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| Name: |
Cleo
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Age: |
Eleven and a half years old
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| Gender: |
Female |
Breed: |
Great Dane |
| Home: |
McMinnville, Oregon, USA |
This
is Cleo Leota. I adopted her when she was four years old. She was a
scrawny, skinny mess. I originally went to go get a 'dog' for my sister
but when I got her to our house, we slept on the floor together that
first night and after that she picked me. She is small for a Dane, 120
pounds in her prime. She is calm and quiet, happiest when she is on my lap
watching TV. She does not think of herself as a dog, she refuses to sit
on the floor and will not perform 'stupid human tricks'. She really is
most content sitting on the couch, watching th animal planet. I have
never seen her fetch or play ball. She is above that sort of thing.
She owns me for sure and when I hurt her feelings (by showing any kind
of affection to one of the other animals) she will ignore me. She will
walk up to me, sit down and turn her head away.
I used to work in a nursing home and I would take her with me. She seemed
to know that the people were fragile because she was so gentle with them.
She would just stand there with her head in their lap and let them pet
her. She is also a great dog for little children to get rid of their fear
of big dogs. They can stick their hands in her mouth, up her nose and she
just looks at me like 'Why are you making me do this.' When I am sad she
comforts me, when I am happy she is bouncing around wagging her tail. She
knows the sound of my car and my mom says that she will be perfectly still
all day and the minute she hears my car she is up and looking out the
living room window. Cleo is not a typical dog. She could care less if
there are strangers around as long as I am calm. The only time she acts
protective is when someone is being 'rough' with my son, which is funny
because neither one of them pay any attention to each other usually. Cleo
is a merle and used to be a very dark blue with some faint spots, now she
is an old gray ghost. Cleo hates grooming and I have to really beg to get
her in the bath and one time when I cut her fingernails I woke up the next
day and the clippers were chewed into a useless state. I now use an
electric sander/buffer(small) to do the queen's nails. She doesn't seem to
be bothered by this at all. She loves to be pampered too, I paint her
fingernails pink. She does not like walking on a leash either, we use a
pretty Chanel scarf instead. For quite a few years we have been calling
her 'grandma'. She doesn't seem to mind.
She has been my best friend for many years. We share a queen size bed
and I get about a foot at the edge. She spoons with me, her head on
the pillow and her favorite blanket tucked tightly around her. We have
spent very few nights apart, when I have been gone I am told that she
paces back and forth most of the night, checking the door and my room
looking for me. She is very old for her breed and she is a little
creaky but is still able to be the queen of our pack. She has slowed a
great deal and needs a wagon to be able to go on the outings we go on
but she is able to keep our two year old labradoodle in check when he gets
too hyper or out of line. My life has been forever altered having this
wonderful animal in my life. I hope that she is spoiled enough to have
a few more years with me.
Our vet was shocked the first time he met her at nine. She really is in
good condition for an old lady. It is hard getting good pictures of
her. The house is kind of dark and quite frankly Cleo doesn't really
like to pose. Like I said, she doesn't really think of herself as a
dog. She finds this kind of nonsense very irritating. :) I can't put
into words how much I love her and how much she means to me.
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