I'm Home

I have finally arrived home with my new family. Really we got back very late Saturday night. The car rides, outside and the exchange to my new family was nerve racking, but my new family is awesome. They have showered me with love and attention and our very understanding of my little puppy ways. I do have to say I have been really, really good with the housebreaking. Since my family has picked me up, I have had only two real accidents inside. That includes the hotel rooms we stand in and my new house. I was sad to see my old family go and the trip as a whole kind of messed with my stomach and has given me diarrhea the first few days. I went to my new doctor on Sunday and she said I was in good health. So maybe it was the over 900 mile drive, the switch to my new family and or the conversion to my new food. All and all I am super puppy happy and I can't wait to grow with my new family. I can now officially say I am Scooby McSpazz. Now a word from my silly new Daddy. He really likes to play with me.

Scooby is everything we could have asked for and more. When we finally arrived in Texas for the pick-up on Friday you could tell the exchange had Scooby nervous. He quickly adapted to us and did so well that first night in the hotel we stayed at. It was almost as if he was an adult dog already. The loose stools started late Friday evening and has continued through today even. The vet said Scooby checked out just fine and his stool was A OK. So we have slowed down on the conversion to his new food and added a little rice and ground beef to his diet. It has thickened up today, but looser than I think it should be. As far as fitting into the family, he has been learning his place within it. He is very playful with me and understands I am the Alpha male and treats all the girls like little princesses. He has been a little dominating over our youngest Happy. Since Happy is the smallest and closest in age with him, Scooby wants to give him some brotherly scuffling. He has done very well with his crate and loves to lay his head on pillows. So I went out and bought him his own today. He has been a minimal chewer, more of a puppy nipper. He would rather play and nip his family members than our belongings. Scooby plays well with his toys and is very alert on walks, always making sure our whole group is together. Next weekend will introduce him to some other dogs that reside in our family for some canine interaction. I apologize for no new pics I forgot to grab the camera out of my wife's purse to upload the ones we have taken. I'll have Scooby update them ASAP.

Change in Plans & New Pics

From what I've overheard from the humans on the phone it seems there has been a change in plans when it comes to my new family picking me up. Now not only is my new Mommy coming to pick me up, but so is my new Daddy. Plus, two of my newest, bestest friends will be along with them, Happy and Brooke. I'm so very excited it's only a few days away until they'll be here. My other two bestest friends, Cailee & Caitlin can't make it due to school, but I'm super excited to get back to my new home to give them love and kisses. I've added some new pics that were taken last week when I was 6 weeks. Can you believe it? Where does the time go? Now a word from my new Daddy.

Yes, it is true. Myself, my beautiful wife and two of our kids will be traveling to Texas to pick up our little Scooby. This decision was made in part of my fear of my wife driving all that way by herself and my desire to see our newest family member. Our two older girls will be staying in town for school. They only have a week left and need to be there for all the year end activities that are so fun. Make sure to stay tuned for trip posts and picks. From the looks of these new picks Scooby sent us he is going to be a very big boy.

See you soon Scooby!

Anticipation

It's getting so close until my new Mommy will be heading from Illinois to pick me up in Texas. This time next week I'll be headed up North to see my new home for the first time. I am so very anxious to meet my new family, but I'll be sad to leave my canine Mommy and my two sisters who are here left with me at Colossal Danes. The anticipation is really getting hard to bear, but I just have to make it one more week. Now a word from my new Daddy

All of here at the McSpazz ranch are counting the days until Mommy McSpazz heads down to Texas to pick up our little Scooby. The little ones are marking each day off the calender, while the older kids read books about Great Danes and effective puppy raising. I am so very proud of the effort and preparation put in by all of us to ensure Scooby will have an easy transition to his new home. Here is my check off to the one week mark until Scooby becomes an official member of the McSpazz clan.

Read more of Daddy McSpazz at Touchdown Dance & McSpazz's Musings

To Crop or Not to Crop

That was a question troubling my new Mommy and Daddy. See my new Daddy is against it since it's purely a cosmetic operation. Since I'm a "family member" and not a stage piece he felt strongly about leaving my ears natural. My mommy who didn't want it to hurt me, but because she like the way it looked stood on her position for cropping. After much debate and looking at pictures of grown Great Dane puppies like me along with careful research and reading of positive and negative stories, they came to a decision. I'll let my new Daddy tell you what it is.

We have decided not to crop Scooby's ears. Here are our reasons for that:

1. Completely cosmetic surgery
2. Only 1 vet in the area still performed cropping
3. Painful for Scooby
4. Painful for the family (care, being extra careful)
5. Cost

I've seen pictures that I loved the way the grown Dane looks with the cropped ears and then we have also seen others that have gone horribly wrong. Either way the Great Dane is a majestic looking animal. Keeping Scooby from suffering pain and overall irritation from cropping his ears and then the necessary healing process was are determining factor. I just hope he isn't a vain little pup like his new Mommy is. LOL! I would never criticize anyone for having their dogs ears cropped as it is any owners final decision. We have just decided as a family together to leave Scooby's ears the way they are.

My New Doctor

Ruff-lo again. Now that my new family has our home ready for me to come and join the clan. It is even more important to find me a good doctor. From what I've been told I'll be looked after by the veterinarians at Banfield Animal Hospital located inside our local PetSmart. My new family did lots and lots of research of different vets and pet insurance available for me. Finally making their decision to go with Banfield which boasts a comprehensive Wellness Plan developed just for puppies like me. I sure hope I get a doggie lollipop when I'm done with my visits at my new doctor. Now, a word from my new Daddy.



After careful and thorough research of veterinarians in the area, which included face to face meeting with the final three on our candidate list. The final decision came down to the Optimum Wellness Plans offered by Banfield which we feel exceeds any supplemental pet insurance that we researched. All the basics are covered in the plan including office visits, vaccinations, necessary exams and checks, vaccine warranty and even the neutering. It's seems that a lot of vets have converted to a seven day a week format and such is the same with Banfield.


On a personal note of a slightly different matter. I know it's convenient for a lot of people to have businesses open 7 days a week, but whatever happened to family and friend time. Over the years, stores have remained open on holidays and some that are open on Sundays that never were. This just rubs me the wrong way. I can't stand to see stores open on Thanksgiving, Easter, Memorial Day and even Labor Day. These days were meant for time with our family, friends and fun. I know we will never get back to that point, but I can still complain and reminisce.

Where I'm Sleeping

My new Mommy and Daddy have a new place for me to sleep and it will be my very own den. It a super huge, ginormous, fabulous new crate made by Midwest. It's the biggest crate made and once I'm full grown I'll use every inch of my new special place. They also told me that they are getting a special new bed to put into my new den and my new Mommy's grandma is going to sew me cover made out of Chicago Bears fabric. Which just happens to be my new Daddy's favorite football team. Now a note from my Daddy.




Finding a new crate for Scooby wasn't that difficult since Midwest is the only manufacturer that makes one of this size. We thought about the 48" inch unit made by other companies, but we wanted to be sure that Scooby had a enough room to completely grow into it. The only thing that really bothered me about the crate was that Midwest includes a divider panel with every other crate they sell, but this one. Is this for profit or is it thinking that most giant breed dog owners are not purchasing this crate until their new dog is almost fully grown. Whatever the case is, it still bites. We don't see much sense in buying a smaller crate for Scooby just for him to outgrow it and then have to throw another $150 down to buy the 54" unit. We have found the divider panel offered at other websites I just hate ordering things off the Internet. I'd rather just be able to purchase it along with the crate at the store. We've just about have everything set-up for Scooby, now we're just waiting for his arrival. The next two weeks are going to be very anxious time for the McSpazz clan. I'll post pictures of the crate cover once we get it and on the crate. My wife's grandma Jean does amazing work with the sewing machine along with being an amazing grandma and friend.

What I'm Eating

It seems that my new family has come to a decision of what food I'm going to eat when I get to my new home. They have chosen Eagle Pack Foods Large/Giant Breed Puppy dry food formula. From what I know it is a holistic food that is reviewed as a decent food (4 star). The drawbacks of the food is it's low meat content and what some websites and reviewers call questionable filler (beet).

My new Mommy and Daddy have had some disagreement on this, but came to a compromise on using this particular brand and monitoring the websites and news for more information about Eagle Pack. With the lower meat content they plan on adding some other meat to my diet, but haven't decided on exactly what yet. Whatever it might be I'm positive that they will make the best choices for me as I grow and change my food if necessary. The new food will be changed slowly as I am on a different brand of food at my current home with my canine Mommy and Daddy. Now a note from my Daddy.

Who new that some dog foods could be so expensive. The Eagle Pack is fairly reasonable priced for a Holistic dog foods. My wife and I researched many brands and decided that the Eagle Pack would both fit our budget and Scooby's needs with adding some more meat along with the dry food to his diet. This is all subject to change if we find out that anything is causing him physical ailments or our vet suggests a change in diet plan. If anyone has any suggestions or comments we welcome them all. The McSpazz clan wants to give Scooby the best life possible.

The Begining: Scooby's Journey with His New Family

Well we decided to add to our family once again. Who you ask? The McSpazz clan, which consists of Daddy, Mommy, Cailee, Caitlin, Brooke and Happy. Will now add our newest member, Scooby.

Scooby of course is a Great Dane pup. After careful research of a pups that would be compatible with our family we decide on the "gentle giant". Not because of his size or stature, but simply because this breed of dog seems to fit our family to a "T". We searched high and low for the perfect pup and finally found the cute little rascal in Texas. The breeder is a lovely family whose been great to deal with and very helpful, Colossal Danes. He was born on April 2nd and will be coming home on May 24th. Which happens to be his new Daddy's birthday. My wife is going on a road trip to pick up Scooby, a 2000 mile trek for our newest baby. We are all so very excited for our newest member to come home and grow with us. We have all put a lot of work into the preparation for his arrival for both the long and short term.

This blog will be dedicated to Scooby and his new family. Watch him grow in size and as a new family member within the McSpazz clan. Daddy McSpazz will chronicle his life and try to capture the essence of having a Great Dane as a family member. Along with reviewing products and services we use for Scooby. It would seem to be a great adventure so come back often for updates pictures.