– Portrait of Deity –

Dog: (noun) A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the
overflow and surplus of the world's worship.
— Ambrose Gwinett Bierce, 1911

March 10, 2003 – This week's DaDane features Michaeldane JB TNT Spellcaster, aka Diety. Deity lives in Moriarty, New Mexico, with owners Kathy and John Geilow. I met the Geilows – along with Deity, of course – at the 2002 GDCA National Specialty last October. I thought she was very pretty, so I requested a brief photo session. Deity was a cooperative model and proved to be very photogenic.

When I wrote to Kathy last week, informing her that I wanted to feature Deity as this week's DaDane, she was especially pleased because Deity had just won back-to-back majors at the Three Rivers Kennel Club in Missouri and the Belle-City Kennel Club in Illinois, where she was shown by Michael Chiles. What a weekend for the Geilows! As Kathy told me, "Our tires didn't touch the ground all the way home."

When Deity is not out "strutting her stuff," she lives in a cheerful dog-oriented household which consists of seven Great Danes, one Chihuahua and one Pug. Sometimes additional Great Danes are incorporated into the household (temporarily) as rescues, because Kathy is the director of the Great Dane Rescue of the Southwest.

I asked Kathy to tell us a little more about Deity:

"Deity will be two years old on March 22. She is the youngest in the pack, but not the lowest on the totem pole. She is pretty independent, so usually she's doing her own thing as far as 'pack mentality' goes. She plays well alone, although she would rather have a human audience because, in her view, everyone needs to acknowledge how wonderful and funny and beautiful she is. She is convinced the sun rises and sets for her and her alone, that there are no other dogs but her. Even though she is competing with 8 or 9 other dogs in our household, she usually gets the majority of the attention. Deity's motto is, 'What's mine is mine, and what's yours is – MINE, too!' And she will hold a grudge if you get her mad. She's the only dog I know that has something she could actually pawn, a beautiful silver collar. It was given to her by Nancy Bailey. Auntie Nancy had taken Deity's doll away and teased her with it. Deity gave Nancy the cold shoulder for the entire day. She was not about to forgive her. (After all, that doll was hers!) So Nancy bought Deity the beautiful collar to get back in her good graces, and it worked, proving once and for all that Deity is not above taking bribes. But she has a softer side, too. She loves to be petted and she'll cast her spell on you in a matter of minutes, if you just kiss her nose tell her how lovely she is. She gives the most wonderful hugs. She just likes to drape her head across your neck and shoulders and half-closes her eyes and hugs. She's very gentle when she does this. Deity is a lively, affectionate and entertaining companion – an important member of our household – and she definitely keeps us laughing."

Llama Follow-up
I really enjoyed reading the audience's comments last week regarding llamas. Apparently it would be pretty stupid to invite a llama into my home for tea and crumpets. Okay, I won't do that. And I guess I was lucky to have avoided the dreaded green llama-spittle when I blew into the llama's face. (What was I thinking?!) He folded back his ears, took a step backward, and glared at me. He was probably considering salivary retaliation. (Fortunately, he forgave me.) Ingrid has now promised to introduce me – formally – to the llama next time I visit. And I may even get to meet Pearl, her neighbor's pot-bellied pig.