Hello everyone !

It's been ages since I've been posting something on here. How have you been ?
Sorry we don't have time to come here as soon as we'd like to... Laura is very busy with Uni !

We have moved into a tiny tiny single room flat in August - but I have settled in very well and we have even build my own personal space in it and I loooove it so much !

Here is when the nice man came to build it ! See, it's right under Laura's bed :-)

Unlike our older flat where we lived in a very residencial area, here we are right next to Laura's University (5 minutes walk!) and there are almost only students in our building and I have to say we are feeling so much better ! There is a wood just accross the street and loads of green space everywhere! I love it !

The flat is really tiny though, but I have been behaving like a very very good boy. I think aging as something to do with all this - I'm becoming a gentleman. Ha ha !

Kisses !

Yay !

And guess what ? I'm going to go on a great adventure in less than a month ! Laura and I are going to go and spend two weeks for Christmas at my grandma's house, how exciting !

You know how much I love my Grandma !

The cool thing is that we're going to take the train (the TGV - high speed train), to go from Bordeaux to Paris (3 hours long), then in Paris we'll have to take a kind of underground train so we can go to another train station, and then from that other train station in Paris we'll take another train to Caen, the city where my Grandma lives (it's in Normandy, two hours away from Paris). OMD, it's gonna so exciting but also a little bit stressy and scary !

Anyway ! I promise you I'll come back very soon to tell you more about all the things that happened to us while I was away from Blogland.

Been missing you like crazy!
Love xxxx

Lincoln

Change is always for the better

Change is always for the better, that's what I've heard and I hope it's true.

I told you our life had been a bit hectic during the last months, and we though it was coming to an end but it was actually just starting. My humans are finally spliting up for real and one of them is going to live in Paris and so I'm going to stay here in Bordeaux with Laura.

We have until the end of august to find a new flat and move into it... and as Laura is still studying at uni we're going to be living in a tiny flat so Laura is all stressy about it because she's also going to have to do extra hours of work to get enough money to pay for everything + it comes at the worse time for her as she's entering in september her last year of study and in top of everything else she also has to write her end of study report ! Oh dear.

I'm tired already! 

Well, I've always been living in a flat so that's OK, it's gonna be a smaller one but I told Laura I was sure I'd settle in very well. It's not because I'm a Great Dane that I need a panthouse, right ? What worries Laura is that although I've been used to stay on my own a few hours during the day, I'm going to have to stay on my own a bit more then. I told her no problem! I'm gonna be a good boy, and we'll just go on bigger walks and on the weekend I'll go and play in the countryside with my furiends as often as we will be able to!

My sissy the cat is going to live in Paris with my other human and my brother the cat is going to go on a little vacation at Laura's mum's house until we (Laura and I) are settled in properly.

So I'm sorry if I do not leave comments on your blog as soon and as much as I would normally, but it's just going to be a few busy months coming up. I'll catch up as soon as possible !

See ya my furiends !

I don't know how to drink !

Yes, I'm not telling a joke here : I REALLY don't know how to drink !

Let me explain; instead of drinking the water catching it with my tongue, I just put my head into the water bowl and just open and close my mouth!

Results : there's water everywhere in the house except in my stomach!
Well, after my humans gave me 3 entire bowls of water I guess I manage to catch some of it, but still - it is quite an issue as I have and always had regular problems when it come to ahem-- doing the wee! The vet says it's because I don't drink enough - even though I always have fresh water in the house it is true I don't go to my water bowl very often on my own. (except when we go for a walk! I'm the BIGGEST drinker on earth then!)

The Big Tongue Gang after a massive walk !

But guess what ? Every time I start drinking, everyone starts laughing and making fun of me !! Not only my furry buddies but also their humans ! I can hear them - it's so embarrassing. My humans thought it was a great dane thing but my great dane friends just drink like normal dogs. Is there some of you here using my technique ?

Here the normal drinking technique :



Here's mine :



As you can see, no tongue out - and almost no water gone from the bowl ( except the water I drop on the floor !! ) ;-)

I guess asking about tips would be silly as no one could really "teach me" how to drink.
But eh, I feel good talking about it and I know YOU - my dear blog friend - are not going to laugh at my problem.

( oh, come on !)

Reacting to strangers

Lincoln is quite weird when it comes to meeting strangers. As you can imagine, it is very often that people stop in the street and start talking to me when I'm walking my dog.

Lincoln with Louise, one of his furry friend's human :-)

I hate it when they do from a long distance, they start talking about Lincoln and they do it really loudly so they make sure I can hear them and maybe answer their questions or talk to them directly - some day, I feel up to it, other days I just wish they'd go away. Lincoln hates it when he sees them coming from a long distance too and he can see they're talking about him - sometimes it makes him anxious, I can see it by the way he starts getting closer to me, raising his ears.

Today, we were going for a quick walk just around our building and two young people crossed the street and came to ask me questions like "What type of dog it is ?", "How is it to live in a flat with him?" - and then the usual and boring "Does he bites?".

Do I look like a biting-doggie ?

I could see Lincoln feeling very stressy and getting closer and closer to me - I bet it is just like me when I meet new people; sometimes I like them instantly, and sometimes I just don't.

Anyway, Lincoln did not seem to like the man talking to me and I answered: "No, he does not bite - but he can act like a scaredy cat sometimes so he might not want you to touch him".
And I was right, the man insisted on trying, and then Lincoln started to back up, and back up like "Leave me alone! You're invading my personal space!".

The man felt a little upset I think, he looked at me and said " Well, what a strange dog! Do you let him meet other people sometimes ?"
I wasn't exactly in my best mood and asked :

" How would you feel if someone you don't know crossed the street and tried to touch you?" . He answered " But I'm not a dog! Dogs don't mind that kind of stuff".

Oh yes, they do.

People are so annoying sometimes. Well, I get it, when they come to talk to me and want to pet Lincoln, they are being nice, but sometimes I'm tired to see that 70% of people just don't know anything about dogs really and think they are just fluffly creatures, made to entertain humans. Lincoln is a friendly dog but what can I do when some days, he just does not seem to like the person walking toward him and when this exact same person stop, and wants to pet him ? Walking away would be rude - so what can I tell people so they don't get upset by Lincoln's reaction when they try to pet him and he starts backing up ?

I'm sure some of you have some tips to share with me :-) That'd be very nice !

( PS: I'll let Lincoln blog on his own about all the walks, playdates and new friends he had when we were away from Blogland very soon !)
Talk soon,

Laura

FRENCH CRAZE CONTEST : THE RESULTS !!

Sorry it took me sooooo long to post the results on my blog ! Loads of changes in our lives, but I am OK and that's what's important after all. We are all happy now.

So here it is... because you've been waiting for too long, I've decided I'd pick 2 winners instead of one ! Plus, as I promised you, I'll sent a postcard from France to EVERY pawticipant ! 

So, we put the names in a bowl ( one paper for one picture) and my human randomly picked two papers. I was there to make sure there was no cheating ! You never know with those two-legged... 

Here's a little video so you can see I checked it all !

( YES, Lincoln IS trying to EAT the papers with the names... oh dear. )

( sorry for the add  right in the middle of the video, just could not make our usual video editor work so had to quickly find something on the internet )

Well done guys !!!

BRAVO LES MECS ! (in French) 

_______________________________________________________________________

Here are the wonderful entries to my FRENCH CRAZE CONTEST:

Lightning 

He chose the world "Joie" : Happiness. As you can see, one of his favourite thing is to have fun in the mud ! Haha :-) I love it too !

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Milka

She chose the world Amour : Love!

How cute is this picture ! Hugs to you Milka !

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Baylor

Baylor chose to use " le mien" which means "mine!" ! I love his face. Roaaaarrrrr ! How impressive Baylor !

He also added " Alerte, alerte" to his picture, which of course means Alert! Alert! " 

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Here is Reilly, Denny and Jackson's entry

They chose the world "nourriture" which as you can see means " FOOD!" and I get why !

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! Food is my favorite thing!

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Sasha

Here's Sasha's entry ! I love Sasha, I think she looks beautiful!

She chose the world "Lunette" and "Livre" which means "Glasses" and "book"! 

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This is Miz Becky'z entry !

She chose the world "nourriture" : "food!"

Look at what she has to wear when she eats! OMD isn't it SOOOO cute ? I love it!!!

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Bubba !

He chose the world Joie! (Happiness) I bet you can see why!

Which I could come and play with you Bubba !

 

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Sampson

Here are Sampson's beautiful two pictures!

He used the world "Joie" (Happiness). I bet I'd be very happy too if I could be there with him and run free in this beautiful landscape !

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Bert

Priceless ! Don't you agree?

He chose " Le visage de la folie" : "The face of crazyness"

Look at those wrinkles !!!!!

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Lassiter and Benji

Lassiter and Benji chose the world "Livre" : as you can see it means "Book" !

If you look carefully, you will see they are holding their very own books : Lassiter holds "Horray for Lassie", and Benjamin holds "Benjy's Dog House" ! How cute!

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 Emma and Bella

Emma and Bella chose "Amour" : "Love"

You can see those two do love each other very much :)

I love this picture !

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Dusty and Lucy

Dusty and Lucy chose "Amitié " : "Friendship"

I could not think of a better picture to describe this world.

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 Rory 

My friend Rory chose the world "Sauter" : "Jump"

Indeed, Rory can jump veeeeeery high! Great danes jumps can be impressive - and I know what I'm talking about :D hee hee

Love your moves Rory !

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 Honey

Honey chose " Dragon Cracheur de Feu" which means " Fire-breathing Dragon" !

I love the colours and I think this picture is gorgeous ! I have to say, Honey, you make a very cool dragon :)

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Emma

The cute Emma chose the word "Mer": "Sea"

She looks like she enjoys it ! I do too - Going to the beach is one of my favorite thing ever !

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 The Pea

The Pea chose the world "Mode" : "Fashion"

Isn't she beautiful ? I love your scarf, The Pea. And I think you make

a very gorgeous model ! 

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Stella 

And last but not least, my little friend Stella chose the world "courir" : " run "

I love the fluffly flying ears Stella ! Bet you know how to run with a big bro such as Rory ! hee hee

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A big thank you to every participant ! I loved every picture you sent me !

You'll all get a postcard so check your emails as I'm gonna need snail mail adresses !

(or send it to me directly : lincolnthegreatdane@gmail.com)

Love you loads !

Lincoln

Busy busy ! Results coming soon !

Sorry everyone the human is veRRRRy busy (with the french accent).

I got all your entries and much more than I had expected ! You've been AWESOME !
I bet you're all very excited to see all of them !

The results will be in shortly, propably end of the week !


WOOOOFS!
Lincoln

Some news

Thank for all the messages I got about Ghanna. Really means a lot to me! I'm thinking about her everyday, she will never be forgotten !

About my French Craze Contest, I have decided I'd leave you 2 more weeks to send me your picture - we've been really busy and realised you might have been too - and the deadline was too close ! So yes, you now have until the 25th of March to enter my contest :-) I already got some PAWESOME entries !

Clik on the picture on the right side of my blog to learn more about it :-)

Also, I must do an update post soon about my behavior as I've been quite great lately and improving a lot on my meeting other dog while on-leash thing ! hurrah !

My humans being verrrry busy with shool ( only 6 weeks left until Uni Year ends ! ), so I haven't been up to much lately. Can't wait for the holidays !

Sunday rest

Closer caption

Do you like the second one ? Haha. Laura says I look silly.

Anyway...

Catch up soon,

Lincoln

Sad news... RIP beautiful girl

Yesterday, Ghana's human sent a message to Laura telling her that we were not going to meet up today for our regular sunday playdate as Ghana crossed over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday afternoon. Ghana was only 9 months old, she had an heart attack.

My humans and I are very sad, and we're thinking a lot about Ghana's humans who had also lost their first Dane, Saphir, last June. Loosing two dogs in less than a year must be very very hard and heartbreaking.

I'm going to miss my beautiful friend. I'll remember the good times we had together.
Ghana's human wrote me a very nice note yesterday telling me how much Ghana loved me and she said she was sure I was her very best friend. That's true.... I never had better playdates than those I had with Ghana. She was just like me.

I'm glad she's got her big broher who will be there to look after her on the Rainbow Bridge. They haven't met yet but I'm sure they're going to be very happy together.
Please, keep her in your thoughts.

Best memories

Take care,

Lincoln

Me, my Toys and I

There's someone new in the house:

His name is Mr Rat 

And I've got lots of other friends...

Here's some of them :

I deserve some more, right ?

Well, I'd better tidy up those ones first

... There you go !!:

:-)

French Craze Contest

Bonjour my furiends! 

Remember last year I ran my first French Craze Contest ? Well, the pawticipants were all SO great and it was so much fun that I have decided to do another one this year!

It is quite simple and everyone can participate, dogs, cats … So if you want to enter my contest, and win the big prize, here's what you'll have to do:

1. Pick ONE french word in the list below (randomly or just because you like it):
   
   
   • Joie
   • Tristesse
   • Colère
   • Envie
   • Folie
   • Paresse
   • Amitié
   • Amour
   • Vacances
   • Été
   • L'hiver
   • Jouet
   • Mode
   • Promenade
   • Amis
   • Mer
   • Campagne
   • Nourriture
   • Livre
   • Lunette
   • Sommeil
   • Ordinateur
   • Eau
   
   

2. Find out what is the meaning of the word you picked (you can look on the internet, or in a dictionary for exemple – or maybe ask your human if he knows the translation? )
   Or, you can choose you OWN word/topic that is not on the list, and then go and find the translation in French on the internet !
   
   
3. Think about it, and then take a picture of yourself according to the word/topic you chose. Be creative!
   
   
4. Write the word you're illustrating on the picture - in French! For example, if you chose the word «  Lunette », then write the word « Lunette » on the picture (using an image editor for example).
   
   
5. Send me your entry at lincolnthegreatdane@gmail.com. (and let me know you did by leaving me a comment – so I can check and make sure I've got everyone's picture).

There will be one big winner, but if you tell your friends about it and we get lots of participants than there might be more prizes which means more winners !!

And - every pawticipant will get his own postcard from France ! 

You have until the 11^th of march midnight (French time) to send me your picture ! I'll randomly pick the winner(s) and I'll post all the pictures here on my blog !

I can't wait to see what you will all come up with !

Love,

Lincoln

Sunday is my favorite day

I love sundays ... and I love Bordeaux ! I now have soooo many friends here :-)

So let's go for walk !

I'm very happy - can't you see it ? :-)

Meet Gaya, my 4 months old new friend : She's an Atlas Moutain Dog (also called Aidi Dog). Isn't she the cutest ?

awwww

 And here is Fidji, the Boxer ! She's 17 months old just like me :

Rooooar

Catch me if you can !

I love meeting new friends. My humans say it's good for me to interact as often as possible with other dogs, different sizes, different breeds, different characters ! (I have some issues when it comes to play with little dogs - I can't control myself and tend to be a real brute ! But I'm getting better !)

Little Stick !

Big Stick !

Stick sharing !

We also do some training ! 

Ok, well .... I'll sit for this one.

I can sit too !

But what I like best is to play ...

Friends !

Love this one !

PS: I'll come and visit your blogs very soon, my human won't let me use the computer as often as I'd like her to, because she says she's busy with school and has lots to do. Ummmmph...

Talk soon!