Bubbalicious

Awhile back GI Joe and I decided to become a foster family for this organization UMGDR. It's a rescue organization for Great Danes.  We heart Great Danes and felt like we were more than equipped to provide a loving, temporary home for a Great Dane in search of a forever home.   You all know by now what a sucker I am for animals so this should not come as a great surprise. 


Let's review the foster Danes we've had to date.

This was our first foster..Ravin.  Ravin was beautiful and perfect (except for looking slightly cross eyed but we all have our flaws) and never. ever. barked. ever.  She was a great one to break us in, well except for the 80 acre pasture run she took me on within her first day here.  Note:  I DON'T run.   Ravin went to a wonderful young couple in Wisconsin where she's living happily ever after.  Everyone that knows me doubted that I would ever be able to give the dogs up after fostering them but Ravin was proof that I could do it.  Not saying it didn't sting and I may or may not have shed a few tears but we did it, we really did it.  It was a great first foster experience. 

Meet Mac, foster #2. 

This dog stole my heart.  I mean look at him.  I really wish he could've told me what he'd been thru because I have a feeling he took it upon himself to protect someone he loved from something very, very, bad.  When Mac was around I felt safe, I had no doubt that he would tear someone to shreds before he let them hurt me.   Not that I worry much about that given that I wrestle goats and own a pink BB gun but still.  I wish I'd had Mac when GI Joe was gone for those 6 weeks last year, I woul'dve slept a whole lot better.  GI Joe and Mac got off to a rocky start as Mac was not so fond of men, probably something to do with what he couldn't talk to me about.  After the first 5 minutes of him lunging all 110 lbs with teeth bared and snarling at GI Joe they got along splendidly and were best buds.   GI Joe calls himself the white Dog Whisperer.  Whatever he did worked, as Mac quickly got over his male agression issues.  We seriously considered adopting Mac because the whole family fell hard for him. But in the end, we sucked it up and let him go with an amazing family from Minnesota who treat him like the king he is.  I'll be honest, this adoption nearly did me in.  I cried..alot.  I still miss him, my Mac Attack. 

Meet Aggie Foster #3

Agnes, whom we quickly renamed Aggie because who names their dog a name of 102 year old woman?  Aggie is a Greyhound/Dane mix and a sweetheart.  She was another one that I just couldn't believe someone had given up because she was such a well behaved, sweet dog.  Remember how deeply I was in love with Mac?  Ummm, that's how GI Joe was with Aggie.  Her adoption was rough on him.  We met her new mom at a park and as we drove away GI Joe kept turning around to see Aggie watching us with a look on her face like, "Wait, I thought YOU loved me why are you leaving me?"  I can't be sure but I thought I saw his eyes a little misty.  Talk about traumatic.  But for the 3rd time we did it, we fostered a Great Dane until we found them the perfect forever home.  Yay us. 

And then there was this guy....

After Aggie, we had decided to take a little break from fostering to give our hearts time to recover.  Fostering is very rewarding but definitely not for the faint of heart.  Ummm, our resolve to take a break lasted until I saw the email plea for a foster home for this guy, a 6 month old puppy.  This guy who was born deaf and then blinded in one eye and nearly killed from being attacked by an American Bulldog.  He's had such a rough start in life.  We are suckers for deaf dogs as we had a Dalmatian years ago, named Sophie who was deaf but also one of the best dogs we've ever had.  Anyway, I put all thoughts of a foster break aside and responded with a "YES, we'll take him!" 

Five minutes after we picked him  up, the kids said to GI Joe, "Daddy, can we adopt him?!?  He needs us." and much to my surprise GI Joe said, "Yes."  And there we have it, our foster FAIL.  Maybe it was because he had a 90 lb deaf dog sitting on his lap at that moment clouding his judgment or maybe it was because sometimes you just know when something belongs with you. 

And seriously, we were powerless to THIS face.  The dog's not Ryder's. 

Not to mention he's the calmest, sweetest, most loving dog I've ever met.  And huge.  He's really huge.  HIs paws are as big as my hands, which for a BIG dog girl like myself is totally awesome.   

His name was Kane when we got him but it just didn't seem to fit him and it's not like he knew what we were calling him anyway.  No disrespect to the deaf obviously.  After we made the decision official to adopt him we began searching for the perfect name for him.  Something strong, something to reflect his resilliance, his strength, his sweet spirit, or maybe something sarcastic like Keller (you know like HELEN KELLER? Tee hee) or something of German heritage as he is of German descent.  And that's how we came up with....

Bubba. 

You read that right, Bubba.  We tried all kinds of regal, strong sounding names on him but none of them fit.  In the meantime we were calling him Bubba because he just IS a Bubba.  And really, what redneck, backwoods family tree doesn't have a Bubba in it?