Miss Olyvia is my baby!

I am just so proud... http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

Dear Miss Olyvia shouldn't be alive right now.. When she was about 14 weeks old, she developed an extremely painful condition called HOD (Hypertrophic Osteo Dystrophy) where her joints became swollen with fluid and she grew spurs on her long bones. We had many months of "down" times where for periods of 4 to 5 days at a time, little Miss Olyvia was unable to eat so we had to force-feed her and she could not even stand so we had to carry her everywhere including out to potty duties. We researched on the "net" and discovered a marvellous vet that specialised and bred Great Danes within 2 hours of us and thanks to her, we were able to keep Miss Olyvia as comfortable as possible during the bad times. The vet cautioned us that due to her extremely limited outings, Miss Olyvia may not build her social skills and that may be something that we could work on when she was feeling better. We already had our older
dog Brytni arrive with very limited social skills and after knowing how critical those skills are for any dog, I decided that working on those skills just couldn't wait so I actually carried our big pup to the school bus line-up every day, so that the children could pet her and keep her socialised. Another concern was that Miss Olyvia was not growing at the rate she
should for a large breed and on top of all that, she had a leg that was fast becoming deformed... her right back leg was turning horribly outwards. We were warned that surgery may have to be performed on that leg and that we should be prepared for that when she was about 11 months of age. When Miss Olyvia reached 8 months old, she had her very last “down” and her overall health began to improve... we began to see the
depth of character that this little Dane had. A slight setback occurred when Missy O was about 9 months old when she had what we thought was either a seizure or a choking episode where we found her foaming and clawing at her mouth... it was only after another identical episode 2 months later that we knew that it was epilepsy. We researched epilepsy along with her acupuncturist and by keeping her on anti-oxidants, we have not seen any further seizures. Miss Olyvia’s back leg was almost straight by the time she was 10 months old and by this time she was a favourite at the seniors centre where I had been taking her to socialise since she was a small pup. She is a very special pup that has stolen the hearts of many people. She has learned American Sign Language (ASL) and to date has a total of around 40 signs.

No-one can be sure about other medical challenges that wait around the corner for this baby Dane, but I do know is that Miss Olyvia enjoys life to the fullest. My heart continually catches in my throat as I watch her running through her fields and woods playing with her Dane friend Dante and trying to catch those elusive butterflies and bunnies... she has come so far. One
thing is certain, after knowing and loving Miss Olyvia, my life will never again be the same... http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

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Brytni the queen "B", TD, CGC
http://members.home.net/beemag/Brytni.htm
Maggie-Mae, the star CGC, TDX, ASL
http://members.home.net/beemag
Miss Olyvia, the comedienne, ASL and that is it!
http://members.home.net/beemag/Olyvia.htm

What a touching story and beautiful dog. So glad you shared her picture and story with us. Good luck to you and Miss Olyvia. Thank goodness there are patient pet owners out there, like me, who go to some big extremes to take care of their animals. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/cool.gif

What a lovely story. God Bless You for seeing that there could be qualify in Miss Olyvia's living. She has given back to you and everyone she comes in contact with a hundredfold the love you gave to her.

What a wonderful person you are to take such special care of this wonderful dog.
Brought tears to my eyes ...... Good Luck to you and Miss Olyvia. May things only get better for her!

Ditto to all the comments above. It is amazing how differently I feel about a particular breed of dog after hearing about it from "its person". And then to get to know such a special dog as Olyvia, what a privilege! Dog of the Day people are the best (along with their dogs).