Larger than life is a term applied to heroes. They leave an impression. Stella, our three-legged Great Dane, does that. She can go out for coffee and come home immortalized as a cartoon by Boulder’s Shoney Sien. Stella’s big, but gentle. She has a brown eye and a blue eye–not common in Great Danes. She likes to be petted but still manages to give the impression that she’s aloof, not needy. Treats?–her highness needs...

Four years ago we rescued a three-legged Great Dane named Stella. Or she rescued my husband and me. Stella was hit by a car when she was five months old. Bad injury. The femur was broken and rammed through her hip bone. It’s a miracle she survived the accident and a second miracle she survived her previous owner who reportedly said, “If it doesn’t heal on it’s own, I’ll shoot her.”  She dragged her injured...