My Zeke...

So, I am SO upset right now. I just received a phone call from my mom a couple of hours ago, and she told me that she had to have Zeke put to sleep. He was perfectly fine this morning, and after he ate, he was retching. Then his abdomen became distended, and he went outside and was vomiting and urinating blood. My mom rushed him to the vet, and he had gastric torsion (bloat), which is very common in large dogs. My mom is a freak about making him lay down after eating because of this risk, so it is just really too bad.

Zeke was a fabulous dog and a great friend. He would have been 10 years old this Christmas Eve, so he lived a very full, long life for a Great Dane. He was the biggest baby imaginable- he loved to sit on laps and give kisses and cuddle. He had his own spot on my parents couch that he liked to curl up on, and if you were lucky, he allowed you to wrap your legs around him so you could have a spot on the couch, too.

I'm trying to remember some of my favorite Zeke moments... One thing that always made me laugh was his food stealing abilities. Unless you have owned an insanely large dog, you may not understand how easy it is for them to steal food. Once, my dad brought home McDonald's, and Zeke snarfed up his Quarter Pounder quicker than a blink. My dad was so mad. Another time, Zeke stole a fresh baked loaf of bread off the counter while it was cooling. Once, I brought muffins home from work at Something's Brewing, and not only did Zeke think to steal some, he proceeded to knock over enough muffin to the floor for the other dogs to enjoy before he took some for himself. What a generous heart...

Zeke loved to eat snow! My mom would always yell at him because the cold upset his stomach, and he would almost always throw up afterwards, but that didn't stop him. He loved getting ice cream in the summer, and he loved finding the sun sports to lay in on the floor.

I could go on and on. Zeke was a great dog and I am thankful that, although he experienced a lot of pain today, he didn't suffer through a lengthy illness or a slow degeneration. He ran around like a puppy, all 10 years of him, until today. He will be missed very much!