I fell in love with Apollo as soon as I saw him. He is beautiful. He has the markings of a cow. Half his face is white and the other is grey with black spots.

Unfortunately, what makes him beautiful is also his undoing. Apollo is a merle mantle. In the world of Great Danes, the merle gene is undesirable and Apollo should be neutered and not be allowed to reproduce. His kind is prone to blindness, deafness, skin disease, as well as the whole host of problems already inherent in the breed.

Apollo’s right eye is bi-colored and I suspect that his vision is impaired. The vet in Surigao says that merles are usually deaf on the same side ear as the affected eye and, while no tests have been conducted on him, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apollo were partially deaf.

On my weekend alone with him in Cebu, I ended up rushing him to the vet in an emergency because of the bloat. It is common for big-chested dogs to get the bloat. It’s when gas accumulates in the stomach and cannot be released. It can lead to torsion, which is when the stomach twists on itself. Bloat alone can be fatal and is the number one killer of Great Danes. But I caught it in its early stage and, it took a long time, but the vet was able to suction the air out of Apollo’s stomach through a needle.

Apollo also has hip dysplasia, another common affliction in big dog breeds. It is more pronounced in his right hip, but the pain seems to be shooting out of his left hip so he limps and tries not to use the leg. The vet in Surigao gave him some anti-inflammatory medicine which masks the pain so that he is walking normally now.

In spite of his health issues, Apollo seems to be thriving. He’s displaying that playful, friendly, goofy character that Napo had. But he also seems to be more fearful. He’s always hiding in corners, and he is wary of the sea, unlike Napo, who loved to swim. At the same time, Apollo is very aggressive. His play time frenzy is bordering on manic. He has a rather bad temper and is very vocal about his displeasure, and there are a lot of things that displeases him. (Like not being allowed to chew on my shoes or my dress or my leg or my arm…)

But even if he bites and scratches, even if he is constantly whining, even if he smells like piss and is probably infecting us with fleas when he is on our bed, even if he has kept me up for so many nights taking him out to pee every two hours, he’s such a beautiful dog that we love him anyway.