In February of 2006 we were lucky to find a camp for sale on Jim Pond. (big Jim Pond if you’re curious.) We try to get up there as often as we can. This photo is from one of our trips this past summer a couple of weeks before Rufie died.
Rufus wasn’t really much of a water dog. I did trick him into swimming one time in our local river near the Wire Bridge. I got him to step off of a ledge into about 4 feet of water. He freaked out even though he was able to “bounce” on his hind legs. We learned that day that he couldn’t swim. I learned the hard way. I have scars on my chest from him pummeling me with his huge paws as I moved into to calm him and coax him back to shore.
Rufus would wade into the water when it was hot outside but never into water deeper than the underside of his belly. He did enjoy snoozing in the sand on shore though. Trips to camp were always fun for him. Unfortunately he wasn’t doing well on our last trip to camp. We didn’t know it at the time but his heart was giving out on him. It was hot and humid and he just couldn’t seem to catch his breath even in the middle of the night after it had cooled down.
I was browsing the web today and stumbled across the website of a Great Dane Rescue company that I had used in the past when I lived in CA. The folks that run this rescue service are a class act. I adopted a male Dane from them in 1996 and named him “Big Guy”. (He was actually my second Big Guy.) Big Guy died in November of 2002 from bone cancer. When I emailed Tracy at Gentle Giants Rescue to let her know that Big Guy had passed she remembered me, the dog and the day that I picked him up from her place as a 12 week old puppy. I was amazed. She remembered all of the details of that day like it was last week, not 7 years ago. Danes make wonderful family pets if you’ve got room for them. If you’re ever considering getting one I recommend contacting Tracy first.