—  F A R E W E L L   T O   G R E N D E L  —

February 19, 2007 — I want to extend special condolences to Zeli and Bret Schulte, who recently lost their beloved Grendel, Waldenthree's Artemis Templar. Nobody could have loved her more. Grendel was nine and a half years old when she said her final goodbye.

Grendel will be familiar to many of our more dedicated viewers because she has been seen on DaDane of DaWeek several times. She was first featured eight years ago in Kissin Cousins. A month after that, she appeared in one of my old favorites, "Birth of Venus." She may be best known, however, for A Natural Beauty (January, 2000). She was my "answer" to numerous requests for an uncropped brindle and she was a lovely representative. At the time, Zeli wrote:

"After living with Grendel, we soon found there was a reason she was born with 'racing stripes.' She has always been high energy. Her usual antics include running with toys in her mouth, leaping in the air with our other Danes and hopping from front paw to front paw.

Grendel was one of only two puppies in her litter that remained uncropped. According to Ruth Kaufman, her breeder, Grendel is the first puppy in the Waldenthree line to be shown with natural ears. In 1997, at 8 weeks of age, Grendel became one of the winners of DaneWorld Magazine's contest for 'Most Beautiful Great Dane Heads in the World.' She was also featured in DaneWorld's 1998 calendar as the June cover puppy. Later in the year, Grendel placed 4th out of a class of nine bitches at the GDCA National Specialty in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Open Brindle Bitch class at the tender age of 16 months!"

Grendel showed up once again in New Year Resolutions for Great Dane Owners with her older "sister," Circe. Sadly, Circe (another early DaDane regular) preceded Grendel in death by little more than two years, so Zeli and Bret have had to deal with some very tough losses. My heart aches for them.

I like to think, though, that Circe welcomed Grendel to "doggy heaven" with a wagging tail, wet kisses and lots of new stories. Hopefully they are running and jumping together again, just like the old days.