, but that is about it. Not a problem or a concern, just interesting.
Nights and days are pretty settled now! Herc sleeps on a mattress on the floor next to me and occasionally climbs onto the bed about 4:00am. A walk is the first order of priority when the day starts. We started with Herc demanding 'we go' pre dawn. I finally weaned him to 'we go' at sun rise. Unfortunately, with the approach of winter Herc does not have the patience to wait for the delayed full light, so we argue each morning. I suppose it is all good in the long run. At least I am back from the walk by 6:30am and the whole day is ahead of me.
Some more lessons and skills have been learnt! Stairs being the biggy! Our home is of a two story design with internal and external staircases. Herc had no idea! It took real cajoling to get him to move either up or down and more often than not it was necessary to take the line of least resistance and detour around the ramps and across the bridge into the 2nd floor. He finally worked it out, but not without a few heart stopping moments. Pause at the stop of the stairs, tentatively feel forward to the next step down with one paw, then suddenly leap the three vertical meters to the ground below, barely missing the bottom step. I do not know how he felt about the procedure, but it scared the crap out of me. No more stairs without a lead and close supervision. He has now got it all in his stride, that is one step at a time. Occasionally a bit faster than I would recommend but all now very safe and secure.
I have started Herc on treats of dehydrated pigs ears and beef liver (in moderation) which he truly enjoys. My problem is I have a preference for cheese, good cheese, vintage cheese. Herc has a similar taste and knows the difference between plain tasty and expensive vintage. No amount of slide of hand can deceive him. E-mail excerpt from Herc's owner.
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