My baby boy Lance was the most precious thing in my life along with my two children. I had no idea that I could love an animal
as much as I did Lance.
I had always wanted a Great Dane puppy. I found a litter born near us and drove to see them. I instantly knew that the little harlequin male who layed alone, and who was shivering from being cold, was the one for me.
Later that week he came home with me. I housebroke him easily and he learned all the basic commands like sit, lay, shake by eight weeks old. In fact his favorite thing to do was shake. Anyone who came to visit always got a paw in their lap.
Lance grew fast, as all Danes do. As he got bigger he became more of a nuisance to most. At night he slept on his big bed, because he was not allowed on any furniture (but we would occasionally catch him laying on the couch, all stretched out).
Lance loved people and he loved his babies (our children who are 2 1/2 and 1 1/2). In fact he tolerated a lot from the children. My son would go lay on Lance first thing he woke up. Lance would just lay there and look back at him. My son bounced on him , kissed, and loved on him. Lance would someitmes even kiss back. My daughter liked to play fetch with him, and so did Lance.
But it never seemed like we had enough time for him. I feel like I didn’t show him how much I loved him.
Much of his time he spent laying around outside by himself or running around our 120 acres. He would follow us wherever we went on the property. If we were at our grandparents farm down the road, within minutes he would be too. He would chase us in the cars and we made a game of it. He loved doing anything if it meant being around our family.
There are so many wonderful things I could say about my big man, but I can’t, because the more I think of it, the more my heart breaks.
2 days ago he was following my husband and kids in the car. My husband stopped at the road to look for traffic, Lance followed, and for some reason stepped into the road. A car was going about 80 mph, didn’t stop and hit my baby. Thank god he died instantly and probably didnt even know what happened.
But all I can think is how he was not even close to being full grown. I will never get the chance to know Lance as a grownup or see him fullgrown.
He was just over 6 months old. Just a baby.
We will never forget you,
| Lance |
| Kari, Mark, Arianna and Connor |