Zuess

Loved by Ron and Jan Cates

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Zuess is our ‘Big Guy’. He is a 6 year old male harlequin with cropped ears, and quite beautiful if we must say so ourselves…oh, ahem, Zuess says that’s supposed to say handsome! We know his name is misspelled, but that’s what ended up on his original vet records, so we went with it…it’s still pronounced Zeus and it makes him one of a kind.

 Zuess came to us in January during an ice storm. We received a phone call (again, from an area vet clinic) that they had gotten calls about a black and white Great Dane wandering around in our area. We were expecting and ice storm, so we didn’t want this dog to freeze, so off we went in search of a big black and white Dane. Our youngest son and I spent hours searching the area where the dog had been spotted. It was bitter cold and getting colder, so we had to go home to warm up. Walking the fields and calling out for a dog we didn’t know turned out not to be such an easy task! We spent the day (from about 9 a.m. – about 7 p.m.) driving the area, walking the area, calling out, waving smelly treats and leaving our number with every person we could find. We’d freeze for a couple of hours, go home and warm up for ½ hour and head back out the door. The ice storm made it about 4 p.m. and it was getting colder. We were very worried about how anything could survive if the sun went down! We literally had ice hanging on our jackets when we’d get home!

Finally, about 7 p.m. we returned home to warm up and my oldest son said we’d received a call. Someone had found this dog and put him in their barn! All we needed to do was come pick him up, so, off we went again. We arrived at the barn and were astonished…what a beautiful creature we were staring at! Unfortunately, he was very skinny and had a bad scrape on his leg…and boy was he cold! He too had ice hanging from his coat! We were so excited, that we’d left our leash and collar at home…no bother…there was a small piece of rope handy. What we didn’t know is that we wouldn’t need it. We gave him a little love and a little nudge and he followed us right to the car and into the backseat! What a good boy, and as it turned out, only about 6 months old! We brought him home and grabbed a towel to knock off the ice and dry him as best we could with the melting. We were all enamored, but Daddy wasn’t home yet. When Ron got home, it only took one look and he was in love! Zuess, our independent rescue dog wasn’t going anywhere. I still remember the first words out of Ron’s mouth when he opened the door and Zuess was standing in the entry. “Oh, I always wanted a harl!?” You must imagine a small child’s sad voice when you think of this sentence to give it justice.

 Zuess is our alpha-dog and all doggie decisions must be approved through him. If you don’t believe that, ask one of our other dogs…they’ll tell you real quick. Luckily, he was born for the role and is quite a benevolent leader. Seldom does he feel the need to correct another dog or try to prove his dominance, but when he does, simply a small grumble from under his breath sends everyone else scattering. Sometimes, he’ll even lift his head off his couch so they know he’s there and that’s all it takes!

Zuess gave us a nice scare back in December of 2005. We noticed a small blood blister on his inner thigh. Within about 3 days, we thought it might be growing, so we started watching it really close. Within a week or two, we could tell for sure it was growing, and it was starting to look more like a strawberry than a smooth surface. We took him to the vet and sure enough, Zuess had hemangiosarcoma. Luckily, we had caught it fast enough that they could find no metastasis and surgery managed to get that nasty cancer stopped. He has subsequently had two more spots that have had to be removed and must be followed closely with EKG and Echo’s to monitor for it’s return, but so far, so good. Over the years, Zuess has turned out to be pretty much perfect for our family…oops, did it again, Zuess says he IS perfect (and so does his daddy). J I spent quite a bit of time in the yard with our ‘Big Guy’ (this is his other name) working on obedience training and he eventually tested and has received his CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and Therapy Dog Certification. The only complaint anyone ever has about Zuess is that because he’s a harl, white hair gets everywhere. Our family believes everything looks just a little better with white hair on it!

- Jan Cates, HGDR President