Dakota has finally learned a solid recall (fancy way of saying that I finally won the war of whether or not she would come when I call her LOL) so we could start Agility classes.  She graduated from her beginner's class a few weeks ago, and I think she did a grand job!  She's obviously still very, very green but she's doing all the obstacles happily - her weaves are actually pretty awesome, especially considering that night was the very first time she'd seen a whole set of 12 instead of just 6.

Jimmy needs a new home!

Hi all,
I'm sorry I've been so scarce lately. Just wanted to post this flyer about Jimmy, a lovely Harlequin Dane currently in foster care at the Dane Angel Network. Jimmy is healthy now, and really needs to find a forever home!

The Dane Angel Network does NOT adopt out of the North Texas/Dallas-Fort Worth area. If you know anyone who might be interested in Jimmy, pass this information along and have them contact Midge.

If you are in another area but are thinking of adopting a Great Dane, go to the Rescue page at the GDCA website for information about a Rescue in your area!

She is really EXCELLENT now!

Hi all, I've been so remiss about posting lately.

But we've been busy and have good news! We had a great time at the 2010 GDCA National Specialty in October, and the best news of all was that Kinsey qualified in Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves for her Masters Excellent Jumpers title!! This title requires 10 qualifying scores in the Excellent B Jumper with Weaves class. No faults at all are allowed for a qualifying score, the run must be clean and under time to count. Kinsey got her 10th qualifying run at the National, at 8 1/2 years young! I'm so proud of her and also my hubby Ronnie who is her agility partner.

I'll get some pictures up soon!

You know you've got a big dog when....

... you're brushing your teeth and your dog wants you to move over so she can get a drink!*

Dakota is 10 months old now, and just started doing this. Her uncle Teddy will sometimes drink out of the sink, but she's the only Dane we have who wants to do it all the time. Her father Keeper does it too, and so did his dad Hammer.

Hammer used to go stand in the guest bathroom and look out the door at his owner, waiting for her to come turn the water on for him!

*Credit goes to Ginnie Saunders of DaDane - check out The Dane Owner's Checklist!

Oops!

Correction... Teddy finished his Novice FAST title last weekend, not his Standard title.

Which is still great - the FAST class in AKC agility requires the dog to complete some obstacles at a distance from the handler. Which is difficult for an inexperienced dog!

Way to go, Teddy! (And Ronnie too!)

More Agility News!

Last weekend in Wichita Falls, Teddy finished his Novice Standard title! He finished his Novice Jumpers title a few months ago, and has 2 legs toward his Novice FAST title, so we are very pleased with his progress!

And his mom Kinsey (8 years young, thankyouverymuch) got 2 legs toward her Open FAST title!

Ronnie handled them both - way to go!!

Only her hairdresser knows for sure...

More Show Biz news!

Not the dog-show-type "biz", but the "Lights - Camera - Action!" type biz. Kinsey was tapped to star in another commercial! The kicker was they needed a fawn Great Dane small enough to fit into the front bucket seat of a car - which leaves Teddy right out - but they wanted one with a black mask.

Which 8 year old Kinsey is lacking these days:



So with some mild hair dye, black chalk and lots and lots of mascara around her eyes, this was the final result:



I know it looks fake - and yes, I absolutely DO prefer her lovely grey face. But it won't harm Kinsey at all, and it worked for the commercial which was a LOT of fun. It was pretty easy - she had to sit in the car a lot but it was a nice cool day and the takes were short. There was one scene where she had to jump out of the car and run off camera, and she had to bark on cue. Which is her very, very favorite trick!

It was great fun, and I'll post a video here as soon as I can get one.

But I'll be glad when all the dye wears off and she's back to her naturally beautiful face!

Agility news

Due to some family (human family) plans we just showed Friday this weekend and had to skip the trials on Sat & Sunday.

But it was very worthwhile!!

Kinsey qualified in Excellent B for her 8th leg toward her Masters title (10 legs are required).

Kinsey really likes the Jumpers classes!

And Teddy got his second leg in Novice FAST which is a relatively new AKC class which requires the dog to work some obstacles at a distance from the handler.

Teddy going through the tire jump

This was also Topper's first trial since the National last fall - at which time we knew she wasn't really ready but we entered her anyway. She didn't qualify but really worked very well - we'll enter her again in a month or two and she should be ready to rock by then!

...And thank you all for all the well wishes about Teddy's injury last fall! Obviously, he is all better now! :-)

WARNING: Cuteness overload

Yesterday I went to Vicki's to see Dakota's little brother and sisters. This is a repeat of the breeding that produced Dakota and as you might expect they are ADORABLE!

There are just 4 of them and they sure haven't been lacking for groceries because they are huge! They turn 4 weeks old today and as they are gradually switching from Mom to mush they actually will slim down a bit. Plus they are mastering this walking thing - they're starting to play actually - and that will burn calories too.

There are more photos on our website at http://symmetrydanes.freeservers.com/Litterbox2.html
- for now, just inhale the puppy breath!

And thanks to my friend Karen for the puppy modeling duty... it's a tough job but someone has to do it!

Light brindle girl

Fawn girl

Brindle boy

Dark brindle girl

Say hello to my little friend

Here is a video of Dakota's brother Ty playing with his friend Pib:
(Ty had a case of hives when this was taken. She doesn't know what he got into, but he was fine the next day).




Obviously it takes some close supervision to let such a big dog play with such a little dog... especially when the big one is a puppy and maybe not entirely aware of his strength or where his feet are!

But he is so gentle with her!

Military families, deployment, and dogs

I got this email a couple of days ago:

"... had gone to the shelter to donate food and bedding as she regularly does and she heard loud crying and whining coming from the back kennel. She reluctantly headed in that direction only to find a grief stricken black Great Dane. His (hysterically upset) owners had left him two days ago because they are both in the military and were being dispatched abroad. He is a one year old, neutered, black Great Dane who is house broken and heart broken.

PLEASE....if you can take him, consider it."

Needless to say, a lot of us in our local Dane Rescue community have been scrambling to find a place for him - I was even all set to pull him from the shelter myself in the morning and transport him down toward central Texas to another rescue that had a foster home for him. But fortunately another local rescue stepped in and pulled him out so he is safe now, and hopefully getting a lot of TLC from his foster family. And soon will have a new, permanent family of his own.

But even though this particular dog is safe now, this is still a heartbreaking story all around. It is not an uncommon story, unfortunately. And it illustrates why so many reputable breeders and rescues are so very unwilling to place a dog into a military family.

I can see it from the point of view of the military families too... my brother is an Iraq war vet, I have other family members in the service and more than a few friends in the military. Most of them are real dog lovers and aren't willing to deny themselves and their children the joy of a dog for 5 or 10 years or more until they get out.

But how to avoid tragedies like the one described in the email above? Especially if the military folk are NOT able to get a dog from a reputable breeder or rescue that would help them out if they are deployed to some location where they cannot (or should not) take the family dog? All too often the only source these families have for getting a pet is an irresponsible breeder who asks no questions, and doesn't care what happens to the dog once they've cashed the check.

This leaves the family with no one to turn to if they are facing deployment - they usually don't have the resources to find a safe placement for their dog at short notice. Unless they have family members or close friends who are able and willing to take the dog for an extended period of time they rapidly run out of options.

The answer lies in the strategies that are employed by reputable breeders or rescues that ARE willing to place a dog with a military family. Usually the agreement is that when the military family hears even a whisper or rumor of future deployment to some remote and non-pet friendly part of the world that they MUST notify the breeder or rescue. They don't have to give up the pet at that point, but the "heads up" gives the breeder or rescue time to make some tentative plans. Specific deployment orders often come at short notice, but they are almost never unexpected - you do have some advance notice, sometimes many months.

If tentative plans are in place, then when the specific orders come the dog can be safely placed in a new home or a foster home (pending adoption) fairly quickly. The military family still has to stay good-bye to the dog - it is almost impossible to find a long-term temporary home - but at least they have the comfort of knowing the dog is in good hands.

But if they have gotten the dog from some fly-by-night breeder, what then? My advice is that at the first rumor of deployment, they reach out to family and friends for options. If no one can take the dog then they should reach out to rescue groups. It is not uncommon for rescue groups to fill up and not be able to take a dog at very short notice, but if you stay in touch with them over a period of weeks or months then they are more likely to be able to take your dog when crunch time comes. Finding a rescue group has never been easier - all you have to do is Google the name of your breed of dog + Rescue, and you'll get lots of options. You can also talk to your vet for advice - he or she may know of someone looking for a dog like yours. The trick is to NOT wait until the last minute - "plan for the worst".

And finally, a responsible military family will do what ANY responsible dog-owning family will do - take the dog to some training classes to make him more enjoyable to live with!! This is a huge benefit to the original family plus if they must find the dog a new home it will make it much, MUCH easier to find someone to take him.

UPDATE - One of my readers left a comment about a program called the Military Pets Foster Project. (Thanks Kathie!!) This is a program that helps people in the military locate foster homes for their pets when they are deployed.
The website is https://www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php

What a GOOD boy!!

Gus's owners sent me this photo of Gus working (quite successfully, I might add) on "Leave It". She said the limiting factor was the drool - they released him to gobble his treats before he soaked everything in sight! Don't be taken in by the sad puppy eyes - Gus has it pretty good!

Gus is one of Kinsey's pups - he is Teddy and Topper's brother.

In case you are new to this blog and wonder why his owners send us photos even though he is almost 5 years old, you should know that reputable breeders always try to stay in touch with their puppy buyers. Not in a controlling way, but to provide support and answer questions and in general to do everything in their power to ensure that both the dog and the family stay happy with each other. And if worse comes to worse and the owners can't keep the dog for some reason - and catastrophic things can happen to the best homes - then the responsible breeder will either take the dog back, or help to find him a new home. We do this because we LOVE every single puppy we ever produce, and we truly care about them and will move Heaven and earth to keep them out of shelters, or out of bad situations.

The promise I make to every newborn puppy is this: "You will be loved for your entire life. You won't always get your way, but you will ALWAYS be loved". And I will do everything in my power to keep that promise.

So if you are in the market for a puppy and encounter a breeder who asks lots of personal questions about your family situation and they also want (or require) you to stay in touch with them after you take the puppy home - that is a great sign that you have found a responsible breeder. And chances are they will be a help to you for the life of that dog.

Talented Teddy!

I am remiss.... Teddy finished his Novice Agility title last month!! He's just one leg away from his Novice Jumpers and FAST titles too. Now that he's "got it" he and Ronnie are turning into a fab team!!

Going over the A-frame

The dogwalk

The weave poles

Finally getting to run and JUMP!!

Dad's home!

This doesn't need much of a caption, does it?? ;-)

Happy Birthday!!

Today is Number Eight for Kinsey and her sister Aeryn!!

They had a quiet celebration at home with some ice cream...

Thoughts on spaying my dog

Topper is doing absolutely great, and thank you for everyone who sent good wishes. The surgery was uneventful, as they say. If you are in the D/FW area, I can't recommend Drs Patty and Gregg Weber of All Care Veterinary Hospital enough. They have cared for my pets for almost 25 years now, and they are the best!!

But at 4 years old, Topper definitely had a more difficult time post-surgery than a younger dog would have. We are fortunate nowadays that we have a lot of excellent medications available to control pain in our animals, and between the Metacam and the Tramadol I don't think my girl was too uncomfortable those first few days.

But it did make me think...

In the past, I often got my female dogs spayed quite young - usually around 6 months of age. This is still a commonly recommended age for a spay and one of the reasons for that must be that pups DO heal a lot faster. A "spay" (i.e. ovariohysterectomy) is a major surgery after all. A 6 or 7 month old bitch often acts nearly normal the day after her spay. Whereas with Topper and her mother Kinsey (who was also 4 when she was spayed) it took a lot longer. They weren't incapacitated - they were able to walk within a few hours after the surgery, and were drinking water that night and eating by the next morning. But it was about 3 -4 days before they showed any real interest in playing or engaging in "normal" activity. Such as, in Topper's case, barking at the neighbors. *Sigh*

Obviously, if a bitch has the potential to be good enough to breed and her owner is willing to go through all the expense and hard work of raising a litter of puppies then there is no doubt that spaying her must be delayed - if it is done at all.

But for the bitch who won't or shouldn't be bred - should she be spayed at a young age? Some research indicates that spaying before she reaches maturity may not be the healthiest option and may even shorten her life. Here is the original article. This of course, is in contrast to evidence that spaying at an earlier age is best because it prevents certain cancers.

This position statement from the Society for Theriogenology (vets who are reproductive specialists) lays out both the pros and cons pretty well.

In my experience, there hasn't been a lot of difference. The two oldest Danes I've had to date (both died during their 11th year) were both spayed females. One was spayed at about 6 or 7 months, but I think she may have had a heat cycle - she was my first Dane and that was in 1976 so I don't remember the details. The other was spayed when she was about 18 months old.

Of course, there are some situations where I believe early spaying is always definitely indicated - such as when the puppy belongs to an owner who is unwilling or unable to responsibly care for an intact bitch. I believe that ALL female dogs adopted out of shelters or rescues should be spayed before going to their new homes - assuming they are healthy enough. If they aren't healthy enough and spaying must be delayed, those new homes should be screened extra carefully. Keeping an intact bitch from becoming accidentally impregnated isn't really that difficult, but it DOES require more knowledge than many pet owners possess.

But for knowledgeable pet owners there is no clear answer. Research into long-term negative effects of surgical sterilization is a relatively new field in veterinary medicine and it is possible that we are on the cusp of an upheaval no less dramatic than the uproar over vaccination protocols a few years ago. But there is also no doubt that there are negative aspects to delaying a major surgical procedure at least as regards recovery time and patient comfort.

If I had a puppy girl that I knew I wasn't ever going to be breeding, I'm not sure what I would do. One possible solution that I think is pretty exciting is having an ovariectomy done instead - this doesn't solve the problem of the removal of the hormones if they are needed for normal growth & development, but it is a less risky and possibly a less painful surgery. It might be a great choice for an older bitch - but I elected not to have this done with Topper because of her inherited risk of pyometra.

Ultimately, I hope that more responsible pet owners just do a little thinking, a little research before getting their pets spayed and neutered and make the most educated decision they can as to when to get these procedures done.

Lapful of Stripes!

I love this picture:
It's Dakota's daddy Keeper sitting on a friend's lap. The camera perspective is hilarious - he's a big dog but not THAT big!! But this is a very typical Dane behavior - they are tall enough that they can just sit on a chair or couch while the front feet stay on the ground.

Our dogs do this sort of thing all the time... so much so that I have thought about changing our answering machine message to "Barb and Ronnie are home, but have giant dogs in their laps right now and can't get up to get the phone. We will call you back when the dogs decide to move."

Snip, Snip

Well, Topper is going under the knife tomorrow morning. I am a little sad about it...she is a WONDERFUL dog - smart and friendly. She's beautiful too, although that is somewhat less important than other factors.

When we bred her mother Kinsey, my main hope was that we would get a nice brindle girl. And we did! Topper is a lovely girl. But we have decided not to breed her.

I know that no dog is perfect... but it has become evident that there are too many reproductive problems with the females in this family. Kinsey had to have a C-section to have her puppies - although thanks to careful monitoring we were alerted to that fact long before either Kinsey or her puppies were in any distress, so everyone survived just fine. Later Kinsey had an open pyometra which was successfully treated, but then after she recovered from that we had her spayed.

Since then, Topper's grandmother, aunt and a couple of other female relatives have had pyometra, and some of them died. Although any intact female can develop a uterine infection, it is actually not that common and most intact bitches live their whole lives without any problems. But it seems to be more common than the norm with this family. A LOT more common. And pyometra can be a killer.

So although Topper herself has never had pyo, she is getting spayed in the morning. I am a little sad that we won't be breeding her... but I will be relieved that I won't have to worry about her developing a dangerous infection.

This is what responsible breeders do - we try to only breed the very best dogs that we can. Getting titles and championships, and getting health clearances is only part (although a very important part) of the puzzle. You also have to do some detective work to see what problems there are in the pedigree - and there will always be something. It might be something "fixable" by carefully selecting future mates. Or it might be something so catastrophic that the only solution is to scrap your entire breeding program. This is somewhere in between - important enough to decide to never breed Topper.

But the males in the bloodline produce daughters that do NOT have these problems, which is why we got Dakota. She is the daughter of Topper's brother Keeper. I don't want to make it sound like we got Dakota just to breed her... we got her because it was time for us to start the next generation and we needed to have a puppy in training. Besides, it is too early to tell if she will be worthy of being bred. It all depends on how she grows up, if she passes all the health tests, etc. etc. etc.

But we are hopeful!

And in the meantime, send good thoughts for Topper. She's gonna need a LOT of TLC in the next few days! Poor baby...

Ebony and Ivory

Well, maybe not... but these two Danes of a different color sure get along swell.

The Harlequin is Riddle, an 8 month old pup who belongs to a friend of ours. Riddle stayed here this evening because she's going with us to a show in the morning.

Her owner will pick her up tomorrow, and I know one brindle puppy who is going to be very sad to see her go! They have had a wonderful day.

Getting acquainted.

Shall we dance?

And so it began...









And into the night...

They actually are still playing now at 10:30 pm. I am going to have to put them to bed in their crates if any of us is going to get some sleep!!

Hooey

I started leaving this response in the comments section, but then decided to make a new post so maybe more people would see it.

Anonymous wrote:

I just don't understand the human concept or mindset of butchering dogs ears, not necessary folks. And I will hope that these pups are from highly responsible breeders. As one that has rescued/fosterd many Great Danes, there are too many waiting for homes, they may not be the puppy stage, but they have paid their dues and deserve a real life. Go Rescue and Shelter folks and save a life.

Well Anonymous (from Huntington Beach, CA >:-)) I wish you had the guts to sign your post. I could remove your comment - and maybe I should since it just reflects the kind of unthinking knee-jerk rhetoric found with people who... well, with people who don't have the guts to sign their posts!

But I'm going to respond because this sort of rhetoric is catchy, and I do know people who are normally smart and thoughtful who get caught up in it anyway just because they don't take the time to do a little research or critical thinking.

First, as to the "butchery" - give me a huge break. We use a great vet to do our ear crops, very safe anesthetic protocols, and excellent pain management afterward. The pups recover almost instantly - and since puppies are not exactly known for being stoic, I can only assume that a puppy who is bouncing and playing and acting like a little devil within hours of waking up from the surgery is NOT suffering! Once the ears are healed, the process of taping to brace them erect is not uncomfortable (or should not be, I'm working on a post about ear taping) and is just another grooming activity that the pup learns is actually an OK thing. Like being brushed, having feet and mouth handled, etc, etc.

Maybe not everyone takes as much care to be sure their puppy doesn't suffer during the process but that doesn't mean the procedure itself is cruel. That would be like saying that just because some people use cruel training methods that no one should train a dog, or just because some owners are negligent or abusive then no one should own a pet.

But mostly I want to address your reference to the "don't breed or buy while shelter pets die" type hooey.

First, if you had read some of my other posts or looked at my web site, you would know that A) yes these pups DO come from a very ethical breeder who brought them into the world with great care and planning and who will be responsible for them forever.

And B) you would know that I have volunteered for Rescue for 25+ years, have fostered more than 70 Danes in my home during that time and donated thousands of hours on the phone, hundreds of transportation miles, and God only knows how many dollars toward the effort of finding homes for needy dogs. I don't do this because I feel "guilty" about having bred a litter or about buying puppies from responsible breeders - I do it for the same reasons that responsible breeders have been doing rescue all along (did you know that the modern concept of "rescue" was INVENTED by responsible breeders??) - I do it because I love this breed so much that I don't want to see any of them suffer, even those that I am in no way responsible for.

There are two reasons I say the "don't buy" mantra is hooey - one is partly because I DO believe there ARE enough homes for all the adoptable dogs in shelters, IF we just try a little bit harder to reach more people. Too many communities (including poor/rural ones) have reached very low kill status to deny this. I'm not going to provide links - Google "no kill" and you'll get all the proof you need IF you are willing to open up your mind. I ALWAYS suggest adopting from rescue when I talk to someone who is thinking about adding a new dog to their household - but that is just not the best option for everyone. There really are good reasons for wanting to buy a puppy from a responsible breeder.

The second reason is, whether or not there are enough homes for all the homeless dogs - who do you want to be producing the next generation of our pets? Fact is, the irresponsible breeders will always be with us as long as there are people buying their puppies. No amount of legislation or slogans or even peer pressure will stop that.

But the responsible breeders ARE sensitive to both peer/popular pressure and to legislation. If people like you convince them to stop breeding then the only pets available will have come from the other kind of breeder. I, for one, love this breed MUCH too much to leave its future in the hands of people who breed only for profit or out of carelessness. Our ONLY hope of improving the overall health and longevity of this beautiful breed - while keeping their sweet nature - is to let the responsible breeders work at it.

Puppy Play Day - 4 months old

Yesterday we took Dakota to my friend Karen's house for a play date with her litter brother Finder. The owner of another littermate was able to come over too, so I got to see her brother Traveler again.

The pups had a wonderful time, of course! And as expected, Dakota did her energizer bunny bit and wore everybody out.

But she did sleep after we got home, and is still a bit quiet today. So we have discovered what it takes to tire her out...

Four and a half solid hours of this:

All 3 pups are brindle so it can be hard to tell them apart: Traveler is the darker brindle with the blue collar and natural ears. Dakota has a pink collar and no tape on her ears*. Finder's ears are taped up and he has a purple collar.

With some of this:


And more of this:




Then things would slow down a little:

This one completely cracks me up!! I think Dakota is holding Finder down until he says "Uncle"!

Then they would pick up again:
There were a few breaks for visiting with the humans present:


The two boys eventually settled down:

- you may notice that Dakota is in all of the play photos even though usually only one of the boys is involved - they took turns resting but she was always ready to go! This was the only still photo I got of her all afternoon:
A good time was had by all, as they say.

*I'll write a post soon on ear taping since a lot of people ask me how I do it. The reason Dakota's weren't taped is that this fell on a "rest" day - normally the ears stay taped up for a week or so, then the tapes are removed for a day or two, repeat. Her ears are standing very well, but start to droop after a few days so they still need to be taped. I think she should be done in another few weeks though.
And yes, Traveler's ears are taped down. There is no sticky against his throat, there are 2 pieces of tape sticky side to sticky side attached to the ear tips. One of his ears had started to go wonky (sticking up and twisting) which can happen when a puppy is teething. This is a simple and comfortable way to correct that. If natural ears have to be taped it usually only has to be done once - you just leave the tape on until it starts to come off, usually a couple of weeks.

Playing With Fire

We have a lounge chair on our deck that Kinsey really likes to lay on. She can survey her territory in perfect comfort. It is, for all intents and purposes, her lounge chair.

Not even Topper gets on it.

So the other day, who did I see on the lounge chair?

This looks nice!

What?! I don't see anyone's name on it!

I will sit here if I feel like it!! I will also bark at you!!

I think I'll just settle down for a nice nap...

So now she lays on it every morning. So far Kinsey is being very gracious about sharing. We will see if that lasts...