Happy Birthday to My Big Dog!

Nitro was a purchased, even though he was a mutt! His momma was a Black Lab and daddy was a Harlequin Great Dane. There were 8 puppies. They had just been to the vet for their 8 week shots. They were sleeping very happily on the front porch of their temporary home. So choosing a puppy was not easy, no one ran to you, no one licked your face. So I began to look at their precious faces . . . one, two, three . . . four was a cutie, she was black and had a white circle around her eye . . . if we chose this one, her name would be "patch". . . five, six, seven and then number eight . . . Looking into his face, it was perfect, a little like a dane and a little like a lab. Jet black with a patch of white on his neck. He was our choice and my husband named him Nitro.

We got him June of 1999. My only child, a daughter was graduating from high school. I knew in my heart of hearts that her transition into the next phase of her life would be quite an adjustment for me. So, Nitro became my constant companion and buddy.
Around his 10th birthday I began to worry that his days were numbered. "Big dogs don't live long" was the mantra of the masses. Today is his birthday - he is 12 - he is showing his age, but has not ever stopped greeting me at the door, listening to my triumphs and troubles. I have cherished every extra day that the masses told me I would not have.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NITRO!