Token
The House Horse
Token was our first and only Great Dane which we got Christmas of 2005. I saw him at three weeks old and he fit in my arms like an 8 week old lab. At six weeks, he was like a twelve week lab. By 12 weeks he wouldn't fit on my lab.
Token is a talker. Every day the first 6 weeks we had him, we'd bark together, and it was a strangely primal bonding experience. We had his ears cropped and he was clearly the pick of the litter. He was just so nice.
At 4.5 months old, Token fell sick. Mudd had just passed a few weeks before, and Token started walking like his legs hurt. Token grew so fast that most people told me it was just Pano, growing pains, and he'd be fine. I went to vet after vet after vet, with a gut feeling that this puppy had something seriously wrong. This puppy lost the look of life in his eyes and he just clearly hurt so much. Finally, I found a vet who would listen.
Token was hospitalized for 2 weeks, and had a systemic bacterial infection. We almost lost him, but eventually he did get better. Unfortunately, he quit growing correctly, and he ended up with a bit of a roach in his back. That made him not a show prospect, which we loved him, so that was ok, but he had a large infection in his hock which made it twice the size it should have been. Either the swelling, or the fact he was constantly falling down gave him a slight ACL tear. A year and a half later, he walks normally, and seems to be comfortable most of the time. His tear exempts him from going running with me as he is strictly self regulated exercise. Any more than that, and he walks around humped up like he hurts. He's beautiful, though, and is a welcome member of our pack. Our house horse is our biggest couch anchor, and I can't imagine life without him.
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