Andrew is our complete character, our giant tub of love! He cannot eat
without being loved on first, he cannot go outdoors without first saying bye bye to everyone in the house. He greets everyone the same when he comes back in. He is learning to give real kisses...not there yet, still does the quick nose poke of love, a little painful, but close enough.

It will be a wonderful accomplishment when he finally gets it.
 
Andrew came to us as a pup of about 11 months but his rescuers, again my
in-laws in Oklahoma who now run Heartland Great Dane Rescue. They believe he may have been as young a 5 months. He was one of those backyard bred pups that didn't get sold before growing out of the cute phase, so he was surrendered to rescue.  Thank Goodness or where would this boy be right now???
 
His birthday is February 5th. He came to us on this day in 2002. He was
meant to just be a foster dog, needing some training because he was such a knuckle head. But it soon became apparent he was not being disobedient. The normal clues that most dogs get with ease he cannot fathom. His brain seems to be sped up so fast that most things fly right by. He cannot concentrate on his training until he has been played out completely and he can outplay ANY dog...usually it take the entire crew one
at a time to wear him out. He cannot sit still for a photo most days and we
have a vast collection of blurry ones.
 
He is in constant motion. The tongue hanging out of his open mouth constantly too. I have been told by more than one Dane Person this is a sign of neurological damage...and I believe it. Andrew is Drain Bamaged, but we love him just the way he is. He is so sweet, so loving and such a playful joy we never tire of him or his quirky ways. And wanted him to stay with us forever. And of course we understood that most families would not be able to handle his activity level. We adopted him soon after he arrived.

We have been told his developmental problems are most likely because he is a distemper survivor, but it could be any puppy disease with a raging temp, vaccinosis,or even a head injury could have caused his lack of focus.

We will never truly know. Nor does it bother us anymore to find out, but the first year it consumed me. There is room for all kinds of Danes in our lives...Andy has a special
place. We do not know much about his past life. And whatever made him like this is no longer a threat so we accept that he is okay and happy. He is our Peter Pan Dane! He never seems to grow up and wags his whole body when he is happy, just like a pup.

He could stay a puppy forever.  Who can't love that??