book is in its second printing. Folks fight over the limited first editions on eBay, bidding more than $100 a copy!
Celebrating our area's four-legged, feathered and finned friends
By Patience Renzulli
April 10, 2010
Riley and Pollo Kraemer
If you happen to be in Grand Rivers and think you’re seeing two white ponies strutting around town, think again. It’s just Riley and Pollo Kraemer, Grand Rivers’ biggest ambassadors!
Kim Kraemer just loves to talk about her two cute, cute, cute — and giant, giant, giant — Great Danes, Riley and Pollo. We just let her go wild in this week’s iPet of the Week — here’s her story:
These are my babies. We walk every evening we can, so when visiting Grand Rivers don’t be surprised to see these guys strutting around town.
Riley has just turned 12 months old and is 33 inches at the shoulder and 120 pounds. We got him when he was 12 weeks old. A magnificent dog — in health, looks and personality.
He is our clown and our spoiled rotten baby. He loves walks, naps, sticks, anytime he can crawl up in someone’s lap and his new big brother Pollo — the life of Riley. He has loved playing with other dogs since we got him and we knew he would be happiest with a brother or sister. So we started thinking….
Pollo is from a no-kill shelter in Evansville. He is 2 years old. When he arrived he was very timid, an impressive 35 inches at the shoulder and an unimpressive 100 pounds, but healthy. He has always been thin and has a history of digestive issues according to his former owner.
He had an eyelid that was rolled in* and his eye watered/ran constantly, but it was a quick surgical fix by our vet. We have him on a new food and he has gained 12 pounds! You can still see his hip bones, but now there’s muscle in his shoulders thanks to exercise and diet. He is still our shy boy but is showing more and more of his sweet personality (an angel to Riley’s devil). He loves walks and naps on the sofa and his baby brother Ri.
They came to us in two different ways and have two different personalities but they seem like brothers. They look quite a bit alike, so they get called each other’s name all the time. They love to play together; what one has is the exact thing the other one wants — a stick, attention, anything — so if one of them sits on your lap, be ready for the other to squeeze in too.
My son is grown but having my dog boys in the house just seems to make our family complete. They are big (OK huge) and loopy, and can wipe out the contents of the coffee table or an end table in one single wag of a tail. They can counter surf, have killed all the grass in my backyard and they shed a full size dog each week. I may be crazy but I am crazy happy.
*The technical term for this condition is entropion and it is an unspeakably painful condition. The upper eyelid turns under, causing the eyelashes to scrape the cornea constantly. Untreated it will lead to blindness, relentless pain and even loss of the eye. The repair is called a blepharoplasty and is a simple procedure that is curative.
