Duke Page 11

It has been 19 months since Duke came into our lives. It has been a period of adjustments on many fronts and we have encountered a variety of events, none too serious thank God. Duke has become so much part of the family and he has had his share of “Events”.	King of all I survey November 1999
One forgets the time and love that is involved with raising a rambunctious giant, many years ago in Zimbabwe we had a Great Dane followed by a Bull Mastiff, we always had a Boston Terrier too. I was not the primary care giver back then so of course most of the care fell in mom’s hands us kids took care of the runs and walks we had acres of veld in front of our house and we spent many hours exploring. 20 years later I found myself ready to go it alone, without moms help, and get my Irish Wolfhound. The decision for me was easy as there are not too many opportunities that pass your way to get an Irish Wolfhound, my wife would have like to wait a little longer, but Duke became available and I felt that the time was right. My children thought so too, so the vote was 5 to 1. We already had two cats and our old PomaPoo, Gizmo, we got him on our 1^st wedding anniversary in 1986.	OK you said you would play, what gives? November 1999
Gizmo was an impulse purchase from a pet store and we always got "flack" from a friend who was a breeder of Wheaton's as to how bad that was. He has proven to be a very loyal and friendly dog and was good training for us before we had a family as he was small enough to take everywhere. So we were conscious of another little “person” being around. Gizmo has never really forgiven us for having children and still ignores them unless they have food to give him. So it was with some fear that we brought Duke home, but Gizmo was getting old and well ……. the time was right.	Come guys lets play November 1999
But I digress for my reason for writing – I have never had a dog that has become such a friend and companion. When reading some of the stories here and in The Irish Wolfhound Quarterly one wonders if the people are really sane with the affection that they have for this animal. There is no denying the feeling after living it. Come rain, snow or shine when I come home from work there is one person who’s mood I can count on and that is Duke. My dear wife with a house and family to run is not always in the best of moods and the kids, well they are kids and with so many other interests then dad they are not always there to greet me either. Duke is there, in the warmer weather he is outside and will race towards me as I walk up the 100 foot driveway, many of my suits have gone to the cleaners with big dog paw prints on the shoulders and streaks of mud running down the front. It is the uplift that I need after a long day and those few minutes of chasing snowballs in the winter, Frisbees and tennis balls in the summer are very therapeutic. We have now started to chase rabbits for fun, as yet we have not caught one, but the chase is fun.	This long body takes a few minutes to raise! December 1999